The Opelousas courier., 1894-05-26
DUCKS BY THE THOUSAND.
VISIT TO A BIG LONG BLAND DUCK
FARM1
Feeding and Looking After the Fowl
Eggs Hatched BY Incubators-
10000 Ducks Marketed Yearly.

1LSSo ~
10000 Ducks Marketed Yearly.
TYHE plant of a duck farm is
simple, says a letter from
PASSPORT, N. Y, to the New
York Post. Imagine a long,
low building one story high, about
| fifty feet from the water, and running
parallel with the shore; from this
building extend the runs or pens, each
fifteen or twenty feet wide and about
100 feet long, the lower twenty-five or
! thirty feet in the water. At night the
ducks go into the house at the LAND
| end of the rum. In Mr.. Pye's estab-
lishment there are thirty such runs;
when the yards are full of ducks,
there are from 5000 to 10 $1,000 in all,
not counting the very young nes still
kept in the steam heated house, where
they remain until old enough to go
out and fight for themselves.
Beyond MI. Pye's place some Long
islanders have established smaller
yards or farms, while across the river
from him three German duck raisers
have made the shore their own. Thus
the PASSPORT creek is really bordered
on both sides by these uns full OF
ducks.
The system of dividing up the ducks
into many runs, has many advantages,
chief among which is the possibility OF
keeping ducks of the same size and
Q by themselves, and thus not hay
ing to search among the whole num-
Der for those ready for market when
killing day comes, which in this es-
t%ablishment is twice a week. Twice a
week a whole run full of ducks are
brought to the butcher, a young and
expert operator armed with a long
sharp knife; the ducks are hung up
by the legs a dozen at a time over a
long trough, and in less time than 1t
takes to tell it the knife is up their
throats and they are left to bleed to
death. I do not know whether this
system of killing would be approved
by the late Mr. .Bergh, but it seems to
be the common way all over this part
of the country, and is said to con-
tribute much to the excellence and
pleasing appearance of the duck after
death-the flesh is more firm and the
color better than when their necks are
wrung in the old-fashioned manner
During the season, which lasts from
six to eight months, about 800 ducks
a week are sent from Mr.. Pye's place
to New York, packed in barrels. They
weigh from four to six pounds apiece
and the retail price varies from fifteen
to twenty cents q pound and some
times is much higher. Strange to say,
very few of the ducks are kept here
for the sake of the eggs they lay. Mr..
Pye buys his eggs from the neighbor-
ing farmers, finding that it does not
pay to keep breeders for this purpose.
The eggs are brought here in quanti-
ties and put into incubators for the
first part of the time requiredto hatch
them out. A popularity of this part
of the business is that when the egg
reaches a point within a week of ma
turity, it is put under a hen; the hen
seems to give it better care during
these last and critical days than any
machine can do, and finally bringsout
the young ducks triumphantly. Thus
during the months of breeding these
hens are constantly employed in fin
ishing up patches Of duck eggs. At
last as a hen brings out her young
brood of ducklings they are taken
from her and more eggs are put into
the nest. This goes on for months
until the poor hen is exhausted and is
then given the rest Of the season to
recuperate in.
When the duck reaches the age of
four months it is ready for market.
Diseases of any Importance are said to
be almost unknown, partly, perhaps,
because the ducks are kept separately
in small groups in the different runs,
SO that any trouble that may make it's
appearance is promptly stamped out
before it extends further. I happened
to get to Mr.. Pye's farm just before
feeding time, about three o'clock in
the afternoon. Two men were pre-
pairing the supper, which was mixed
in an immense trough and consisted
Of meal and chopped creek grass,
which latter is brought in by the
boatload of many tons. When the
yards are full the daily meal requires
about a ton and a half of food. As q
great delicacy the ducks are given
'sscrap," a hog product said to be un-
excelled for its f~attening properties.
Cleanliness is an essential featured of
the business in order to ward off dis
ease, and the runs are beautifully
clean. This, however, is partly due
to the ducks themselves, for where
there are so many of them, they eat
up every scrap of food, every bit of
refuse, that is to be, found in their
yards. When the men appear with
their wh%eelbarrows, the outcry from
the thousands of ducks is deafening
they rise in one mass from the water
and rush up on the land towards the
end of the run where they receive
their food. I asked one of the men
whether ducks brought up in smaller
quantities and allowed to roam around
the rivers, picking up their own liv-
ing, were any healthier or better in
any way than those kept in these pens.
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