Peacocks should never be kept in a poultry-yard, as they have a propensity for killing all the young fowls they can reach, by giving them a violent blow with the beak on the crown of the head. They will even kill their own young in a similar way, if they see them before the tuft of feathers on the head has grown. Pea-hens are very fond of laying in bushes or hedges, like guinea fowl, and when they are kept in pleasure-grounds with peacocks they should be narrowly watched. If they are observed to steal secretly into a bush or hedge, the place should be marked and examined when the pea-hen has left it; and, if a nest is found, all the eggs should be carefully removed but one. In doing this the eggs should be handled as little as possible, as pea-hens are very particular, and will not sit upon their eggs if they have been touched by persons with moist hands. When I lived in the country, I never could rear pea-fowls till the idea struck me of making the little country girl whom I used to employ to hunt for the eggs wear gloves, and after that time I never found any difficulty in getting the pea-hens to sit.
When the pea-hen has laid from five to seven eggs she generally shows a disposition to sit, or rather she begins to sit on the nest she has made for herself. When this is the case she should be left on her nest till night, and when it is dark a cloth should be put over her, and she should be conveyed, nest and all, if practicable, to either the turkey's hatching-house or the feeding-house, where she should be placed on a nest prepared for her, containing all her own eggs, and then covered with a coop, and a cloth thrown over that. When she has settled comfortably the cloth may be removed; but she should be kept under the coop the whole time she is sitting. When the young ones are hatched they are treated in the same manner as young turkeys, and, when their head-feathers begin to grow, they suffer nearly as much as the turkey poults do when shooting the red.
The houses for the aquatic fowls should be at the bottom of the poultry-yard, near the pool, and they should consist of separate divisions for the sleeping and laying places of both geese and ducks. A feeding-house is often added, and this is especially necessary when either ducks or geese are to be put up to feed. Though aquatic fowls, and particularly ducks, are proverbially fond of dirt, the house in which they are kept should be as clean as possible; and it should not only be frequently washed out, but thoroughly ventilated by the door being left open all day. The smell of goose dung is very offensive; and if the house in which the geese sleep be not kept very clean, it will materially deteriorate the pleasure you will have in visiting your poultry-yard.
Many people object to geese in a poultry-yard on account of the pugnacious habits of the gander; but when a gander is brought up with other fowls he becomes familiar with them, and is not likely to do them any injury. One gander is sufficient for several geese; and four or five geese will bring up a brood of forty or fifty goslings. Geese generally lay every other day; or, if they lay two days together, they miss the third day. They generally begin to lay in March, and lay from eight to twelve eggs before they show any signs of wishing to sit. Sometimes, if they are well fed, and the eggs taken away, they will continue laying as many as twenty or even more.
When a goose is inclined to sit, she begins to carry straws about in her mouth as if to prepare for making a nest; and, when this is the case, a nest should be prepared for her containing eleven or thirteen eggs. The nest should be made in a box in one of the houses for aquatic fowls, and food should be placed near her, as geese sit very closely, and sometimes suffer themselves to be half-starved rather than leave the nest. A goose should, however, be frequently examined while sitting, as from her nest being close to the ground it is very liable to be attacked by rats, who will frequently contrive to get the eggs from under the goose without her being able to prevent it.
Geese are voracious feeders, and eat a great deal of grass as well as of more substantial food. When they are to be fattened for the table they are put under coops, and fed principally on oats moistened with water; but at other times they may be fed on any kind of refuse vegetable mixed with any sort of corn, and with boiled potatoes, carrots, and turnips. When geese are fattened before they are six weeks or two months old they are termed green geese; and those which are kept a little longer, so as to be ready for Michaelmas, are called stubble-geese, because, if turned into the corn-fields after the crop has been carried, they will generally find amongst the stubble enough grain, which has been dropped from the sheaves, to fatten them.
Ducks require more water than geese, and they eat less grass, though they are always better when grass is within their reach, on account of the great number of slugs and other similar creatures that they find among it. Ducks are celebrated for the voracity and coarseness of their appetites. They begin to lay in February, and will sometimes lay as many as fifty eggs before they show any inclination to sit. They are, indeed, generally bad sitters, and will forsake their eggs if they have not plenty of food and water placed within their reach. From nine to eleven eggs are as much as a duck can cover, and, if she has more than that number, or any she does not like, she will turn them out of the nest without the least ceremony.
A duck generally sits thirty days; but a short time before the expiration of that period a coop should be put over her, or else, very probably, as soon as two or three ducklings are hatched she will take them to the water, and desert the remaining eggs. Young ducklings are very hardy under ordinary circumstances; but this treatment frequently kills them, as if the water be at all cold they are generally seized with cramp, and die a few hours after they are hatched. It is on account of ducks being so careless of their young that ducks' eggs are frequently set under hens.
Ducklings, when first hatched, are generally fed upon oatmeal mixed with chopped nettles; and, when they are a little stronger, they are given bran soaked in water, and boiled potatoes. It is also a good plan to throw a handful of oats or barley into the water given to them to drink, for them to dabble for, that they may get accustomed to the water by degrees. The mother should, however, be kept under a coop till the young ducklings are ten days old, to prevent her from taking them into the water till they are strong enough to bear it.
When ducks are to be fattened they must be kept under a coop, and fed with boiled potatoes mixed with oatmeal and bruised oats. Acorns ground or bruised are a favourite food with them, and very fattening. Malt-dust is likewise recommended; but barley is said to give them a bad flavour. The Muscovy ducks should not be kept in the poultry-yard, as they are so much larger and stronger than the common kind that they are apt to fight with them and deprive them of their food; and they are more suitable to the park and pleasure-ground.