Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1903-06-04
DUCK CULTURE.

Important tuiuS 10 " nave boou
healthy parent stock that is not in
bred. What we mean by inbred is
using male birds from your own eggs
for breeders several years without
getting new blood from some other
source. Our practice is to get some
other breeder to exchange eggs with
us from which we hatch and raise our
own brakes for breeding for next
season. In raising stock for breeding
we start from the time the parent
stock Is Matched. These are selected
from the April and May matches and
are not forced same as ordinary stock
for market. They do not come to ma
turity In four weeks. AS soon as they
get their feathers Except the wings)
we sort them, picking out all the most
promising ducks for breeders. The
brakes are put back in pens and fat
tened for market For breeders we
select the mediumsize ducks, with
brakes just little understood. These
we think are more active and eggs
are more fertile. As soon as we have
our breeders sorted we turn them out
to pasture in fiocks, say 200 on about
two acres with plenty of shade and a
creek running through the lot. They
are fed sparingly on light feed COM
posed OF three-quarters bran with the
rest equal parts corn meal, low grade
-four, ground oats, per cent beef
scrap; also one-third of entire mix
ture, cut clover rowen of second crop
clover cut very fine, with all long
stems screened out, or green corn
fodder cut every day very fine. Feed
all they will eat up clean quickly.
Keep them purposely little hungry.
They are kept here until Nov. / to
Is, according to weather. Then they
are again sorted and put in pens Tx
100 with 10x10 pen inside house, 20
ducks and brakes to pen. Each
pen has feed trough foot wide
inches deep, IL feet long, with an
other for water feet long outside.
Inside they have a feed trough same
as others with a Is quart pail for
water not over IA inches high. This
pen is kept bedded with fine planer
shavings preferred. 1t has box for
oyster shells and gravel size of wheat
or corn. Here the feed is all changed
to equal parts: corn meal. bran, low.
grade -four, ground oats and stale
bread or crackers, 1t can be had, 10
per cent beef scrap and one-third en-.
tire mixture, fine cut clover. Steam
the whole mixed thoroughly with
warm water. not sloppy, but in con-
dition so II crumbles. Feed inside in
stormy weather and outside IL the
snow is of the ground. They should
start laying by last of December or
first of January. The eggs are gath
cred first thing in the morning.
when one can see to get them; also
again at 9 and IL o'clock. This is
to keep them from getting chilled
Later when 1t is warm or 10 O'Clock
will do. AS the pens are kept bedded
the eggs which are laid on the floor
are most all clean. Those that are
soiled are washed lightly. We set our
eggs twice or three times a week
never using eggs over one week old.
They are run in the incubator four
weeks at 1903. being turned on wire
trays half over every twelve hours.
We never oren machine from time
they start to hatch until all are out
Machine is provided with a nursery
under trays below into which they fall
as fast as Matched and are out Of the
way Of others that are coming out
When they are all dried of we take
bushel basket and line with paper
then put in soft cloth. first warming
IT.; into this We place the little
downy fellows. cover them up and
hurry them OF to the brooder house
w. p. Curtiss. Niagara County, New
York.