Ducks and Geese: Standard Breeds and Management

Part 1

Transcriber Note

Text emphasis is dentoed as Italic and =Bold=.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 64.

DUCKS AND GEESE:

STANDARD BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT.

GEORGE E. HOWARD,

Secretary of National Poultry and Pigeon Association.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1897.

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, Washington, D. C., September 24, 1897.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for publication as a Farmers' Bulletin, an article on Ducks and Geese, prepared by Mr George E. Howard, secretary of the National Poultry and Pigeon Association. It comprises an enumeration of the standard breeds of ducks and geese, and contains suggestions for their management. The practical information contained in this bulletin will undoubtedly prove of value to persons engaged in raising ducks and geese, and its publication and widespread distribution are respectfully recommended. The illustrations were drawn by the author from original sketches and photographs, with the exception of three of the cross-bred geese, which are after the illustrations published by the Rhode Island Experiment Station, and the wild goose, which is after the illustration in Wright's Book of Poultry. The author has received generous assistance in treating of the practical details from James Rankin, A. J. Hallock, George H. Pollard, and others who are largely engaged an the raising of water fowls for market.

Respectfully,

D. E. Salmon, Chief of Bureau.

Hon. James Wilson, Secretary.

CONTENTS.

DUCKS. Page.

Standard breeds of ducks 3

White Pekin ducks (illustrated) 4

White Aylesbury ducks (illustrated) 5

Colored Rouen ducks (illustrated) 8

Black Cayuga ducks (illustrated) 10

Colored and White Muscovy ducks (illustrated) 12

Gray and White Call ducks (illustrated) 14

Black East Indian ducks 15

Crested White ducks (illustrated) 17

Part 2

Management of ducks 18

Starting a plant (illustrated) 19

Buildings for breeding ducks (illustrated) 20

Brooding houses (illustrated) 22

Supplying water (illustrated) 29

Feeding 30

Mixing feed 32

How much to feed 32

Oyster shells and grit 33

Killing and dressing for market (illustrated) 33

Development of the duckling in the egg 34

Natural incubation 36

Artificial incubation 36

Geese

Standard breeds of geese 38

Gray Toulouse geese (illustrated) 38

White Embden geese (illustrated) 39

Gray African geese (illustrated) 40

Brown and White Chinese geese (illustrated) 41

Gray Wild geese (illustrated) 43

Colored Egyptian geese (illustrated) 43

Management of geese 44

Mating and setting 45

Feeding and dressing for market 47

Cross breeding (illustrated) 48

DUCKS AND GEESE.

DUCKS.

STANDARD BREEDS OF DUCKS.

Part 3

=Introduction.=--There are ten standard breeds of ducks raised in this country, as follows: The White Pekin, White Aylesbury, Colored Rouen, Black Cayuga, Colored Muscovy, White Muscovy, Gray Call, White Call, Black East Indian, and the Crested White. Of these breeds, the first six are considered profitable to raise; the two breeds of Calls and the Black East Indian are bantams, and are bred more for the showroom; the Crested White may be considered as almost purely ornamental.

WHITE PEKIN DUCKS.

=History.=--Of all ducks for farm and practical purposes none stand higher in popular esteem than the White Pekin (fig. 1). It is valuable for raising on a large scale, and is the most easily raised of any. It is a very timid bird and must be handled quite carefully. It was imported from China in the early seventies, and has steadily grown in popularity since its introduction into this country.

=Description.=--The Pekin duck has a distinct type of its own, and differs from all others in the shape and carriage of its body. By some it is credited with having a shape much like an Indian canoe, owing to the full growth of feathers under the rump and the singular turned-up carriage of the tail. The legs are set far back, which causes the bird to walk in an upright position. In size these ducks are very large, some reaching as high as 20 pounds to the pair. Their flesh is very delicate and free from grossness, and they are considered among the best of table fowls. They are excellent layers, averaging from 100 to 130 eggs each in a season. They are nonsetters, hardy, easily raised, and the earliest in maturing of any ducks. The method given in this bulletin for raising ducks is based on the Pekin as a standard, and the treatment, food, housing, etc., is given as used by the largest and most successful raisers of Pekins. Other ducks are judged for practical qualities by the Pekin. Fig. 2 shows a group of White Pekin ducks.

