Ducks and Geese

by Harry M. Lamon; Rob R. Slocum

Hatching the Eggs. The period of incubation for duck eggs ranges from 26 to 28 days for all of the breeds except the Muscovy. In this breed it takes from 33 to 36 days for the eggs to hatch. Inasmuch as most of the commonly kept breeds are not very broody and therefore do not make reliable hatchers and mothers it is necessary to resort either to the use of chicken hens for this purpose or else to utilize incubators. Either one of these methods can be used with good success. With the small farm flock it is very common to utilize hens. The ordinary hen will be able to cover 9 to 11 duck eggs to advantage depending on her size and upon the season of the year. In cold weather the smaller number should be used rather than the larger number. Before setting the hen she should be thoroughly dusted with insect powder to free her from lice. Several hens can be set in the same room but they should be confined on their nests allowing them to come off only once a day for feed and water. Cracked corn makes an excellent feed for sitting hens. If desired Muscovy, Call, East India, Mallard, Wood or Mandarin ducks can be allowed to make their nests and to hatch their eggs as they are reliable sitters and good mothers.

After the duck eggs first pip there usually elapses a longer period of time before the ducklings get out of the shell than is the case with chicks. For this reason it is well to take the hens off for feed and water when the first eggs are pipped returning them to the nest as quickly as possible and confining them there until the hatch is over.

During the last week of incubation it is desirable to sprinkle the eggs daily with water using quite a liberal amount as duck eggs seem to require more moisture than hens' eggs in order to hatch well.

All duck eggs which are at all badly soiled should be washed before they are set. Washing does not seem to injure their hatching qualities. In fact, some breeders prefer to wash all duck eggs whether dirty or not, feeling that this opens up the pores and causes a better hatch. This belief is based upon the idea that when ducks hatch their own eggs under natural conditions they have access to water in which they swim and in coming back on the nest their wet feathers serve to wash the eggs.

Where an incubator is used for hatching the eggs are placed in the machine just as hens' eggs. For the first week the temperature is kept about 102 degrees and for the rest of the period is maintained as close to 103 degrees as possible, the bulb of the thermometer being on a level with the tops of the eggs. Often the temperature will run up a little higher than this at hatching time but this does not do any harm. An incubator will accommodate from four-fifths to five-sixths as many duck eggs as it will hens' eggs.

About the fifth or sixth day the duck eggs are tested and all infertile and dead germs removed. From this time on eggs are turned twice a day and usually cooled once a day until they pip. A second test may be made about the fifteenth or sixteenth day when any eggs which have died are removed. If dead germ eggs are left in the machines they spoil very quickly and cause a strong odor which makes it necessary to remove them. During the last week or ten days and in some cases for a longer period than this incubator operators supply moisture daily to the machine. This is usually provided by sprinkling the eggs liberally with water which has been warmed to about the temperature of the machine. However, if warm water is not available, water of ordinary temperature may be used although it is not well to use extremely cold water. As a rule the eggs begin to pip about the twenty-sixth day. At this time the machine should be tightly closed up and left so until the hatching is over. In case moisture seems to be lacking and the ducklings are having a hard time to get out of the shell the machine can be opened and the eggs sprinkled again. If there seems to be sufficient moisture, however, the machines should not be opened or disturbed. As a rule it takes ducklings from 24 to 48 hours to hatch after the pipping first begins. It is advisable to leave the ducklings in the incubator until they are well dried off before removing them to the brooder. As a rule the hatching will be entirely over by the twenty-eighth day.

Brooding and Rearing. Ducklings can be brooded if desired by means of chicken hens. In this case the ducklings which the hen hatches should be given to her and she should be confined to some kind of a coop which will allow the ducklings to run at liberty. If the hen is given her liberty she goes too far and takes too much exercise for the little ducks. Where artificial brooders are used any type of brooding apparatus can be utilized which is used with success for chickens. It must be remembered, however, that ducklings do not require as high a degree of heat as do baby chicks and should be started off at a temperature of about 90 degrees under the hover. This can be reduced rather rapidly until it is down to 80 at about 2 weeks of age. The length of time that the ducklings require heat after this depends upon the season and the weather. Even in fairly cool weather they do not need any heat after they are 5 or 6 weeks old.

It is necessary to keep the brooders clean and in order to do this they must be cleaned out frequently and new litter supplied. While the ducklings are small the brooders should be cleaned at least every other day and as they get larger, cleaning once a week with the addition of fresh litter between times will be sufficient.

Feeding the Ducklings. Ducklings do not need to be fed until they are from 24 to 36 hours old. At this time they may be given a mixture composed of equal parts by measure of rolled oats and bread crumbs with 3% of sharp sand mixed in the feed. This may be given them five times daily although some duck raisers feed only 3 times daily from the start. About the third day this feed is changed to equal parts of bread, rolled oats, bran and corn meal. After the seventh day the ration may consist of 3 parts bran, 1 part each of low-grade wheat flour and corn meal, 10% green feed, 5% beef scrap with about 3% of sand mixed in.

The ducklings should be fed four times daily after the seventh day until they are two or three weeks old. After that time they need be fed only three times daily, morning, noon and night. The sand may be given to the ducklings either by mixing it in the mash or by feeding it in a hopper where they can help themselves. The mash feed which is prepared for the ducklings is mixed with water until it has a consistency a little wetter than crumbly but not exactly sticky. Sloppy feed should never be used. As the ducklings grow older the amount of beef scrap can be increased until it consists of 15% of the ration by the end of the third week. The proportion of corn meal can likewise be increased and simultaneously the amount of bran decreased until the ducklings are on a fattening ration. Unless they have a plentiful supply of green feed in the yards to which they have access it is necessary to provide this to the extent of about 10% of the feed and it should consist of tender green stuff rather finely chopped and mixed in with the mash.