Ducklings.

It pays well to rear ducklings for the market. They are fit to kill at ten or eleven weeks old; if kept much longer they begin to moult. The eggs may be set under a hen, or in an incubator. They hatch in twenty-eight days. When hatched remove to a box lined with straw. They require no mother. Keep them clean. Sprinkle a little oatmeal in their water at first, and feed on pollard and meal mixed warm, giving them a little bone-dust and chopped-up meat two or three times a week. Feed four times a day, oftener at first. Milk now and then, instead of water, mixed in their food helps them. After five weeks they should get little water, they may also then have wheat put in their water at night. They should be all along, except the last week, supplied with green food, and fine grit or sand should be always kept in their water.

A small house does, but it must be kept clean. Put fresh straw in every morning, Feed and water them in a small yard outside. Do not let them lie in the sun in very hot weather or some will die of sunstroke.

For export, commence setting eggs in August and leave off early in December.