Duck farms or plants are sometimes operated on a considerable scale at the beginning, the plans being carefully laid by some experienced duck man. In these cases, operations at the start may be of sufficient magnitude so that the output will amount to 15,000 or 20,000 ducklings in a year. In most cases, however, these places have been the result of a more gradual growth from a small beginning, a condition made necessary either by the inexperience of the grower or by lack of capital. Not infrequently men engaged in other forms of farming but possessing a suitable location will keep 200 or 300 breeding ducks and from this gradually build up a good sized duck plant.

_Equipment, Capital, etc. Required._ The estimates given as to the amount of equipment and capital required are based on the a.s.sumption that a plant is to be operated of sufficient size to have a yearly output of about 30,000 ducklings. It must be understood in this connection that location and various other conditions or circ.u.mstances will influence the cost of different items of equipment and for this reason these estimates must not be considered as absolute but should rather serve as a guide or basis on which to figure. The figures here given contemplate the building up of an establishment which is efficient but which is in no particular elaborate, the buildings and other equipment being as simple and inexpensive as possible.

_Lay-out or Arrangement of the Plant._ The plant must be carefully planned so as to make the best possible use of the land and particularly of the water frontage. It is particularly important to arrange the buildings in such a manner as to cut down labor as much as possible. If there is any expectation of enlarging the capacity at some future time, this must also be borne in mind in the arrangement of the various buildings and yards. The incubator cellar should be convenient to the No. 1 brooder house and the various brooder houses to one another. The brooder house must likewise be convenient to the growing and fattening houses and yards and these in turn to the killing house. The feed room should be centrally located so as to save labor as much as possible in feeding the ducks.

_Land Required._ For a duck plant of the size indicated 10 acres of land should be ample. This, however, means that no effort would be made to grow any of the feed for the ducks or ducklings with the exception of green feed. In some cases where the lay of the land is unusually favorable so that the plant can be laid out to the very best advantage, a smaller amount of ground than this might be sufficient but it is not well to figure on less than 10 acres.

_Number of Breeders Required._ With the usual methods of management and with good success, one may estimate that 40 young ducks can be marketed each year from each breeding female. This is a good average although in some good years duck raisers will do a little better than this. On the other hand in poor years they will not do so well. For a plant having an output of 30,000 market ducks there would therefore be needed in the neighborhood of 800 breeding ducks in addition to 100 drakes.

_Housing Required for Breeders._ In figuring on the amount of housing required for this number of breeding ducks, it is necessary to figure on 2 to 3 square feet of floor s.p.a.ce per bird, 3 square feet being better than 2. This would require a housing s.p.a.ce 20 feet deep by 120 feet long. However ducks are not usually housed in one building of this size, and in fact it is better not to do so since the smaller the flock of breeders kept together the better they will do. In no case should a duck raiser run more than 400 ducks in a flock and it is very much better to run them in pens of 100 each. In fact, some breeders do not place more than 25 to 50 breeding ducks in a pen.

_Incubator Capacity._ Incubators are used exclusively for hatching the eggs. At the present time in practically all cases some form of hot water mammoth incubator is utilized for this purpose. An investment is required both in incubators and in a cellar in which to operate them. In figuring on the incubator capacity necessary to take care of a proposition of this size, it is necessary to base the estimate on the number of eggs produced during the season of flush production. The duck raiser figures on incubating all eggs suitable for the purpose rather than to sell any of them for other purposes as there is a greater profit in rearing and marketing the ducklings. For that reason he must have incubator capacity enough to take care of all the eggs laid at any time of the year. During the season of flush production the yield will ordinarily run in the neighborhood of 80%. The period of incubation is 28 days but 2 days more should be added to this to allow for cleaning out the machines, etc., before starting another hatch. This means that there would be 30 days between hatches. Figuring on 800 ducks with an 80% production for 30 days an incubator capacity of around 19,200 eggs would be required.

_Brooder Capacity._ A brooder house capacity, where artificial heat can be supplied, sufficient to take care of about half of the total output of the plant at one time is necessary. This means there would have to be on this plant a heated brooder house capacity for 15,000 ducklings.

