Ducks and Geese

Part I--Ducks

Chapter. Page.

I. Extent of the Industry--Opportunities 3

Present Extent of the Industry--Different Types of Duck Raising--Opportunities for Duck Raising--Prices for Breeding Stock--Ducks for Ornamental Purposes.

II. Breeds and Varieties--How to Mate to Produce Exhibition Specimens--Preparing Ducks for the Show--Catching and Handling 9

Breeds of Ducks--Classification of Breeds--Marking the Ducks--Nomenclature--Distinguishing the Sex--Size--Popularity of Breeds--Egg Production--Size of Duck Eggs--Color of Eggs--Broodiness--General Considerations in Making the Mating--Making the Mating--The Pekin--The Aylesbury--The Rouen--The Cayuga--The Call--The Gray Call--The White Call--The Black East India--The Muscovy--The Colored Muscovy--The White Muscovy--The Blue Swedish--The Crested White--The Buff--The Runner--The Fawn and White Runner--The White Runner--The Penciled Runner--Preparing Ducks for the Show--Catching and Handling Ducks--Packing and Shipping Hatching Eggs.

III. Commercial Duck Farming--Location--Estimate of Equipment and Capital Necessary in Starting the Business 42

Distribution--Stock Used--Location of Plant--Making a Start in Duck Farming--Equipment, Capital, etc. Required--Lay-out or Arrangement of the Plant--Land Required--Number of Breeders required--Housing Required for Breeders--Incubator Capacity--Brooder Capacity--Fattening Houses or Sheds--Feed Storage--Killing and Picking House--Resident--Horse Power--Feeding Track--Electric Lights--Water Supply--Fences--Labor--Invested Capital--Working Capital--Profits.

IV. Commercial Duck Farming--Management of the Breeding Stock 55

Age of Breeders--Distinguishing Young from Old Ducks--Selection of Breeding Ducks--Number of Females to a Drake--Securing Breeding Drakes--Houses and Yards for Breeders--Bedding and Cleaning the Breeding Houses--Cleaning the Breeding Yards--Water Yards for Breeders--Feeding the Breeders--Egg Production--Time of Marketing Breeders--Disease--Insect Pests--Dogs.

V. Commercial Duck Farming--Incubation 70

Kinds of incubators used--Incubator Cellar--Incubator Capacity Required--Age of Hatching Eggs--Care of Hatching Eggs--Selecting the Eggs for Hatching--Temperature--Position of Thermometer--Testing--Turning the Eggs--Cooling the Eggs--Moisture--Fertility--Hatching--Selling Baby Ducks.

VI. Commercial Duck Farming--Brooding and Rearing the Young Stock 80

Removing the Newly Hatched Ducklings to the Brooder House--Brooder Houses Required--Brooder House No. 1--Construction of House--Heating Apparatus--Pens--Equipment of the Pens--Grading and Sorting the Ducklings--Cleaning and Bedding the Pens--Ventilation--Other Types of Brooder Houses--Length of Time in Brooder House No. 1--Brooder House No. 2--Brooder House No. 3--Yard Accommodations for Ducklings--Shade--Feeding--Lights for Ducklings--Pounds of Feed to Produce a Pound of Market Duck--Water for Young Ducks--Age and Weight when Ready for Market--Cripples--Cleaning the Yards--Critical Period with Young Ducks--Disease Prevention--Gapes or Pneumonia--Fits--Diarrhoea--Lameness--Sore Eyes--Feather Eating or Quilling--Rats--Cooperative Feed Association.

VII. Commercial Duck Farming--Marketing 102

Proper Age to Market--Weights at Time of Marketing--The Last Feed for Market Ducks--Sorting Market Ducklings--Killing--Scalding--Picking--Dry Picking--Cooling--Packing--Shipping--Cooperative Marketing Association--Prices for Ducks--Shipping Ducks Alive--Saving the Feathers--Prices and Uses of Duck Feathers--Marketing Eggs.

