duckinlovin
In the Brooder
My mallard drake has large peeling spots on his beak. Is this normal? He will be one year next month
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Some of them get that . . . has he recently molted? I often think they just need some extra vitamins and/or protein.
Maybe try adding a couple of teaspoons of dry cat kibble to his daily diet for a few weeks. Not too much - but it would give a little protein and some vitamins.
What's crazy is I thought him eating the cats food was bad but now I guess I don't have to supplement some to him. He still eats his corn meal with protein and dried corn. He has molted a little. I'm wondering if he needs another supplement though. Something maybe I can put into his water? I know he has to be missing something. What do you feed yours? My boy is 100% house buddy.
What is your duck eating for the main part of his diet?
I still have him on a mix of coursely ground corn and chic feed mix (non medicated). He helps himself to the cats blue wilderness food. I worry because he doesn't get the roughage etc that comes with foraging naturally. Please give me some insight so I can keep my buddy healthy
That's my next question, too, @enola
@duckinlovin
- is he primarily getting corn? That's not going to give him the vitamins he needs. Not judging - some folks think that's what they need to be fed, but we see nutrient deficiencies here on the forum when ducks get too much corn and not enough other stuff.
That is great!!! Thank you!!I would say try to get some grower-maintenance food. If you can find and afford a waterfowl mix, great, otherwise just poultry mix is good. and then you can find wheat seeds - untreated, food quality - that you can sprout. Around here, I can buy any amount in a bulk bin at a local mom and pop grocery store - they specialize in natural and local foods, but even big box grocery stores carry stuff like this, often. I just soak the seeds overnight, you can also sprout them and even sprinkle them in a non-metal pie plate or similar container, like an old plate, and let them grow a little bit (fodder) and that's some nice green stuff especially in winter. That's what I do with my ducks. In fact, I drilled holes in a bunch of plastic bins (I have sixteen small ducks).