The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1904-03-05
DUCKS FOR THE MARKET.
The Best Are Those That Have Never
Seen Duck Pond.

Seen n DUCK roma.
''The little ducks that come to mar.
ket nowadays" said a wholesale dealer
In New York, land even the little ducks
that stay at home are as different from
the ducks we used to sell four or FIVE
years ago as dried figs are as different
from the fruit fresh from the vines. 1t
seems an almost unnatural thing to
think Of a duck without a duck pond
but the latest and best ducks we sell
now never saw duck pond.
Duck farming is still comparative
ly recent thing, but 1t is developing
along new lines all the time. Expert
ence has taught that ducks allowed
only sufficient water to quench the
thirst and not dirty, muddy pond to
wallow and swim in are more tooth
prices in the market Where there is
pond there are fish of some sort, and
the ducks will eat the fish. That gives
their meat fshy flavor, of which
housewives complain.
There is as much If not more mop-
ey in raising ducks than in raising
chickens; but, as it takes more capital
to start duck farm than it does to
build a hencoop, there are fewer per
sons In the business. and ducks. unless
they have a pond and are allowed to
roam at their own sweet will. are more
tn TO l.n Of ha ri
ems. There is not much variation in
the food of a duck fattening for the
market. 1t is fed regularly three times
a day. and it gets mash for every meal.
Nothing else agrees with a healthy
duck like mash. About once a week a
little cracked corn is thrown in by way
Of variety, but the ducks do not seem
to care whether it is there or not.
Breeders have an odd way of get
ting around the natural craving of
ducks for animal food. 1t takes long
time to cure the birds Of this, and
they are very irritable during the
process. Breeders make a stew of ami
NAL flesh and ground bones mixed and
strain off the water. This is mixed
with the water given the ducks to
drink and also to moisten their bran.
The compound gives to their mash a
mealy favor that gratifies their appe-
tite and adds to it a substance that
makes them strong.
'In fattening ducks breeders try to
make them eat as much as they can.
And 1t is astonishing how much
healthy duck can eat. Some ducks will
easily dispose of four pounds Of food
a day without having Indigestion
enough solid material to sustain
hard working longshoreman. If duck
refuses to eat more than enough to sat
| isfy its appetite the breeder thinks it
| is sick.
ION farm the ducks are not allow
| ed to mix at will. They are kept in
pens in locks of fifty or seventy, ac-
| cording to their condition for market
ing The greatest care must be taken
with their bedding. Fresh hay and
straw every other night, and at certain
seasons of the year every night. is i'm
perative for healthy ducks. They do
not sleep in houses like chickens and
| turkeys do. Ducks prefer to huddle to-
| gether and sleep in the open. But their
| feet must be kept warm. A duck with
| cold feet is usually a dead duck.
1.-THE proportionate returns from
Matching ducks eggs. as compared with
hens eggs, is ridiculously small. About
one-half the eggs sent to hatch are
sheer waste. In fact. it does not pay
the breeders in New York and New
Jersey to raise from eggs they can buy