Am I Doing the Right Thing?

[flgardengirl]

I recently bought some baby ducklings that were only a few days old. The person I got them from was feeding them only dry cat food. They said when they grow up he feeds his ducks dog food. The little things were really choking down this cat food and seemed to be having a little trouble eating it. I switched them to gamebird food and at first they didn't want it and cried for cat food. I felt a little guilty but now they are finally eating it and seem to get it down a lot easier than the cat food. I read the back of a cat food bag and saw that it does have higher protein than the gamebird starter. Maybe that is why the seller said thier ducks were spoiled rotten because they were being fed cat food/ then dog food ? Which is really better?

 

[Amiga]

Cat kibble is fine as an addition to a balanced ration, during times of stress, laying, extreme cold. As a solo diet, I think it lacks some things ducklings need (first thought is fiber, but I haven't looked closely, really, just following Storey's Guide recommendations).

Such high protein diet may (and there are those who will argue this point) lead to angel wing, a turning-out of the wing.

As a rough guideline, ducklings do well with about 20% protein for the first two weeks, then dropping to 18% the next four weeks, then dropping to 16% from there until they are laying or cold weather sets in.