ducks are so profitable that i cannot understand why so few keep them, unless it is the mistaken idea that they must have a stream or pond in which to swim. it is true that the old-fashioned puddle duck did seem a miserable creature out of water, but the improved strains are almost as much land birds as chickens are. my stock started with two ducks and a drake which had cost me seven dollars. the first season i raised fifty-eight, sold forty-six, and kept twelve to stock. they were ready for market when eleven weeks old, and the lowest price was eighteen cents a pound.
ducks must have dry, comfortable quarters, but a splendid house for twenty ducks can be made on any farm for a dollar, or even less. one man who keeps large flocks makes duck houses with hurdles of green boughs for walls and roof, the outside padded with leaves, straw, corn stalks or cedar boughs. each house is six feet by four feet and two and one half feet high, and accommodates seven ducks and a drake.
dry-goods boxes, costing ten cents at any village store, can be made comfortable for a small flock. the main point is to keep them dry, which depends almost more on the care given to the covering of the 72 floor than the wall of the house. good, dry bedding, changed at least twice a week, will keep them warm and happy through the coldest weather.
ducks’ eggs bring good prices during february and march. you can easily get them to laying by then, as it depends principally on feeding. ducks, like geese or cattle, must have a good percentage of bulk material and green stuff, as well as concentrated grain feed. clover hay, or even mixed hay, chopped and steamed, about half a pailful with a pint of coarsely ground corn-meal and the same of bran mixed through it, is about right. if hay is short, chop corn stalks small, and steam. chopped vegetables of all kinds are good, but pumpkins, potatoes and beets are fattening; so, unless the weather is very cold, omit the corn when they are fed, using more bran or screenings in its place.
in the summer have the children gather plantain, dock, groundsel or any other non-poisonous weeds. have sugar barrels ready, and pack in the weeds while fresh. get a heavy, solid board rounded off to fit inside the barrel, put on top of the green stuff, and weight down with heavy stones. pad up tight with paper, sawdust, straw or any loose material, and replace the head of the barrel. when snow covers the ground, such food will increase the eggs from both ducks and chickens.
oak leaves, acorns and pig hickories do not take long to gather in the fall, and will tone up the appetites of pigs, chickens and ducks late in january, when they are getting tired of grain feed. 73
ducks and geese
imperial pekin, rouen and indian runners have been the best market breeds of ducks for some years past, and are still splendid fellows, both for eggs and table, and their new rivals, the buff orpington ducks, quite equal them as utility birds.
ducks make such bad mothers that it is better to hatch their eggs under hens or in incubators. the first few eggs a duck lays each season are seldom fertile. eleven are a full sitting, and it requires twenty-eight days for their hatching. examine the nest every two or three days after setting the hen, for bad eggs. a weak germ that dies causes the egg to decompose, and the odour once smelled can never be forgotten.
examine the nest when the hen comes off to feed, and take away the eggs that are dark and mottled. if you fancy an egg looks wrong, pick it up and smell it; that and its sticky touch assure you, for the egg is porous. if you have been using an incubator to hatch chicks you can test with a proper tester, and this must be done all the time from the fourth to the fifteenth day.
when the hatch is over at the end of the twenty-eighth day, have ready a box about a foot deep and three feet long, the top out and one end taken off. place the open end against the coop door, so making a little run, with a board floor covered with an inch of dry sand or earth. baby ducks need even more protection from damp than chicks; therefore, if the weather is bad, keep the coop and run under cover, 74 and if fine, the shade of a tree is necessary, for the little fellows can’t stand the full sun. after a week the hen can be removed, but keep them within bounds on short grass, not letting them out until the dew is gone.
for twenty-four hours feed nothing. first week: half a pint of rolled oats, some cracker or stale bread crumbs, two hard-boiled eggs chopped fine, half a cupful of coarse sand just moistened with milk. feed four times a day just what they will eat in ten minutes.
second and third weeks: half a pound of ground oats, the same of wheat bran, one-fourth of a pint of corn-meal, the same of coarse sand, two tablespoonfuls of beef meal, a pint of finely cut green clover, rye or cabbage moistened with scalded milk. they must be fed four times a day.
fourth to sixth week: boil a quart of hulled oats for an hour, add a pint of corn-meal, wheat bran, half a pint of fine grit, the same of beef scraps and a quart of clover or any kind of green food. feed four times a day.
sixth to tenth week: one quart of corn-meal, a pint of wheat bran, a pint of boiled oats, a pint of beef scraps, half a pint of grit, a tablespoonful of charcoal and a pint of clover. feed three times a day.
they should be ready to kill the eleventh week.
