Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 239, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1915 — SOME DUCK SUGGESTIONS. [ARTICLE]

SOME DUCK SUGGESTIONS.

The duck has no crop, the food pan*— more directly to the digestive organs and does not undergo so complete a softening process as that consumed by the hen. Therefore ducks should be fed chiefly soft food, consisting of a variety of ground grains softened with water. Especially young or growing ducks should be fed but very little or no hard grains. I In duck raising it Is essential to have everything in and about the duck houses in the utmost sanitary condition, even though this is more difficult than with hens. The yards should bo and must be cultivated to keep them from becoming contaminated, when the ducks are confined in small yards. Rye |s often sown in these yards to keep them sanitary and provide a little green food. This is sown just as soon as the young ducks are sent to market

I 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 yonng 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 30 per cent to 40 per i cent green food in some form. If ducklings are confined to comparatively small yards we have found it advlsaI ble to provide plenty of shade for I them during the summer months. Green rye, clover, alfalfa, Canada field peas and corn 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 hulls of the oats having been removed.

It is a well-knopvn 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 confine 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 successful Incubation than hen eggs. We take a small broom and thoroughly sprinkle the eggs with lukewarm water just before pipping time. We leave the young ducklings tn the machine for the best part of the third day. Then we remove them to warm brooders, previously made ready for them. Their first feed is sand and water with the chill taken off. About an hour after the sand and water we feed them bread and sour milk. We feed this for three days. Then we feed the following mixture in Its 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, it is the drafts and dampness which kill so many ducks. Also over-feeding is a great cause of fatality in raising ducks.