Mystery TSC Ducklings

[PirateGirl]

It's hard in the picture to tell how far apart the floor bars are. Just make sure they have a spot to hang out off the heat if they want and have no trouble getting to the food and water. That's all. Watch them a bit and make sure they can and will walk on the wire floor without trouble.

 

[Blooms&Brood]

They are fairly small. Chicks didn’t have any trouble with it. I even sat a plastic igloo hideout on the brooder pad and the chicks really likes that for sleeping at night. Would that be beneficial for ducks? I keep my garage windows ajar for fresh air so cool air does come in at night.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

They will outgrow that setup pretty quickly.

 

[Miss Lydia]

http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-medicated-feed-be-used-for.html

@Blooms&Brood

 

[casportpony]

If I am not wrong you do not need to feed ducklings medicated feed for chicks. What is your post about? What happened or what info are you looking for?

You are correct, there is no "need" to feed ducklings *or* chicks medicated feed, but if that is your only choice it is perfectly safe as long as the medication is amprolium or bacitracin.

 

[casportpony]

I’ve never owned ducks before, so any advice is helpful. I did read that Un medicated chick starter is ok for the first 2 weeks (using Nutrena Naturewise) and never let them run out of water.

The chick starter you purchased does not have enough niacin for ducklings, so you will need to add niacin to it or their drinking water. Some people use liquid b complex, others use brewers yeast or nutritional yeast.

 

[Blooms&Brood]

Thanks everyone. I am not using medicated feed nor have I ever. I either use Nuterna Meat Bird or Chick Starter (non-medicated) for my chicks. Question: could I add some crushed Calf Manna to their feed to help with the niacin?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Does the bag say how much niacin is in the calf manna?

 

[Blooms&Brood]

It does not but interestingly enough the 8th ingredient is Brewer’s Yeast. It also lists Niacin Supplement towards the end.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Usually when low on list it's not that much. Go ahead and use it but maybe put on your list to buy Nutritional yeast it has even better B's than Brewers yeast. all you'd need to do is sprinkle 1 Tab per cup of feed you use till 10 weeks old. Plus animal quality brewers yeast doesn't have as much nutritional value as human grade.