lustration: FIG. 30. Upper--Pekin ducklings 3 weeks old. Lower--Pekin
ducklings 6 weeks old. (_Photographs from the Bureau of Animal Industry,
U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]
[Illustration: FIG. 31. Interior of a cold brooder house. The low
partitions can easily be stepped over. (_Photograph from the Bureau of
Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture._)]

Yard Accommodations for Ducklings
As the ducklings get to be 8 weeks old they can stand ordinary weather
conditions and it is not absolutely necessary to have houses for them.
However, it is common and good practice to provide shelter where they
can be housed at night and can take refuge from storms. A suitable house
for this purpose consists of a building 16 x 24 feet divided into two
parts with 200 ducklings to a side. This house is 5 feet high in front
and 3-1/2 feet in back. It is set on posts with a baseboard around it to
make it tight. It can be constructed of matched stuff or unmatched stuff
covered with paper. The front is left open but curtains are placed on
the front which can be used to close the openings so as to keep out the
snow. These are used only in the winter. When the ducklings are first
started in these sheds they are shut in when desired by means of wire
panels fitted into the lower part of the open front. The ducklings are
left in these yards and fed there until they are ready for market.
[Illustration: FIG. 32. Eat, drink and grow fat for tomorrow they die.
Fattening or yard ducks with fattening house or shelter used.
(_Photograph from the Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Department of
Agriculture._)]
_Shade._ Shade is important for the ducklings as soon as the sun gets
hot. Exposure to the sun without shade will cause quite a heavy loss in
ducklings. If natural shade is not furnished by trees, some artificial
means must be adopted to supply the shade. This may take the form of
shelters or low frames covered with boards, brush or burlap.
_Feeding._ The first feed and water is given as soon as the ducks are
placed in the No. 1 brooder house or when 24 to 36 hours old. They are
fed 3 times a day, in the morning about 6 a. m., at noon, and at night
about 4:30 or 5 o'clock. The time of feeding should be regular, and
fairly early in the morning but not any earlier in the afternoon than
one can help so that the time between the evening and the morning feed
will not be too long. Some growers prefer to feed 4 or 5 times daily for
the first week or two. The birds are fed as