Feeding duckies - - food & grit

lesduckerables

Hatching
5 Years
Oct 24, 2014
7
0
9
Oregon
I'm getting 2 nine month old ducks, and would like to know what some good (not expensive, but long-lasting) pellets/crumbles are?
I know there's one from PetSmart that's got 5lbs of "All Living Things
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Duck and Goose Blend Wild Bird Food." How long would that last for two 9 month old Welsh Harlequins?
How often do you feed ducks? How MUCH do you feed ducks? I've read in separate threads on here that they overeat if they get food 24/7, but I've also heard that they only eat what they need if given food 24/7. Same with grit. How much grit do I give them and how often? Do I even need to give them grit if they're outside? If they're outside should I give them some just to be safe?
Thanks so much! : )
 
I use the grower/finisher Dumor from TSC. It's $13 for 50lbs, but I have 2 drakes. Since yours are ducks you would need layer rations. There are several different brands but chicken layer is what you are looking for. As for how much to feed them... My dogs eat the duck food I leave it out and my Ducks free range my backyard during the day. I give my guys about 1/2 cup maybe more in the morning and then again in the evening. I try to leave it out as long as possible but when I let my dogs out their food gets pulled up. Sometimes it's all gone, but usually they barely touch it and I give it to them for the following meal. If they have accesses to outside grit shouldn't be needed because they can find rocks in the ground but if you want to put some out it won't hurt. I kept food and water in the coop till they were 8 weeks and nixed it. If food is out, water must be given. Ducks love to play in water and make a mess. So I don't like it in my coop and it makes a mess.
 
I'm getting 2 nine month old ducks, and would like to know what some good (not expensive, but long-lasting) pellets/crumbles are?
I know there's one from PetSmart that's got 5lbs of "All Living Things
00ae.png
Duck and Goose Blend Wild Bird Food." How long would that last for two 9 month old Welsh Harlequins?
How often do you feed ducks? How MUCH do you feed ducks? I've read in separate threads on here that they overeat if they get food 24/7, but I've also heard that they only eat what they need if given food 24/7. Same with grit. How much grit do I give them and how often? Do I even need to give them grit if they're outside? If they're outside should I give them some just to be safe?
Thanks so much! : )

When you say "ducks," do you mean they're both female? I ask because "ducks" is a generic term used for both ducks and drakes. Male ducks are drakes, while female ducks are ducks, but it's also okay to use the term hens for female ducks, especially if you're using it for clarity.

DuMOR layer pellets or Purina Layena are both pretty inexpensive and are okay if the birds are laying, which they might be if they're female since WHs are prolific layers.You also want to put free choice oyster shell in a separate dish. If they aren't laying ducks or they're drakes, you can use DuMOR Grower/Finisher or Purina Duck Grower. You also want poultry grit year round in a separate dish regardless whether they're ducks or drakes.

We don't give our ducks free-choice feed. We feed a cup in the morning and another in the evening, but ours free range during the daylight hours. With only two ducks, you might not need to use that much, maybe start with 1/2 cup as NJ said and see how they do with that.
 
I should clarify, I use "duck" as a blanket term for all ducks, but it's a drake and a hen. Both the same age. (i hope for ducklings!!) I don't know where to go to get any duck-specifc food, all we have near here is a Wilco but I'm unsure as to whether or not they have anything for ducks, or just usual birds and chickens.
 
I'd never heard of Wilco before, but I'm not surprised since it looks like they're only in Oregon and Washington. There's no catalog on their website, but it says they sell poultry feed, which is pretty generic. I'd check to see if they have either of those two feeds, or at least something specific to ducks. Some people use flock raiser feeds even if they have only ducks, but I could never recommend that. All of the ones I've seen are much to high in protein for grown ducks unless you cut them with something else.
 
Yeah, the Purina Flock Raiser I'm looking at online is 20% protein. Mine will only be pets, not food, so they don't need to get big (not like WHs can really get BIG) they just need to be healthy! And I will be looking to my lady duckie to lay some eggs for eating, so her diet needs to help healthy eggs. It's really confusing trying to figure out what to feed them regularly to keep them healthy!
 

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