Page:Ducks- and how to make them pay (IA cu31924003102971).pdf/63

Rh sheds. Young ducklings should never, under any consideration, he left out in the hot sun in the middle of the day. There are many people lose their young ducklings in the hot weather. Frequently, where there are large numbers reared, there will be from four to ten die in a day. Sometimes, where only a few are brought up, two or three die every day; that is, of course, when they are allowed to run in the sun in the hot weather. I have a large number sent me for post-mortem examination where every organ of the body is perfectly healthy. A young duckling's skull appears to be so thin that the sun affects the brain, and often causes death in a few minutes. Some of them will stagger about for an hour or two before they die, but generally they are found on their backs. It is well to use a good quantity of boiled rice in the hot weather with the other meals, as it is very cooling. A meal entirely of rice should be given occasionally, but it must not be made up too sloppy. Put it in a cloth to boil it, but take care that the cloth is tied loosely; if not, when the rice begins to swell it will burst the cloth. Wherever there is skim milk or buttermilk, such as there often is at a gentleman's residence or a farmhouse, always use that to mix up their meal with, when it can be spared.

Those who only rear ducklings for their own consumption, or rather, rear them so that they have some to kill the whole of the spring and summer, should have a few small places made just about four feet square, so that they can be put in at different ages. A place from four to five feet square does splendidly for from six to ten ducklings, and gives them plenty of room. In all cases they should be