do not let the ducks, young or old, get frightened if you can possibly help it. they are nervous things. no matter what you feed, if they are frightened or made to run daily, they will not fatten. if you go 75 about them gently they are the easiest things to drive any distance, for where one goes, all follow; hurry them and they will scatter, and it is good-bye to them for hours.
the feed for those to be kept for stock is the same up to three weeks old, but from that on one quart of ground feed, one quart of bran, half a pint of grit and half a pint of beef scraps. mix moist with milk, water, sour milk or buttermilk, and feed night and morning. if on a free range this is all they want. if not, you must add clover or vegetables, and feed three times a day. remember always to have fresh, clean water before them.
when ducks are ten or eleven weeks old they should be in condition for market. early green ducks should weigh not more than four and one-half pounds, while later ducks cannot be too heavy. as a rule early ducks mature very unevenly, making it necessary to sort them over often.
ducks are fit to dress for only a short time. they “go back,” as it is termed, for they shed and grow a new lot of feathers, which takes all the fat and all your profit. hence the importance of turning them into money as soon as possible.
in dressing it is most desirable to dry pick. although some still scald, dry-picked stock sells better than scalded, especially when the market is dull, for it can be frozen, while scalded stock cannot. for dry picking have a box for the feathers. it may be of any size you wish on the ground, and should be of 76 such depth that the top edge is one or two inches lower than your knee when in a sitting position. to use for cooling the ducks, saw a coal-oil barrel in two; use one-half for cooling, the other half for clear water to put them in after washing.
to kill, catch the feet in the left hand, and the neck near the breast with the right hand, then with a swinging motion (the same as in using an axe), strike the back of the head against a post with sufficient force to start the blood from the ears. now with a quick motion place the body under your left arm, catching the back of the head and the top of the bill in the left hand. using a knife with a five-inch blade, make a cut crosswise at the base of the brain, then turn the edge to the roof of the mouth, and slash outward, being careful not to split the bill. let the blood run for two seconds.
sit down. place your knees against the neck just tight enough to keep it in place. if too much pressure is put on, it will stop the flow of blood and give the flesh a red appearance. hold the feet and wings in the left hand. commence picking at the vent, then the breast and neck. the feathers are left on half the neck, and on the wings from the first joint out. pick clean as you go, for once the duck gets cold, it will be hard to pick. experts use a shoemaker’s knife ground thin, and strop it the same as a razor, to shave the pin and small feathers off.
after picking, put them into ice water or cold spring water until the animal heat is gone; then wash the 77 feet, and wash all clots of blood from the mouth and throat; then put into another vessel of water, which takes all the stains off and gives a nice clean appearance. after they are clean you can put them into a barrel or box with crushed ice, and if left for twelve to twenty-four hours in this condition they can be shipped a long distance with but little ice. to make dressed ducks show up good it is necessary to take them out of clean water at the finish. the second vessel should have clean water put in as soon as it gets cloudy.
when packing for shipment, use flour or sugar barrels. pack with back down, putting the head under the wing. pack close, and leave a space on top for ice. raise the top hoop, place burlap on top, drive the hoop on again, with the burlap under, and nail firmly. before using, the barrel should be thoroughly washed. bore two three-fourths-inch holes in the bottom, to drain.
a goose will lay from ten to twenty eggs and then want to sit; but if you coop her in sight of her companions, four or five days will suffice to break her up. if she lays a third clutch of eggs, let her keep them and sit.
when the weather is mild, set five eggs under a hen; or, if she is very large, seven might be risked. it takes from twenty-eight to thirty days for goose eggs to hatch. as the skin is very tough, it is well to sprinkle a little water around the nest, and even on the eggs themselves, during the last two weeks, especially 78 if the weather is dry and hens are doing the incubating.
the youngsters need nothing for the first thirty-six hours. then feed scalded corn-meal—the coarsest kind—and wheat bran, chopped green clover or young green oats cut fine, tops of green onions, lettuce leaves or any tender young greens.
if the weather is fine, put the coop containing biddy and her family out on the grass, making a small yard in front for the first few days, to prevent their wandering too far away. move the coop and yard to a new place as they eat the grass. like young ducks, their drinking water must be in a vessel that permits them to put the whole beak into the water, or they are apt to get the air passages clogged up with soft food, causing the gosling to smother; but on no account must they be permitted to get their bodies into the water, as they chill and cramp so easily.
it is much better to buy two- or three-year-old birds from a reliable dealer for stock than obtain eggs for setting and wait for them to develop. after the breeding season is over, geese and goslings need little grain if on grass land. late in the fall geese do well if turned into the corn stubble or the orchard, where they will clean up all the windfalls—which does much to stamp out grubs and insects.
