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.