About half of this number or 7500 would need accommodations in the number 1 or warmest brooder house where the heat can be kept up to 65 or 70 degrees in the house itself, and warmer of course under the hover.

The other 7500 ducklings capacity would be in the number 2 house, that is, a house where heat could be supplied in the early spring and where the temperature could be run up to 60 degrees. Hovers in such a house are not really needed but it is common to cover the hot waterpipes with a platform in order to provide a runway on which one can run a wheel barrow and thus simplify feeding. Ordinarily after May 1 no heat is needed in the number 2 brooder house. The young ducks are usually 2 to 3 weeks old when they go into the number 2 house and they stay there for about 2 weeks depending on the weather. Heat for the brooder houses is supplied by means of hot water pipes and a coal burning stove such as are used in brooder houses for chickens. A number 3 or cold brooder house is also needed where ducklings can be housed and can be driven in at night and in cold weather after they have graduated from the number 2 house. From the number 3 house a part of the ducklings are taken directly to the yards where they are housed in open front sheds.

_Fattening Houses or Sheds._ In addition to the brooder houses, there are required fattening houses or sheds for the ducks when they are moved from the No. 3 brooder house to the yards. Suitable houses for this purpose are 16 feet deep by 24 feet long. In front they are 5 feet high and in the rear 3 feet. They are set on posts with a base board around to make them tight. The fronts are entirely open and provided with curtains which are used only in the winter to keep out the snow. The ducklings are shut in these houses when desired by means of wire panels which close the lower part of the front. Houses such as described are divided into two parts and each side will accommodate 200 ducklings.

_Feed Storage._ Considerable feed storage room is necessary as it is very desirable to be able to buy feed in quant.i.ty and also to carry a considerable stock on hand in order to offset the possibility of not being able to secure feed at any time. There should be storage capacity for 4 cars of 30 tons each, in other words, for 120 tons of feed. Still greater capacity than this is desirable. In connection with the feed storage there should be a place where the feed can be mixed and where feed can be cooked. Two power operated feed mixers are required as one is not sufficient during the busy season to allow the mixing and feeding of the mash for both the breeders and the young stock at the same time.

A feed cutter is necessary in preparing the green feed which is mixed in the mash. The usual type of kettle feed cooker is commonly used for boiling fish and preparing other cooked feeds but in its place a small four-horse steam boiler can be utilized to good advantage as this makes it possible to cook the feed right in the mixer by using a steam hose.

_Killing and Picking House._ A killing and picking house where the ducks can be prepared for market is another necessary building but this need not be an expensive building. It must be located with reference to its convenience to the rest of the plant. It is also desirable to locate it over a spring if one is available for the spring water can be used to excellent advantage in cooling the dressed ducklings. When a spring is not available water must be piped to this building. The killing house is usually built with at least one side open or partly open. A place is provided outside the picking room where the ducks can be hung and bled.

Inside room is required for six or eight pickers. A kettle for heating water to be used in scalding the ducks is necessary as are also tanks in which to place the ducks after they are picked. Additional room is needed where the ducks can be weighed and packed ready for shipment.

_Residence._ In addition to the other buildings enumerated, a residence would of course be necessary. The size and elaborateness of this and consequently its cost depends entirely upon the owner's needs and wishes.

_Horse Power._ One horse and wagon for the purpose of drawing the feed about the plant and for certain other necessary work would be required.

If the owner desires to do his own hauling of the feed from the railroad and the other necessary trucking he would, of course, have to keep more horses, a team at least, or an automobile truck. Where only one horse is kept, this trucking must be hired done.

_Feeding Track._ On many of the larger duck farms, a feed track is employed in feeding the stock. Such a track consists of a framework of sufficient strength to support a car filled with mash which is pushed along the track by hand. The track leads from the feed mixer across the various yards where the ducks to be fed are located, including both the breeding ducks, yard ducks and brooder ducks in yards. This involves a considerable amount of trackage which must be fairly level and which runs over the yard fences or along the ends of the yards so that the feed can be shoveled directly from the car into the feeding trays in the yards. The use of a feed track simplifies the feeding considerably but its construction is quite expensive. Where a track is not used, the feed as mixed is dumped into a low wagon which is driven along the yards, or through them by removing movable panels in the fences and the feed shoveled from the wagon to the feed trays.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16. Power feed mixer. The feed is dumped into a low wagon from which it is shoveled to the ducks. (_Photograph from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]

_Electric Lights._ Most duck farms at the present time are located where electric lighting is available. It is desirable and in fact almost necessary to have the various houses wired so that lights can be turned on when desired. In addition, lights are usually provided in the yards for fattening ducks and are used at night and especially during storms to keep the ducks from stampeding.

