Page:Ducks- and how to make them pay (IA cu31924003102971).pdf/25

Rh up to ten in the morning, but the majority of them have laid by eight o'clock. Sometimes every duck will have laid by six in the morning. I have known as many as fifty eggs taken out of one pond where there have been only two ducks laying, and the owners have not known they were laying at all. As a rule, ducks are not so fond of going to lay in the nest as hens are. A nest of hay or straw should always be made for them, and a dummy egg put in after they have commenced laying. They will then usually lay in the nest, and frequently cover their eggs over after they have laid them. Those who are not accustomed to collect ducks' eggs must remember this, and always put their hand in the bottom of the nest to feel whether there are any there or not, because it is often impossible to see anything of them until they are uncovered.

Those who only want to bring up a few ducks for their own consumption, say two or three broods during the twelve months, should buy the eggs, instead of keeping a pen of stock ducks just for this purpose, unless there is an opportunity of selling a few sittings to their neighbours or friends. That is to say, unless one has a fancy for keeping a few stock ducks, then that alters the case altogether. Some prefer ducks' eggs for breakfast-to such I should say, "Go in for a pen of ducks." Stock ducks are none the better for being kept too warm at night in their houses; as they appear to feel the cold very much the next morning. When they do feel the cold they will sit upon the ground, especially early in the morning when they are allowed to run out. They had far better be kept in an open shed than