The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-10-22
soME DUCK SUGGESTIONS.

I Ol6buc anu uOCn nOL QA1ACl 81 OO OOn1-
plete a ~softening process as that con-
sumed by the hen. Therefore ducks
should be fed chiefly soft food, con-
sisting of a variety of ground grains
softened with water. Especially young
or growing ducks should be fed but
very little or no hard grains.
In duck raising it is essential to
have everything in and about the duck
houses in the utmost sanitary condi-
ton, ever though this is more difficult
than with hens. The yards should be
and must be cultivated to keep them
from becoming contaminated, when
the ducks are confined in small yards.
Rye is often sown in these yards to
keep them sanitary and provide a
little green food. This is sow just
as soon as the young ducks are sent
to market.
Young ducks we always feed from
shallow troughs, about a foot wide and
eight or ten feet long. with one and
one-half inch sides. These troughs are
always kept as clean as possible. In
raising young ducks we have found
that pure water and clean yards are
essential factors, especially so for
ducks without a. running stream,
which is something none of our young
ducks have. We always provide them
with plenty of pure water to drink.
We supply our ducks, both growing
stock and breeders, with plenty of
green food and animal food. Our
ration consists of about 20 per cent
animal meal and 80 per cert to 40 per
cent green food in some form. If duck
Ifngs are confined to comparatively
small yards we have found it advisa-
BILE to provide plenty Of shade for
them during the summer months.
Green rye, clover, alfalfa, Canada field
peas and corr make excellent green
food for ducks when finely cut, and a
feed cutter should be used for this
purpose. The green food may be fed
alone or mixed with the moistened
ground food. The latter may consist
of wheat bran, corn meal and ground
oats, the bulls OF the oats having
been removed.
It is a welLknown fact that ducks
are much more free from diseases
and are not nearly so much bothered
with vermin as hens. For this reason
many farmers prefer to raise ducks
to chickens. Another thing, ducks are
more easily confined than hens. A
fence two or three feet high will con-
fine them under most conditions.
Ducks grow much faster than hens
and for this reason are much preferred
to hens by some farmers. We have
raised ducks up to ten weeks old
weighing four and one-half pounds
apiece, which is about twice as much
as chickens would weigh at that age.
For successful artificial incubation
of duck eggs we have found that we
had to keep the place where we ran
our machine exceptionally damp. Duck
eggs need more moisture for success
full incubation than hen eggs. We take
a small broom and thoroughly sprin-
kle the eggs with lukewarm water
iust before piping time. We leave
the young duck1ings in the machine
for the best part of the third day.
Then we remove them to warm brood
ers, previously made ready for them.
Their first feed is sand and water with
the chill taken off. About an hour af-
ter the sand and water we feed them
bread and sour milk. We feed this
for three days. Then we feed the
following mixture In It's place: One
part bran; one part ground wheat;
one-half part corn meal; one-fourth
part middlings; one-half part beef
scraps and some green feed. This Is
always moistened with sour milk or
water to a crumbly state. We feed
all they want and eat up clean. AS
they grow older we aim to feed about
one-fourth of their bulk In green feed.
Remember. 1t is the drafts and
dampness which kill so many ducks.
Also overlooking is a great cause Of
fatality in raising ducks.