Is Brewer Yeast necessary? From grocery store? Yogurt?

I thought I had done my research, but after visiting BYC for the first time in a long time, I'm hearing some ideas I hadn't considered. Am I totally blowing it if I don't give the ducklings (day old, arrived a few hours ago!) some Brewer's Yeast? How important is it? I have the regular old yeast packets for baking bread, but I know it's not the same. Would the Brewer's Yeast be in the same section of the grocery store? Or is it sold at the health food store? And how about mixing yogurt into the food. I came across that idea somewhere in the last ten minutes, but I couldn't tell if they meant it to be for ducklings. Any thoughts?

good question! i am getting ducklings this week also...

Brewers Yeast is pretty essential if you don't have them on duckling starter. You can use the regular non-active packets you get from the grocery store, it doesn't have to be anything special. Chick starter does not have everything they need and without the brewers yeast they could develop weak legs and leg problems.

Thank you so much smartie pants. I have them on a unmedicated starter for a broad range of poultry. It's called Flock Raiser. I had to search hard to find it in my county (San Luis Obispo, California), many hours of phone calls.

is brewers yeast differant then regular bread yeast?

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Brewers yeast is not the 'packets' you get from the grocery. It is in the vitamin supplement section. It mostly comes in pill form, unless your feed store carries it. I have heard that it is used as a feed for cattle, so the feed store might sell it in bulk. And flock raiser is not a starter, it is a maintenance. You need to have them on chick or gamebird starter, plus adding the brewer's yeast, if you can't find or get waterfowl starter.

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Brewers yeast is not the 'packets' you get from the grocery. It is in the vitamin supplement section. It mostly comes in pill form, unless your feed store carries it. I have heard that it is used as a feed for cattle, so the feed store might sell it in bulk. And flock raiser is not a starter, it is a maintenance. You need to have them on chick or gamebird starter, plus adding the brewer's yeast, if you can't find or get waterfowl starter.

I'm a member of a yahoo group called petducksrus, which is specifically for people who keep ducks as pets and has MANY members. When I asked about brewers yeast there, everyone told me it didn't matter which you used. i had a duckling who almost died a birth and couldn't walk. I gave him the packets and in less that a week it got him up and on his feet like he didn't have a problem. I don't believe you have to get the pills, but I guess that's just my two cents.

Anyone here a member of Petducksrus? If not, I would look in to joining. They really know their stuff and are very eager to help.

It doesn't matter what kind of brewer's yeast you use. I was just stating the fact that the little packets you get at the grocery store is not brewer's yeast. It is yeast, but not brewer's. Brewer's yeast comes in powder form and pill form, but not in the baking section at the store!! It is a vitamin supplement. Check your little 'packets' and see if they have niacin in them. That's the key ingredient in brewer's yeast. If it's not there, that's not it.

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I don't have the packets anymore, but I am sure that they did because that was the ingredient I was told to look for. They had a box of regular yeast, and they had packets of brewers yeast too. The packets were white with red lettering.