_Water Supply._ An adequate water supply is essential. This will consist of a well or spring furnishing an ample amount of water, a power pump and a water supply tank. From the tank, the water must be piped to the incubator cellar, the brooder houses, the killing house, the feed house and to any of the yards where the ducks do not have access to a natural supply of good water. In addition, of course, the water from the same tank is usually used to supply the residence.

_Fences._ Not a great deal of investment is necessary in fences since the yards are rather small and the fences are low. Two-foot fences of two-inch mesh wire are used for the yard ducks while for the little ducks 18-inch wire of one-inch mesh is used. The biggest items of expense connected with the fences are the cost of the stakes or posts used in their construction and the labor used in this work. The portion of the yards extending into the water are the most troublesome and most expensive to build. In some cases, rather elaborate wooden picket fences are used in the water yards. These are more permanent but are more expensive to build.

_Labor._ For a plant of the size indicated there would be required in addition to an active working proprietor three other men. One man would be needed to operate the incubators, one man would devote his time to the brooder houses, one man would feed the yard ducks and the fattening pens, and one man would do the killing and packing, take care of the feathers, clean the yards, etc. Of course, there would be periods when these men would not have their entire time taken up with their particular duties and this would permit them to turn in and help with the miscellaneous work on the plant.

In addition to the regular men employed, additional labor would be necessary to do the picking. For this purpose pickers are usually brought in and work by the piece. During the spring of 1920 these pickers received six cents per duck and they will average about 75 ducks a day, beginning work at 6 in the morning and finishing by noon or a little later. Some pickers will average as high as 100 ducks a day. In the busy season from 800 to 1200 ducks will be marketed per week and the usual practice is to kill and pick not over three days a week, usually during the first part of the week.

_Invested Capital._ Investment in the business exclusive of working capital, that is to say, the money in the land and buildings and other equipment would require under present conditions about $1,000 for each thousand ducks marketed. In other words, in a plant of this size, close to $30,000 would be invested. The amount of invested capital depends to some extent upon location and upon the elaborateness of the buildings and other equipment but with a well laid out economical plant an investment of the size indicated should be sufficient.

_Working Capital._ In addition to the capital invested in the plant there would be required a considerable amount of working capital. From the first of November to the beginning of the marketing of the ducks there would be required from $6,000 to $8,000 with which to purchase feed, meet the pay roll, and for other running expenses. Even after the marketing begins there would be a period of from a month to six weeks when the expenses will continue to be greater than the receipts so that some additional capital might be necessary. However, returns would begin to come in which could be used to take care of the more pressing current obligations so that additional working capital which might be needed over that indicated would not be large.

_Profits._ The profits in commercial duck raising vary widely, as must be expected, depending upon the management, upon the season and upon prices received. After deducting all overhead charges and interest on the investment, the net return per duck should be at least 10 cents per duckling marketed. In fact the return should be 15 cents to provide much inducement to engage in the business. Some seasons the returns will run greater than this but on the other hand, there is always the chance of occasional big losses.

CHAPTER IV

Commercial Duck Farming--Management of the Breeding Stock

_Age of Breeders._ On most large commercial duck plants the entire breeding stock is renewed each year. In other words, the breeders are kept only through their first laying season. This makes it necessary to select from the young stock reared and save for breeders as many head as it is desired to carry for the coming year. This practice is used for the reason that ducks lay best during their first year. Therefore, since it is desired to keep up the maximum egg production in order to raise as many market ducks as possible, young breeders are considered better.

Some raisers, however, keep a part of their breeding ducks for two years and occasionally for 3 or even 4 years but this is not the usual practice. Recent comparison made between young and two year old ducks as breeders would seem to indicate that ducklings hatched from the eggs of the latter live a little better.

