The Opelousas courier., 1898-02-19
THOUSANDS OF DUCKS.
RAISED ON A Pennsylvania FARM
FOR THE MARKET.

Searthe Water Feathers Are Valuable
a Zig Profit in the business.
In many instances the rise Of modern
farm industries has been so suddc2
that few city dwellers are yet aware OF
their Importance or of the extent %
which they have been carried cut.
Think Of a poultry farm, for in
stance, seven acres il extent, where
Is, 900 ducks are confined. 1t seems
almost Incredible that such a place
should be under our very nose, so to
speak, without our having any exact
knowledge Of it, situated, too, III the
heart Of one Of tAe richest farming
districts in the state, near Allentown.
II one becomes accustomed to the
deafening clack-clacA made by the,
thousands of featheHl Jenizens n
tlis novel duck farm, which fs~d
by Oliver Gittnet, Almost interesting
holiday can be spent on the place.
Close by, at the Duck Farm hotel, kept
by Alfred Griesimer, entertainment
fer man and beast to suit the most
fastilious, is to lie secured. Nh.
Griesimer's duck suppers are u
specially we'll worth the trip alone,
the very finest ducks from the farm,
selected with great care, being served
on these occasions.
The most interesting feature about
the modern poultry FARMS the wooden
mother or incubator, indeed, it is just
this Yankee invention which has made
duck farming on the scale to which it
is carried on the Allentown farm pos
sible. There are two classes of this
apparatus, one heated by hot water,
the other by hot air. Some are regn-
lated by thermostatic bars made Of
brass, iron, rubber and aluminium:
others by alcohol, ether, electricity
and the expansion of water. Naturally
the first place to be inspected on the
duck farm is the Incubator cellar, q
room especially constructed for the
purpose, partially underground to
secure a more even temperature, as
the eggs during the process OF incuba-
ton are most susceptible to sudden
| changes of weather.
When the poultry farmer prepares
to hatch out a brood in his incubators
he places the eggs in trays, which
trays are put in the i~ncubators
directly under the tank which supplies
the heat 10 the egg chamber. The
incubators are built double-walied and
| the air space packed with asbestos to
Lprevent the sudden changes of tenn
perature from affecting the egg
chamber. In size the smaller incuba-
tors range from % to 600 eggs capac-
ity, and can be operated the year
round.
The most successful seasons, how
ever, are in the spring or fall, or even
in the winter, the results in summer
being the least satisfactory. During
the period required to hatch the eggs,
u days, the temperature in the 1ncu-
bators is maintained at 103 degrees.
However a change OF two or three
degrees in either direction will not, as
q rule, result seriously.
For "a hours after Matching the
young ducks are left in the i~ncubators
to dry. Then they are transferred to
brooders, some Of which are made to
hold as many as three thousanddncks.
These brooders are constructed IN long
narrow houses about IA feet wide and
300 feet in length. They are heated
bv hot water, and the ducks are re
tanned in them for five weeks, after
which they are transferred to the cold
brooders or ordinary houses attording
them a comfortable shelter. The per
centage of eggs successfully Matched
in the ircubators is about copper cent,
while the loss of young ducks is about
10 per cent. Tins about so per cent.
of the eggs resultin marketable ducks.
One great advantage OF duck farm
ing oven chicken farming IS that the
ducks are ready for market weeks be-
fore the young chickens can leave the
farm. At the age Of eight or ten
weeks the ducks are usually in a con
dition for sale, weighing about -four
and a half pounds.
Another feature of duck farming and
an important item in the profits, is
the feathers. About 1000 pounds are
secured annually on the Allentown
farm, these feathers fetching on az
average about IS centsp per pound. II
the popular mind ducks are generally
associated with water, and many small
poultry ~raisers bar ducks from then
farmyard because there is no suitable
stream in the vicinity for them tC
naddle about in. 1t is. therefore,
rather interesting to learn that the
ducks which are bred for market or
the Allentown farm are not allowed tx
go near the water, although Cedar
creek, a stream Of the purest water.
flows through the farm. The breed
ing ducks. however, are allowed tht
free Il of this creek, much to the
envy Of their brothers and sisters, wht
are being fattened for sale on thf
other side of the Enclosure.
Although the modern incubator ha:
simplifed and made poultry farmlne
on a large scale possible and profit
able, at the same time the incubatol
does not fulfill all the requirements Il
the successful breeding of ducks
Great care must be taken Of the younE
breeds after their arrival inthis world
After the first few weeks of thel
life the young ducklings require thu
closest watching and much experience
to bring them to a marketable age.
The matter of feeding is not by an,
means the least important of the de
tails that have to be carefully looke'
after. The ducks must be fed wei