Anise for ducks?

[lkanadaycreed]

Hi all. I read on the duck treat/food list that ducks can have Calf Manna which is flavored with anise b/c ducks, etc find that very tasty. I have a mallard that was rehabbed and released back in the area where he was injured. He was released 5 1/2 wks ago and we take him a snack once or twice a day as part of keeping tabs on him. He was raised on Flock Raiser and now he won't eat it b/c another person gives him scratch (corn, wheat, milo). He waits for the scratch and won't eat Flock Raiser anymore. I am worried b/c ducks aren't supposed to have a lot of seeds (the wheat and milo are seeds, right?). I have expressed my concerns, but the other person feels that he will be less likely to eat other unhealthy things that people might be throwing out to the ducks if he fills up on the scratch. I know that this duck will revert to the Flock Raiser if he doesn't get his snacks for a couple of days b/c he refuses to eat. I have asked that only Flock Raiser be given and that has not been the case yet. She give a mix of scratch and Flock Raiser - with a minimal amount of Flock Raiser that basically doesn't get eaten at all b/c he just eats around it.

Anyways - should I sprinkle anise on the Flock Raiser to encourage him to eat it?

Thank you!

 

[cavemanrich]

I personally think you should stop trying to feed the duck the flock raiser. It is a wild duck, and should migrate for winter. Of course I have no idea of your location since it is not in post or profile. If you are in a warm area currently, then duck will not be going anywhere.
The grains are just fine for the duck. Wild birds eat wild seeds, and anything else available.
I don't see adding anise as something you should try. If you still keep offering the Flock Raiser, its not a lost cause. Other birds may pick it up for their food.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[lkanadaycreed]

I personally think you should stop trying to feed the duck the flock raiser. It is a wild duck, and should migrate for winter. Of course I have no idea of your location since it is not in post or profile. If you are in a warm area currently, then duck will not be going anywhere.
The grains are just fine for the duck. Wild birds eat wild seeds, and anything else available.
I don't see adding anise as something you should try. If you still keep offering the Flock Raiser, its not a lost cause. Other birds may pick it up for their food.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Well, according to this thread (you have to scroll down a bit to "Starches/Seeds") -> https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements.242460/ it is a bad thing for them to get a lot of seeds. He is currently getting 2 decent sized meals of a corn/wheat/milo mix and the bag reads that it should only be 10% of their diet. If he is by chance being lazy about foraging on his own - then his % is far above 10. The attached photo is from the link to the thread.

 

[TomCahalan]

Your neighbor is going to give the drake grain, and the drake is going to eat the grain. There is really nothing you can do about that. If you want to help the drake have a balanced diet then you need to BALANCE it with supplemental food, not attempt to REPLACE it (because that won't happen, anise or not).

An imbalanced diet lacks certain things. Balanced feed will have those things, but it will also have the stuff that the imbalanced diet has. You can't balance a diet by giving balanced feed. Instead you need to give the drake what his grain diet lacks.

For starters, his grain diet is probably too low in protein. Adding mealworms to the drakes diet will balance his protein intake. That is probably the biggest deficiency, but you can research other aspects of nutrition and find additional supplements. If you have finely chopped vegetable scraps, give those as well. Just don't give him anything that contains what he already has too much of: grain.

 

[lkanadaycreed]

That is part of the frustration b/c when I was rehabbing him, he got - in addition to the Flock Raiser - alfalfa/oat ground hay, kelp, brewer's yeast w/ garlic, occasional roses and dandelions, lettuce, cabbage, black solider fly larvae, mealworms, freeze dried shrimp, occasionally a small amount of the same scratch, and chick grit. Now, he only eats small amounts of the lettuce, a few worms, and a bunch of the seeds. I never had any issues with this duck regarding his food or development. I incorrectly believed this other person knew a lot about ducks and gave her another duckling that I rescued back in May. That duck had repeated issues w/ "seizures" that I had to try to scramble to help get corrected w/ Google. The other person allowed that duck to just eat sprouted greens and - a lot - of mealworms. Her protein likely 35-40% on a baily basis which is too high. She died from a distended abdomen and I think she might have been in liver failure due to the high protein and other possible deficiencies. I regret giving this person the other duck and now I feel like I am watching her kill this one. Is it true or not that his crop can get impacted if his diet is comprised of too many seeds? I do manage to get him to eat small amounts of lettuce and fly larvae.