THE POULTRY YARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18547, 3 November 1923, Page 18

THE POULTRY YARD.

REARING DUCKLINGS. IMPORTANCE OF DIET. BY S.BT.S. • The feeding sof from the baby stage is not a very difficult matter, although I have received during the last few weeks many inquiries as to what ; s the best food to use, and how to feed it. To some it may seem difficult to get ducklings to start and eat their first meal, but this is simple if one uses the following methods. First of all we must not be in a hurry to give them their first meal. just the same as I have advised regarding chickens. When they go a couple of days after being hatched, you can safely consider feeding the first meal and the first drink of water. At the time of writing I have just trained a | flock of a hundred ducklings up to the stage that they know where to get a drink of water, what to eat, and where to go to get warmed up and dry after doing a little splashing at the drinking i fount, as they usually do. My worst | time is over with this flock, as the ( hatching, drying off, marking, and placing them in a. suitable brooder in small flocks, and teaching them what to do, is a tedious job unless one is interested Ducklings in Brooder. The ducklings I am referring to are now four days old, so, allowing two days be- . fore the first feed, and two days of | training and watching, it surely is not a very long job to one that loves the work. My ducklings in this batch are doing famously in three sections of about 35 ducklings m each lection of a headed brooder. The brooder is about nine feet long, each section being three feet long by three feet deep, and ten inches or J so high- I place a bedding of pine | needles on the whole of the floor space, i and the sections are heated with two hot water pipes running along the back of the brooder about six inches apart; the back pipe is some four inches away from the back, so that the warmest part of the brooder is some 12 inches wide by three feet long. Thirty-five to fifty < ducklings will do nicely in this size com- I partment for the first two weeks, and then ] they can do very well without heat if kept in a cosy room or dry box at night. The front of the brooder has an opening cut in semi-circle style about ten inches long by six inches high in the highest part. Training Ducklings. When the ducklings are used to going J in and out of this opening it must not , be closed if in ,a rat-proof shed. I' have placed it in my incubator shed, - which is brick. With the incubator going the room is nice and cosy, and 1. have provided each section with a small run, about the same size as the section it serves. The ducklings, now that they ] know their way about, delight to come | out at certain periods in the day and i night to find a drink and meal there all ready for them. We read of- feeding ducklings four or five times a day, and each meal must be cleaned up which, of course, causes a lot of trouble to the caretaker the first* few weeks. Personally, I believe in rearing, my ducklings the i simplest way, and ii they can be reared I safely and develop into strong birds fit , to lay and to be bred from by a particular method, then I am after it. While I am writing these notes I expect the 100 ducklings I am writing about are out in their little run enjoying a feed and drink, although it is getting late at nighttime. It makes one feel easy -when they are protected. from rats, and the cold wet weather. Monitors for Ducklings. Now that I have explained what sort J of a brooder is suitable for 100 to 150 ] ducklings' during the "first two weeks 1 , will try and explain how I get them contented in their new quarters at four ; days old •without a mother to - teach _ them what to eat - and what, to do. While we «u. teach '.them without the . assistance of older ducklings, yet I find it feasier ii we place a few In each section a week i older and who know the way in, the way j out and where to find food and drink at J all hours of the day and night. These older ducklings run in . and out and drink and eat whatever is given to them, and, of course, the younger fry do likewise after a little tempting. The first thing I do after placing them in the brooder is to put them under the hot water pipes and shut • them in for -a - white- When i they are settled' down I open the top I which is really a door on hinges, and sprinkle a little coarse < oatmeal on their backs. • Being white it attracts their attention and each one starts picking the little pieces off < each others back'and thus they learn to eat their first meal. Teaching Ducklings to Drink. To get ducklings to drink without wet- I ting themselves all over is harder than , teaching them , to, eat. The older , ducklings will, of course, show the way, but in case one has no extra ones to teach - the yoang fry, it may >• be necessary to dip the beaks of each duck, or a number of them, into the drinking fount or tin. During the first day r after } being , placed < in the brooder the attendant must watch carefully so that the' ducklings do not get over v wet" and cold. What I< do is, to' let . them out every couple ' of Hours. during the first day, and, of course, the. older i ducklings are keen, on getting out of the closed brooder, and the little ones follow, i give them about 10 minutes or a quarter of an hour in this outside run and when I see the little fellows getting wet and inclined to feel cold I pack them all back again and repeat this at two hour intervals during the first day and also the last thing at night under the light of - a bright lamp. The first day's teaching when one has the older , ducklings is about enough. Food for Ducklings. As regards the food given, it can do for brooder ducklings or those with the hen. Not many duck writers will advocate giving young ducklings chick food which consists of hard grains ground into small fragments and perhaps a little tine grit, yet these two-aay-old ducklings of mine are enjoying eating the same. For the first few meals I use coarse oatmeal, then . I give a little rolled oats and I alsc place in the water a little chick food which, when wet, becomes soft and eatable for them. If the chick food is fine enough no one need be afraid of givi. 6 it to ducklings if placed in the water first. It is not so mucky and sticky as soft foods. Wh4t one has to do in breeding ducklings ' is to keep them from getting guanmed-up' eyes and . thin downy feathers all stuck down which is an eyesore and a danger to the health of the duckling. If soft food is given them > then they must be provided with a water" tin whereby they can get their whole head in. -When this is provided in a brooder the run must be a long one and the water right away from sleeping quarters. With coarse oatmeal, rolled oats, chick ; food placed in the drinking water or in another tin and moistened, a supply of green stuff provided in various ways after ! the first few .days and a continuous supply j of water placed so Chat they cannot get too wet and for the first two weeks ducklings in a brooder such as I have outlined wili do well. The first two I weeks is the critical time, and they are not really out of danger until they are five or six weeks old. If they are kept in too warm a place and too small a place, after they are two weeks old, it N will lead to sweating and special means must -be adopted to cope with the rapid grown ducklings make after the first two or three weeks. It is remarkable how quickly they do grow and to realise this. one only needs to watch the growth of a batch of chickens and ducklings the same age. At about ten weeks the duckling seems fully grown while the chick is still a chick and looks it. '.