Albuquerque evening citizen., 1907-04-13

something i'm their food that makes
their skins as yellow as butter. When
these rich-looking fowls come into
the market with Pats little tin trade
mark sticking in their bills. the deal
ers always pay more than the market
price for them. If Pat ever makes
up his mind to go back to ireland, he
won't have to go as a stowaway.
Ducks are more difficult to raise
than chickens because they are so
cowardly. The difference between the
two is noticeable from the start When
u number of chicks are liberated from
the incubators they walk boldly out
I'm the light and begin critical sur
vey of their surroundings. Ducklings
will peep timidly out of the incuba-
tors, become alarmed at the strange
sights their young eyes behold for the
first time, and make a dash for the
darkest corner available. 1t takes
considerable coaxing to get them to
ventue out and make a start for
themselves, and, strange to say, they
do not outgrow their fear. When a
stranger enters their pen they rush
pell nell to the opposite side and pile
upon each other several feet deep. As
a result of such a scare there will al
ways be several dead ducks and a
number of crippled ones,
1t is estimated that duck loses
in weight every time it is frightened,
so 1t is "A matter of good business to
keep strangers away from their pens
| and few visitors are allowed to go
| there. one of the best ways to get a
| flock Of ducklings to venture out and
| forage for themselves is to put a little
| chicken among them They are quick
to follow a leader, and when young
| Mr.. Chicken, who is not afraid, leads
off. the ducks are right after him.
They improve their habits and get
| better manners from associating with
| the chickens, but they never outgrow
| their timidity. A light has to be kept
| burning in their pens all night, and
the keepers go through at regular in
| tervals. If the ducklings are left
alone in the dark, it Is not long until
the vivid imagination of one of them
lconjureS up something at which to
get scared. He will sound an alarm
and the panic which follows is some
thing terrible. Ducks are very fond OF
the men who feed and care for them
but any other breathing thing causes
them to go to pieces.
| The science of raising poultry by
the use of incubators and brooders
has progressed to such an extent that
there are more machine made fowls
than those who owe their existence tC
the watchful care of old biddy, theil
natural mother. One has a tendency
to pity the shrinking little orphans
when they stagger out of the incu.
bators with barely enough strength
to toddle along. They are a mother
less lot of little waits, who have tC
face life without the protection and
sympathy of parental care, but they
seem to get along first rate, and prob.
ably do not miss old bddy's attentions
on account of never having known
them.
When feeding time comes, the
keepers have a peculiar call which
never fails to bring the tiny featheret
beauties In swarms from every direc
ton. The attendants also have ar
alarm call which is a sort of imita.
tion of the whirring noise of a hawk.
wings. In event of a storm coming
up suddenly, they can clear the yard,
in less time than it takes to tell Il
by sounding this alarm, for which
the little birds soon learn to be on the
lookout The natural enemy of the
: young chicks and ducklings is the rat
but ferrets are kept on the place ant
| the loss from the depredations of tn,
rodent are small.