VIII. Duck Raising, on the Farm 120

Conditions Suitable for Duck Raising--Size of Flock--Making a Start--Selecting the Breed--Age of Breeding Stock--Size of Matings--Breeding and Laying Season--Management of Breeders--Housing--Feeding--Water--Yards--Care of Eggs for Hatching--Hatching the Eggs--Brooding and Rearing--Feeding the Ducklings--Water for Ducklings--Distinguishing the Sexes--Marketing the Ducks--Diseases and Insect Pests.

Part Ii--Geese

IX. Extent of the Industry--Opportunities 141

Nature of the Industry--Opportunities for Goose Raising--Goose Raising as a Business for Farm Women--Geese as Weed Destroyers--Objections to Geese.

X. Breeds and Varieties--How to Mate to Produce Exhibition Specimens--Preparing Geese for the Show--Catching and Handling 147

Breeds of Geese--Nomenclature--Size--Popularity of the Breeds--Egg Production--Size of Goose Eggs--Color of Goose Eggs--Broodiness--Size of Mating--Age of Breeders--Marking Young Geese--General Considerations in Making the Mating--Making the Mating--The Toulouse--The Embden--The African--The Chinese--The Brown Chinese--The White Chinese--The Wild or Canadian--The Egyptian--Preparing Geese for the Show--Catching and Handling Geese--Packing and Shipping Hatching Eggs--Prices for Breeding Stock.

XI. Management of Breeding Geese 164

Range for Breeders--Number of Geese to the Acre--Water for Breeding Geese--Distinguishing the Sex--Purchase of Breeding Stock--Time of Laying--Housing--Yards--Feeding the Breeding Geese.

XII. Incubation 172

Care of Eggs for Hatching--Methods of Incubation--Period of Incubation--Hatching with Chicken Hens--Hatching with Geese--Breaking Up Broody Geese--Hatching with an Incubator--Moisture for Hatching Eggs--Hatching.

XIII. Brooding and Rearing Goslings 178

Methods of Brooding--Brooding with Hens or Geese--Length of Time Brooding is Necessary--Artificial Brooding--General Care of Growing Goslings--Feeding the Goslings--Percentage of Goslings Raised--Rapidity of Growth--Diseases.

XIV. Fattening and Marketing Geese 187

Classes of Geese Marketed--Markets and Prices--Prejudice Against Roast Goose--Methods of Fattening Geese for Market--Pen Fattening--Noodling Geese--Methods Used on Fattening Farms--Selling Geese Alive--Killing--Picking--Packing for Shipment--Saving the Feathers--Plucking Live Geese for their Feathers.

Index 215

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Frontispiece. Water Yards and Ducklings.

