Ducks and Geese

Excerpt

PREFACE

Of all lines of poultry keeping, duck raising is unique in that it lends itself to the greatest degree of specialization and intensification along lines which are purely commercial. On a comparatively small area thousands of ducklings can be reared and marketed yearly. The call for information concerning the methods used by these commercial duck raisers has been considerable, and since such information is not available in complete concise form the present book has been prepared partly to furnish just this information.

The methods used by successful Long Island duck raisers differ widely in some particulars and since in the space at command, it has been impossible to describe all the methods used, the plan has been adopted of detailing in the main the methods of one successful grower. This it is believed will prove to be more helpful and less confusing than to attempt to give the method of several different men.

Much space has been given to the operations of the commercial duck raisers but the fact is recognized that the great bulk of the ducks entering into the trade of the country is the product of small flocks kept on general farms. For this reason a chapter has been added dealing with duck raising on the farm, and attention is here called to the fact that most of the information given under commercial duck raising can be readily adapted to use in connection with the farm flock.

Detailed, complete information on goose raising is even more fragmentary than is the case with ducks. Yet there is a fine opportunity to rear a few geese at a profit on many farms, and the need and call for information is quite general. It is for this reason that a section of this book has been devoted to goose raising and in that section all the good reliable information available on the subject is given. The special attention of the women of the farm is directed to the opportunity which goose raising offers to make a good profit on a small side line with the minimum of initial investment and of labor.

The greatest care has been taken to make the information on both duck and goose raising as complete and clear as possible. However, the authors appreciate the unlimited value of good illustrations in making clear methods and operations which are more difficult to grasp from a word description, and have therefore assembled a set of illustrations for this book, the completeness and excellence of which have never before been approached in any book on the subject. The illustrations alone are an education.

In preparing and presenting this book to the public, the authors take pleasure in acknowledging their deep indebtedness to the following persons for help and information furnished:

• Roy E. Pardee
• John C. Kriner
• Charles McClave
• Stanley Mason
• Dr. Balliet
• William Minnich
• George W. Hackett
• Dawson Brothers

Particular acknowledgment is due Robert A. Tuttle for the manner in which he threw open his duck plant to the authors and for the most generous amount of time which he gave in furnishing information....