Page:Ducks- and how to make them pay (IA cu31924003102971).pdf/65

Rh number ready at one time, as after they reach the age of eleven or twelve weeks they begin to go back in condition.

Some of my readers may ask, "How do farmers rear young ducklings when they are always allowed to go into the pond from the time they are hatched, when you say it is injurious for ducklings to go into the water?" Now it must be understood that it is very seldom farmers hatch out any till the end of April, or the beginning of May, when of course the water is not so likely to give them cramp. If they were to hatch out in January, February, and March, and then let them have their fling, the farmer would most probably find the death-rate would be very high. Where people have well-bred ducklings, especially if they are bred from good stock, they will find a few of them appear to stand right out from the others, with larger frames and beaks. These should be picked out of the flock when they are from five to seven weeks old, put in a place by themselves, and fed as I have described. They should also be kept much thinner on the ground than those which are being prepared for the market or table. Unless ducklings promise to be good stock birds and likely to make a fair price, they should always be sent to the market before they are twelve weeks old, or else killed and consumed by the owners. I should advise those who have no warm house for the young ducklings when they are hatched, and especially those who have only a few ducklings, say one or two broods, to let the hen run with them, if it is cold weather. They seem to grow so much faster if they are kept fairly warm. Where there are a large number in a