_Distinguishing Young from Old Ducks._ In this connection it is of interest to know how young ducks can be readily distinguished from the older birds. The young ducks have bright yellow legs and bills while the old ducks after a period of laying, lose a considerable amount of the yellow from these sections. In addition, soon after the ducks begin to lay, their bills as a rule will begin to be streaked with black.

Young ducks can also be told from the old ducks by feeling of the end of the breast bone which runs to a point at the abdomen. In the older ducks this is hard while in the young ducks it is gristly and bends easily.

The windpipe of an old duck is hard and rather difficult to compress or dent while in the young duck it is softer and easily dented.

_Selection of Breeding Ducks._ The breeders are usually selected from the ducklings which reach market age from the last week in June through July. As these lots become ready for market and are driven into the pens to be slaughtered each duck is handled and any especially good birds which the proprietor thinks will make good breeders are thrown out at this time.

In making selection of breeders those are chosen which are healthy and thrifty and which have good wide, long and deep bodies. Ducks with crooked wings, crooked tails, hump backs or paddle legs are rejected for this purpose. After the young ducks for breeders are selected they are put in a yard or fattening pen until the number which the owner expects to keep is complete. These young breeders generally begin to moult soon after they are selected and from this time on they are fed whole corn and plenty of green feed until it is time to begin feeding the laying ration. Some of the breeding ducks will usually begin to lay about December 1 although they will not lay heavily at that time. The laying ration described later should be begun about that time or a couple of weeks earlier.

_Number of Females to a Drake._ As a rule on commercial duck farms the birds are mated in the proportion of about one drake to seven ducks.

This proportion will vary to some extent under different methods of management and weather conditions and may run all the way from 1 to 5 to 1 to 8. The smaller number of drakes should be used late in the season while the larger number will give better fertility early in the breeding season.

Since the drakes do not fight seriously, flock matings can be made.

Better results will be obtained from smaller flocks than from large flocks and there will also be less cracked eggs and less very dirty eggs from the smaller flocks. Before the ducks are let out in the morning there is a tendency for them to run back and forth through the pens, and in this way they tramp over many of the eggs which are laid anywhere about the floor. The larger the flock the more cracked and dirty eggs will result. While the drakes do not fight each other they do at times injure and kill the ducks to some extent when three or four drakes may chase one duck. In this way they may injure the ducks' backs and often pick their eyes and necks. Whenever a duck is found which is injured she should be removed from the flock. Difficulty of this sort is most prevalent about the 1st of March. If the trouble gets very bad it can be stopped to some extent by cutting back the upper bills of the drakes about one-fourth of an inch with a tinsnip or by reducing the proportion of drakes.

_Securing Breeding Drakes._ It is common practice on duck plants to avoid inbreeding by securing drakes from some other flock each year.

This is usually accomplished by buying the drakes outright from some neighboring duck farmer. It may also be accomplished by purchasing a few eggs for hatching in order to secure new blood. In any particular community there is a tendency for the duck farmers to trade breeding drakes among themselves for a period of years with the result that they all have much the same blood and not a great deal of benefit is obtained from securing the drakes from some neighbor's flock. It is undoubtedly good practice to go farther afield occasionally for a supply of breeding drakes. In purchasing stock for new blood be sure that it is as good as the home stock and better if it can be found. It will do no good to purchase and use inferior stock and may do much harm.

Houses and Yards for Breeders

The breeding flocks are usually confined to breeding yards. The size of these yards depends upon the size of the breeding flock but large yards are not required. A yard for 200 breeders is not as a rule larger than 100 by 200 feet including the water part of the yard. Houses and yards should be located on sand if possible as this is easier to keep clean and therefore keeps the birds in better condition. Occasional flocks of breeding ducks are allowed their liberty but this is not common practice nor is it good practice unless the surroundings are clean and the ducks do not have access to stagnant mud or refuse in which they can work. If ducks work too much in this kind of material they will eat more or less of it which injures the eggs for hatching purposes.

