Page:Ducks- and how to make them pay (IA cu31924003102971).pdf/43

Rh all cases have plenty of ventilation at the top of the house; $3⁄4$-inch match boarding, or feather-edged boards, is a good material for making the house. Where there are several breeds of ducks kept it is well to have the houses adjoining where there is a limited space, that is when a person makes a business of it but where a gentleman has a large pond it is nice to have the houses dotted about a little way from each other, and a piece of wire netting run across the pond, so that the ducks may all be out together. A large box, such as a case that match boxes have been packed in, which can be bought at the oil shop or a piano case, makes a splendid little house for one drake and four ducks, if it is set a little on the slant, and a piece of felt nailed on the top, because these are really wood grooved together. A large barrel, or hogshead, could be made to answer the purpose. The match boxes can be bought from 2s. to 2s. 6d. each, and the hogsheads will not cost more than from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. I just mention this because there are plenty of working men who may keep a small pen of ducks, and a little house may be made complete for about 3s. or 3s. 6d. Of course, this price would not include a concrete floor, neither would that be required, as the boxes are an inch thick, and the hogsheads or barrels are usually made with very hard wood, so that the old rats would have something to nibble at before they got through, and should they gnaw a hole through, it can easily be stopped up with a rag or piece of sacking dipped in gas-tar—if it is done in this way they will not take it out. Of course, those who have nice grounds, and like to see anything ornamental, can buy a