s should be supplied by fastening the machine door open a little way.
If the ducks are not ready to be taken out of the machines by noon or
soon after, it is best to leave them until the next morning before
removing them to the brooder house. In the meantime, however, the old
eggs and shells and other refuse should be taken out. Usually the hatch
is completed in time so that the ducklings can be removed to the brooder
house on the afternoon of the 28th day. As a rule the earlier the hatch
is completed the better are the ducklings.
Figures secured on results in hatching for the entire season on Long
Island duck farms indicate that as a whole the duck raisers will not
average much over 40% hatch of all eggs set. Some hatches may run as
high as 60% or even more and in some seasons the average percentage will
run higher than 40. Some especially skilled operators may also secure
considerably better average results than this. It is quite a common
practice on the part of duck farmers to pay their incubator man a bonus
on all ducklings over 40% hatched during the season. This bonus may
range anywhere from $1 to $5 per thousand ducklings. Such an arrangement
serves to give the incubator man a greater incentive to give the
machines good attention and to secure just the best results of which he
is capable.
_Selling Baby Ducks._ Within the last two or three years there has
sprung into existence a small but increasing trade in baby ducks. They
are handled and shipped about the same as baby chicks. Baby ducks are
ready for shipment as soon as they are thoroughly dry, usually about 12
hours after the hatch starts to come off. They are neither fed nor
watered before shipment and are packed in cardboard boxes used in
shipping baby chicks. As a rule the shipping boxes will accommodate
about half the number of ducklings that they will chicks. Of course the
outside temperature very largely governs the matter of the number to a
compartment. In warm summer weather, a two compartment box intended for
50 chicks will accommodate 26 ducklings if well ventilated at the sides
and top. They are shipped by parcel post and can be sent anywhere within
a radius of one thousand miles if the trip does not require more than 36
hours. For best results the ducklings should not be allowed to go much
beyond this length of time before they are fed. On receipt they should
be placed immediately in a brooder already prepared for them.

CHAPTER VI
Commercial Duck Farming--Brooding and Rearing t