Many different styles of houses are used for breeders, some of which are decidedly more elaborate than is necessary. A very satisfactory economical house is one 20 feet deep, 7 feet high in front and 4 feet at back, with a shed roof. This can be constructed of tongue and groove material or may be made of unmatched stuff and covered with paper. A house of this proportion makes a good light house and it can be carried in length according to the size of the flock. For a breeding unit of 200 ducks, which is a good unit to use, a house 20 feet deep and 30 to 40 feet long is suitable. No floor is used in the house but it should be well filled up with dirt so that the water will not come in.

One or more good sized openings are left in the front of the breeding house for ventilation, or windows may be placed in the front which can be used for this purpose. Good ventilation is necessary. Additional ventilation is secured from the doors. If the weather is mild the doors are left partly open, if cold they are nearly closed, while when the weather is hot they are left entirely open. A good scheme is to use a sort of Dutch door so that the bottom or top half can be opened independently. In this way the top part of the doors can be left open so as to let in the sunlight and still keep the ducks in the house or the top may be left closed and the bottom opened so as to allow the ducks to go in or out and still cut down the amount of ventilation. When the weather is warm the doors may be left entirely open except for a board 18 inches to 2 feet wide inserted in the bottom of the door when it is desired to keep the ducks in.

Shade is essential for the breeders and if not provided naturally by trees must be supplied by means of artificial shelters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 17. Upper--Rear and end view of house or shed used for fattening ducks. Lower--General view on a duck plant, showing open front fattening houses in the foreground and houses for breeders in the background. (_Photographs from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S.

Department of Agriculture._)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 18. A good house for breeding ducks. It is 20 feet deep, 40 feet long, 7 feet high in front and 4 feet in the rear and will accommodate 200 breeders. (_Photograph from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]

_Bedding and Cleaning the Breeding Houses._ Usually straw, meadow hay, or swale hay is used for bedding. Shavings make good material for this purpose if they do not contain too much sawdust. The princ.i.p.al objection to shavings is that it takes longer to bed with them. Often a few joists are laid at the back of the house on which to pile bales of straw or other bedding so that it will be kept dry and will serve as an emergency supply available for bedding the house in stormy days. The houses should be bedded fairly often in order to keep the floors clean and dry and so as not to allow the ducks' feet to get cold. The frequency with which bedding is necessary will depend upon the weather. In winter it may at times be necessary to bed every day. In May it may be necessary only twice a week and still later in the season only once a week. In wet weather the ducks track in lots of mud and water and frequent bedding helps to keep the eggs clean. The houses are cleaned out only once a year and this is usually done after the ducks have stopped laying. To clean out the houses while the ducks are laying would disturb them and tend to stop their egg production.

_Cleaning the Breeding Yards._ The yards should be cleaned whenever they need it, that is, whenever they begin to get sloppy or sticky. It is a matter of judgment to decide when this is necessary. The character of the soil influences this, as sandy yards absorb the droppings better and do not need cleaning as frequently as heavier soils. In the yards for the breeding ducks, or the water yards, this will as a rule not be over 2 or 3 times a season. In dry weather cleaning is accomplished by sweeping the yards with a broom. In wet weather the droppings spread over the yard and are packed down by the ducks' feet until they form a layer of putty-like material which cannot be swept off but is sc.r.a.ped off by means of a hoe.

_Water Yards for Breeders._ Formerly it was the consensus of opinion that breeders needed water in which they could swim in order to keep in good breeding condition and to give the best results in fertility of the eggs. At present it is not considered necessary to have sufficient water to permit swimming although many breeders prefer to do this and feel that they get better results from it. However, breeding ducks have been and are being kept successfully in dry yards where water is supplied to them simply in an amount sufficient to allow them to drink and to clean themselves. Where water yards are provided this should not be on stagnant water but there should be some circulation of the water so as to keep it clean and fresh. Where the lay of the land is such that it is not possible to run all the yards down to a stream for this purpose it is sometimes possible to dig a ca.n.a.l or ditch from the stream to the yards so as to allow the ducks access to the water. Where the yards can extend into the water it saves a great deal of labor or considerable expense in equipment as it is not then necessary to provide the ducks with drinking water by means of some artificial arrangement such as a concrete gutter or ditch extending through the yards or by means of artificial ponds.