1. Mule Ducks and Blue Swedish Ducks 10

2. Mallard Ducks 11

3. Goose, Duck and Hen Eggs 18

4. Young Pekins for Breeders and Aylesbury Drake 19

5. Rouen Drake and Black East India Ducks 24

6. Rouen Drake in Summer Plumage and Rouen Duck 25

7. Cayuga Ducks 26

8. Gray Call Ducks 27

9. White Call Ducks 28

10. Colored Muscovy Drake and White Muscovy Drake 29

11. Crested White Drake and Young White Muscovy Showing Black on Head 32

12. Wing of Blue Swedish Duck 33

13. Pair of Buff Ducks 36

14. Penciled Runner Drake and White Runner Drake 37

15. Methods of Carrying Ducks 40

16. Power Feed Mixer 41

17. Duck Houses 58

18. House for Breeding Ducks 59

19. Another Type of Breeding House 62

20. Feeding the Breeders 63

21. Interior of Breeding House 74

22. Incubator Cellar 75

23. Interior of No. 1 Brooder House 82

24. Watering Arrangement in Brooder Pens 83

25. Another Type of No. 1 Brooder House 86

26. Brooder House No. 2 87

27. Brooder House No. 3 88

28. Long Brooder House and Yards 89

29. Pekin Ducklings 3 Days and 2 Weeks Old 90

30. Pekin Ducklings 3 Weeks and 6 Weeks Old 91

31. Interior of Cold Brooder House 92

32. Yard Ducks 93

33. Duck Sheds 94

34. Feeding and Watering Arrangements 95

35. Green Feed for Ducks 96

36. Feeding from Track 97

37. Yard Ducks at Rest 98

38. Artificial Water Yards 99

39. Catching Pens for Fattening Ducklings 104

40. Carrying Ducklings to Slaughter 105

41. Hanging Ducklings and Cutting Throat Veins 106

42. Bleeding Ducklings 107

43. Washing Heads 108

44. Ducklings Ready for the Pickers 109

45. Scalding 110

46. Picking Ducks 111

47. Dressed Duckling 112

48. Weighing Out Ducklings for Packing 113

49. Curing Duck Feathers 148

50. Egyptian Gander and Sebastapol Goose 149

51. Toulouse and Embden Ganders 154

52. Canadian and African Ganders 155

53. Brown and White Chinese Ganders 158

54. Methods of Handling Geese 159

55. Geese Fattening in an Orchard 198

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DUCKS

PART I

Chapter I

Present Extent of the Industry

Duck raising while representing an industry of considerable value to the United States when considered from a national standpoint, is one of the minor branches of the poultry industry. According to the 1920 census there were 2,817,624 ducks in the United States with a valuation of $3,373,966. As compared with this the census for 1910 shows a slightly greater number of ducks, 2,906,525, but their value was considerably less being only $1,567,164. In the ten years between the census of 1900 and that of 1910 there was a decrease in the number of ducks of nearly 40%.

According to the 1920 census the more important duck raising states arranged in their order of importance were Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Minnesota, Tennessee, Ohio, South Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska and Kentucky. The number reported for Iowa was 235,249 and for Kentucky 99,577. New England, the North Atlantic, the East North Central, the West North Central, the Mountain and the Pacific states showed an increase, while the South Atlantic, East South Central and West South Central states showed a decrease. In spite of the existence of quite a number of large commercial duck farms, the great bulk of ducks produced are those which come from the general farms where only small flocks are kept. Yet only a small proportion of farms have ducks on them. The comparatively small number of ducks is distributed over practically the entire United States, being more common in some sections than others, particularly along the Atlantic Coast and along the Pacific Coast, with fairly numerous flocks on the farms of the Middle West.

Different Types of Duck Raising. The conditions under which ducks are kept and the purpose for which they are kept fall under four heads: First, commercial duck raising for the production of duck meat; second, duck raising as a by-product of the general farm; third, duck raising for egg production; fourth, duck breeding for pleasure, exhibition or the sale of breeding stock.

Opportunities for Duck Raising. Undoubtedly the greatest opportunity for profitable duck growing lies under the first of these heads, namely, commercial duck raising. Where the conditions of climate, soil and land are favorable and where the location is good with respect to market there exists an excellent opportunity for one skilled in duck growing to engage in that business in an intensive manner for the purpose of putting on the market spring or green ducklings. Where these are in demand they bring a good price and since the output per farm is large they pay a good return even with a small margin of profit per pound.

The second greatest opportunity undoubtedly consists of duck raising as a by-product of the general farm. Where conditions are suitable, that is to say, where there is a considerable amount of pasture land easily accessible, and particularly where there is a stream or pond to which the ducks can have access, a small flock of ducks, say 10 or 12 females, can be kept to excellent advantage on the farm. The cost of maintaining them will not be great and they will not only provide a most acceptable variety in the form of duck meat and duck eggs for the farmers' table but they will also produce a surplus which can be sold at a profit. It must be remembered, however, that where only a small flock is kept it is generally impracticable for the farmer to give his ducks the attention necessary to cater to the market for green ducklings. As a result he usually keeps them until fall and sells them on the market at a considerably lower price than is obtained by the commercial duck grower.

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