Do I need to feed my ducks or will the be ok if I just let them forage?

[DuckDaddy01]

Hi everyone, so I have 12 domesticated ducks. Four different types. They are roughly 4 months old each. I am OK to feed them but I also want to encourage active foraging so don't want to give them all of their needed food. I assume that they will pursue the easiest route to food and so I want to keep them a little dependent upon finding their own food. There have been a couple of instances where I was away from home all day. I let my ducks roam in the backyard. We have almost 4 acres. They did seem hungry by the time I got home, but no more hungry than usual. I guess I want to understand what is the minimum that I must feed them if I am trying to encourage maximum foraging. Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if I never fed them at all but allowed them to get all of their food from the yard and pond?

 

[Pyxis]

!

Yes, you do need to feed them. I have ducks and I offer food free choice all day. They eat it, but they prefer the tasty bugs, worms, and slugs that they can turn up in the yard to their food, so even though they eat the feed they still forage around to find other things to eat. If you're really worried about feed consumption, take the food up during the day and then give it back in the coop at night. It's a great way to get them to return to the coop willingly at night too if they don't already,

 

[drumstick diva]

Yes, you do need to feed them. In winter they won't be finding bugs and worms. While they are out foraging - predators will be eying them as a meal.

 

[redsoxs]

Greetings from Kansas DuckDaddy, and ! Great to have you in our flock. I concur with Pyxis and Diva...gotta feed 'em. If you can't find true duck feed, a ration called All Flock (made by several companies) works well. Best wishes and thanks for joining BYC!

 

[junebuggena]

Hi everyone, so I have 12 domesticated ducks. Four different types. They are roughly 4 months old each. I am OK to feed them but I also want to encourage active foraging so don't want to give them all of their needed food. I assume that they will pursue the easiest route to food and so I want to keep them a little dependent upon finding their own food. There have been a couple of instances where I was away from home all day. I let my ducks roam in the backyard. We have almost 4 acres. They did seem hungry by the time I got home, but no more hungry than usual. I guess I want to understand what is the minimum that I must feed them if I am trying to encourage maximum foraging. Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if I never fed them at all but allowed them to get all of their food from the yard and pond?

Hypothetically, if you didn't feed them anything, they would be at risk for serious nutritional deficiencies. Free ranging will help to reduce the amount of feed they consume, but they should still have access to as much feed as they want.

 

[QueenMisha]

Welcome to BYC! It's great to have you.

The above is all correct.

 

[DuckDaddy01]

Thanks everyone! Very helpful!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[CuzChickens]

Hello, and welcome to Backyard chickens! So glad you joined us, and I hope you make yourself at home here!