y not always be available and the ducks are so fond of
the fish that they will not eat well the beef scrap used as a substitute
for the fish, until they have become used to it. Fish is prepared for
feeding by boiling it thoroughly in a feed cooker.
The available land on the plant is used to grow a supply of green feed.
Rye is used for this purpose early in the spring as soon as it is high
enough to mow. It is mowed the first time when it is like a lawn. At
this stage it does not have to be cut up. Oats are used in the same way.
During the summer fodder corn is used. This is the poorest crop for the
purpose but is as a rule the only one available at that time. Rape is
sowed in August and its use begun about the time of the first frost and
kept up until the hard freezes come or until it is buried under the
snow. Creek grass which is secured from the fresh water streams on Long
Island by going out in a flat bottom boat and raking it off the creek
bottom with a wooden rake, is very much relished by the ducks and is
used whenever it is available. However, the supply of this material is
not as plentiful as it was formerly and it is rather hard to get. When
it is available it can be used either in winter or summer.
Good field clover cut up and boiled with the potatoes or with the fish
makes a good green feed. All of these green materials for use in the
ration, unless they are already in short lengths, are cut up by means of
a power feed cutter before they are mixed in the mash. When no other
form of green feed is available ground alfalfa is used but only half as
much of this material is mixed with the ration as is used of any of the
other kinds of green feed. Wherever possible the various duck yards
should be used to grow a crop of green stuff such as oats or rye as this
not only helps out on the supply of green feed but also helps to sweeten
the soil. The growing of a crop on the heavier types of soil used for
ducks is especially important as such soils are more likely to become
contaminated from the droppings.
The ration for the ducks is mixed up in a power feed mixer which works
much on the principle of a power dough mixer. In fact, dough mixers are
used on some plants. In mixing the feed enough water should be added to
bring the material to a consistency where it will hold together when
squeezed in the hand. In fact, the consistency should be between crumbly
and sticky, but should never be sloppy. The feed is dumped from the
mixer into a low horse drawn wa