Recent content by Duckiiess

I believe that... there are ponds in Saratoga Springs, NY where the water never freezes and ducks live there year round

Standing in very shallow water then? In their pen? I've never seen a duck stand still for that long outside here, so sorry but that was a foreign concept to me. Their coop is dry on high land.

To the OP: if you want to keep a section of the pond thawed, dig it deeper past your frost line where you are (probably 4 or 5 feet), then put a dock heater in. The other side will still freeze, but the ducks will have access that way. A very shallow pond would be really hard to keep from...

My ducks break through the ice whenever they can during the winter to play in the water, every now and then I see little pieces of ice on their wings, but it falls off quickly. Ice is fragile, feathers are very flexible.. have a really hard time imagining this being dangerous in any way

Temperature, size of coop/ yard/ pond, breed of bird, individual bird's metabolism, muscle/ fat content, laying or not, stress levels on that particular day/ week, molting or not are all big variables here, and I'm sure there are others too

Purina flock raiser is a good starter food for ducks, tractor supply has big bags for a good price, it has niacin already in it but I sprinkle a handful of nutritional yeast on top of their feed tray just to make sure. Every other day ducklings get some wet cat food, they love it and that has a...

I think you'd be best served contacting a duck farm like metzer.. they seperate by breed, so the sizes should all be quite similar. Even if you can get a couple people in this forum to take place in the study, a sampling size like that would merely be anecdotal... I really don't think feed...

I've been very happy with Nutrena all flock pellets for adolescent/ adult ducks. Was feeding the Purina duck pellets before I found that. It has the same protein, more niacin, and is a little cheaper to boot. The ducklings get purina flock raiser with nutritional yeast. Both get cat food...

Ducks are very social, I can't imagine a study such as this being accurate at all... why not just divide the lbs of feed eaten by the # of ducks in the flock?

Based on what? Not criticizing, just curious. Many vets say science diet is the "best" dog food, but there's really no such thing, really depends on what your pup does the best on. I tried that, but my pup did much better on other options. Big companies like that constantly change their...

My ducklings get purina flock raiser crumbles with some nutritional yeast and a tin of wet cat food every couple of days. Have never had any leg or wing issues. Change the food to Nutrena All Flock at 4-6 weeks or so, that has more niacin in it than the Purina duck feed and is less expensive...

I give my ducklings cat food as a treat. They love it, and it's a great source of niacin/ B vitamins. Much cheaper than mealworms too!

Ah, I don't sell at markets so unaware of the rules/ regulations there, good point. I do all the cleaver/ knife work myself, but have friends come over to help with the plucking/ cleaning, pay them with a bird of their choice. Wifey is also a big help there. 😊

All ducks are red meat. Muscovies are a bit leaner than Pekins, but with the skin intact that could be hard to tell.

I much prefer to do the processing myself to have control over the operation and so nothing goes to waste.. giblets, necks/ heads, feet, all get used... but if that isn't an option for you, then I suggest sending in 2 batches. Muscovies and Pekins breast/ leg proportions are a bit different...