All-Purpose Poultry Food

[RosieinKS]

We've recently raised 4 ducks (born the end of April) to add to our animal managorie and I have a question. We've been buying Layena for the 12 chickens we have - 7 are just over a year old, and 5 were born in April of this year, and also buying All-Purpose Poultry Food for our ducks in the crumb form. Can both chickens and ducks eat the All-Purpose food, or do the chickens need the Layena to help with egg production? It would be less complicated to buy just one type of food. The chickens usually end up eating most of the ducks food anyway because the quackers won't stand their ground to protect their food dish (silly ducks!)

Neither my husband nor I have raised chickens or ducks before, so it's been fun learning about them and seeing them run around the yard and enjoy the grasshoppers and apple cores they trying and steal from one another. Fortunately for me I married an engineer who knows how to build great coops, which is the expensive and time consuming part, because they have to match the house, according to him.

Before I decided to go with just one type of food for our birds, I wanted to get others opinions who have much more experience with chickens and ducks than we have.

Thanks
Rosie in KS

 

[Blitzlightning]

I have had both ducks and chickens and I feed them all the layena laying crumbles/pellets they make for hens. The ducks do just fine with it. Just make sure to not feed ducks the medicated chick starter, I have read that it will make ducks sick. I bet the hens would also all be fine with eating the all purpose food too as long as you gave the hens a calcium supplement like oyster shell so the shells of their eggs don't get too thin.

 

[RosieinKS]

After I posted my question, I took another look at the feed bag that I was calling All-purpose feed and it's a "Home Grown" brand product called "Game Bird and Poultry Feed". It says it has complete nutrition for chickens, ducks, and game birds of all types, so I think it will be fine for our birds. Our chicken coop and duck house are on opposite sides of our yard, but I can't keep the chickens out of the duck food unless I lock the ducks in their pen with their food dish. My ducks seem afraid of the chickens, so whenever they come around the ducks scurry away. Keeping them locked up so they can have food to eat defeats the purpose of having 6 acres and free range birds.

Keep the ducks coop clean was much easier after we stopped giving them water at night. They turn any watering container into a mud pit instantly. I don't know how they do it.

Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[RonP]

After I posted my question, I took another look at the feed bag that I was calling All-purpose feed and it's a "Home Grown" brand product called "Game Bird and Poultry Feed". It says it has complete nutrition for chickens, ducks, and game birds of all types, so I think it will be fine for our birds. Our chicken coop and duck house are on opposite sides of our yard, but I can't keep the chickens out of the duck food unless I lock the ducks in their pen with their food dish. My ducks seem afraid of the chickens, so whenever they come around the ducks scurry away. Keeping them locked up so they can have food to eat defeats the purpose of having 6 acres and free range birds.

Keep the ducks coop clean was much easier after we stopped giving them water at night. They turn any watering container into a mud pit instantly. I don't know how they do it.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Add a second feeder for free choice oyster shells for the extra calcium a laying hen needs.