atering arrangements as in brooder house No. 1. As the ducklings are
moved to this house from the No. 1 house from 150 to 200 are placed in
each pen. They are moved through the house from pen to pen in the same
manner as in the No. 1 house to make way for new arrivals. As a rule
they stay in this house about two weeks depending somewhat on the
weather and upon the number of ducklings being brooded. Yards are used
in connection with this house which are the same width as the pens and
50 feet in length. As in the No. 1 house the pens in this house should
be cleaned at least once a week and they should be bedded with straw or
other bedding material every other day. As soon as the ducks have been
moved through this No. 2 house they are put in brooder house No. 3.
[Illustration: FIG. 26. Brooder house No. 2 and yards. The trees furnish
fine shade for the growing ducklings. (_Photograph from the Bureau of
Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]
Brooder House No. 3
This is a shed roof house 16 feet wide equipped with single pens. No
heat is required in this house. Yards of the same width as the pens and
50 feet deep are used. Usually the ducks are fed outside the house from
a wagon driven along a roadway just in front of the yards.
The pens are 16 feet wide and the same number of ducks is used in them
as in the No. 2 house. As a rule the ducks stay in this house about 2
weeks and are then moved to the duck pens or shelters with the larger
yards which may or may not have water. From this point on the ducks are
termed yard ducks.
In all three of the brooder houses the young ducks are supplied with
their drinking water from pipes through the houses. They are not given
access to water until they are moved to the yards.
[Illustration: FIG. 27. Brooder house No. 3. At the time this picture
was taken there were no ducklings in the house and advantage was taken
of this fact to give it a good cleaning by throwing out the bedding and
droppings, which will be hauled away and spread on cropped land.
(_Photograph from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of
Agriculture._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 28. Long brooder house and yards with feeding track.
(_Photograph from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of
Agriculture._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 29. Upper--Pekin ducklings 3 days old. Lower--Pekin
ducklings 2 weeks old. Duck egg used for size comparison. (_Photographs
from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]
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