am I overfeeding my ducks?

[klf73]

I am going through a 50 lb bag a day. I have chickens but I was only going through a bag every 3 days. At first I thought it was my 11 orps but we watched the ducks empty a bowl in minutes. We have 6 hatchery runners(look like pekin crosses

), 5 cayuga, and 6 nice runners(metzer). Is there anything else they can eat? They get grass....are they supposed to eat all day like this or am I overfeeding them?

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

If they free range I would only feed them 1/2 of a lb each. Unless they look really hungry then give them more.

Then feed them more in winter becuz they wont be able to free range.

My ducks (i have 5 ducks) eat 1/2 a lb a day, and free range in the afternoons.

 

[Amiga]

My runners eat about a third of a pound of bagged food a day each (9 of them - three pounds), plus all the worms, bugs, and seeds they can forage on their outings (they have a pen area - but we go for walkies at least once, sometimes three times a day). They also get - for the whole flock - a half a pound of peas a few times a week. They are eighteen months old, so they aren't growing, but they lay eggs and right now are molting.

If I did the arithmetic correctly, there's an extra (almost) 2 pounds per day per duck disappearing.

There are some missing pieces here, I think. My initial thoughts:

What is the feed you're using?
How often are they fed?
What kind of enclosure are they in?
How old are the ducks?

Some other thoughts to help figure this out . . . ducks don't eat much grass, in my experience. Mine go more for the higher protein slugs and worms, and some seeds (right now they're enjoying smartweed). Not that they don't eat any grass, it's just not much of their diet as far as I know.

Growing ducks may eat a bit more - so do ducks that are under stress - heat, cold, threats, etc. Sometimes they can pick up parasites (worms).

Something I don't want to ignore is the possibility you've got some kind of uninvited guests stealing food when no one's looking.

Now if these ducks do have some need for extra calories (since ducks don't always follow the guidebooks), I have been told that cooked winter squash and potatoes are sources. Some use corn but I am quite cautious about corn especially if there's any alternative available.

I've given mine rolled oats when available (not instant, just regular rolled oats), and winter wheat.

 

[klf73]

the ducks free range, as do the chickens. They seem like they chow down the food so the chickens can't get it. The cayuga and the hatchery runners actually look fat. They are all a 3-4 months old. They will be getting penned soon so I will be able to keep track of what they are eating.

eta- they get grower pellets

 

[the duck whisperer]

I feed mine about 3 lb of purina duck grower and a little cracked corn a day ( i have roughly at most 40-50 ducks) but they are always outside in the field and pond eating bugs and plants, rodents, frogs, fish, whatever else they yank out of the pond...

Then in the winter i feed them about a few pounds more because they can't free range.
What ever they dont eat stays in the feed bin thing for them to come eat later.