The standard-bred Pekin has a long finely formed head, a bill of medium size, of a deep yellow color, that is perfectly free from any mark or color other than yellow. The color of the bill is very important for exhibition birds, and it is not infrequent that one of the best ducks in a showroom is disqualified for having a faint tracing of black in the bill. The eyes are of deep leaden-blue color. The neck of a Pekin should be neatly curved; in the drake it should be large and rather long, while that of the duck is of medium length. The back is long and broad; breast is round, full, and very prominent. The body is long and deep, and the standard gives for adult birds a body approaching the outlines of a parallelogram. The wings are short, carried closely and smoothly against the body. The birds can not sustain flight, a 2-foot fencing being ample to restrain them in an inclosure. The tail is erect, more so than in any other specimen. The curled feathers in the tail of the drake are hard and stiff. The thighs are short and large; shanks short and strong, and in color are a reddish orange; toes straight, connected by a web, and reddish orange in color. The plumage is downy, and of a faint creamy white throughout. Recently it has been noticed that preference in the showroom is being given to birds of whiter plumage. The breeders are selecting as their show birds those that have the snow-white plumage instead of the creamy white, as given in the standard.

=Weight.=--The standard weight of the adult drake is 8 pounds; adult duck, 7 pounds; young drake, 7 pounds, and young duck, 6 pounds.

WHITE AYLESBURY DUCKS.

=History.=--The White Aylesbury ducks (fig. 3.) are second to the popular Pekins for market purposes, and are bred in large numbers in England and Europe. In this country they are not so extensively bred as the Pekin, neither have they been found so good as the latter. These ducks receive their name from Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. They are of large size, pairs occasionally reaching the weight of 18 pounds, the male birds weighing 9 or 10 pounds, and the female 7 or 8. Birds weighing 15 to 16 pounds to the pair are the average.

=Description.=--The head of the Aylesbury duck is long and neatly formed; the eyes of a deep leaden-blue color; the long, wide bill is of a pale flesh color or pinkish hue, and should be free from dark spots, bills marked with black being a disqualification; the neck is slender, long, and gracefully curved; the body is long and oval; the breast is full and round; the strong shanks are of brilliant light-orange color; the wings are strong and nicely folded; the back is both long and broad, and the tail formed of stiff, hard feathers.

The soft white plumage is one of the chief attractions of the Aylesbury breed, and like most white plumage has a tendency to assume a yellow hue if exposed to the sun. The beak will also lose its delicate pink hue and become yellow if exposed to too much sunlight in summer. The bill of the Pekin should be yellow, but the bill of the Aylesbury should be a delicate pink or flesh color, and birds intended for exhibition must possess this quality or they will suffer at the hands of the judge. Birds raised for exhibition purposes must be guarded against too much exposure to the sunlight in the summer. Of course, these delicate points are of no consequence to the market poulterer other than to show the true type of the breed.

For farm purposes the Aylesbury is to be recommended, second only to the Pekin; it possesses the many good qualities of the Pekin, and can be bred with almost the same success. The advantages claimed for Aylesbury are the ease with which it is acclimated, thriving in every country and climate; its early maturity; its great hardiness; its large size; its great prolificacy, and the real beauty which it possesses. Raisers recommend for raising exhibition birds one drake to two ducks, or two drakes to five ducks, all being allowed to run together. Duck raisers who raise large numbers for market breed them as they do Pekins, using from four to eight females to one male, according to the season of the year. Fresh blood is introduced every year to keep up the size, and breeding stock is seldom kept longer than the second or third year.

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