Any issues when feeding adult ducks laying pellets?

[rainplace]

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All of mine are eating pellets now and the youngest are 6 or 7 weeks. They cried and cried at me when I first gave it to them, but by the end of the day they were eating it just fine. The mess and the smell went down considerably. I hate the smell of wet crumble more than I hate the smell of poo. Is that odd?

 

[Dances with Ducks]

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I think its just referring to how ducks can't scoop up the mash as well and it gets dropped and wasted.

 

[Soccer Mom]

I switch from crumbles to pellets at about four weeks. Some people say six. At 10 weeks, yours are plenty old enough for pellets.

And mash is a stinky, stinky mess. Yuck. Just pellets and foraging for my guys.

 

[FenDruadin]

They cried and cried at me

Do you mix the feed at first? It's a little more trouble, but mine don't mind the switch when I get to that point, because I add the pellets in gradually--a small handful the first day, then about a quarter of their rations, then half, etc. I don't think they even notice that they're getting hoodwinked into doing what's convenient for me.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

Once I ran out of my bag of mash, i just fed them pellets. Ducks will eat just about anything if there isn't a tastier option. mix it up a little if you want to get them in the groove, then just increase the amount of pellets in the mix until it's all pellets. Have fun!

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
Do you mix the feed at first? It's a little more trouble, but mine don't mind the switch when I get to that point, because I add the pellets in gradually--a small handful the first day, then about a quarter of their rations, then half, etc. I don't think they even notice that they're getting hoodwinked into doing what's convenient for me.

I put the pellets in with them in the evening and gave them the crumbles during the day (just not a whole lot since they forage and whatnot)

And I totally misunderstood the topic btw. Sorry.

 

[notaspringchicken]

At the risk of sounding stupid... I understand that drakes don't need the extra calcium in a layer ration, but will it hurt them? Or is the excess just excreted? It sounds like some people feed layer ration to drakes without problems and others are worried about too much calcium.

Also, if I give the whole flock access to oyster shell instead of a layer ration, will just the laying hens eat it, or will the drakes and younger ducklings overdose themselves on it?

Separating the flock for feeding would be a big hassle. Usually they free-range all day, and I just put out a big bowl of FlockRaiser sometime in the afternoon. Oh, and the range is really rich, with a big pond and lots of field and forest edge, not just lawngrass.

 

[rainplace]

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Well if that question sounds stupid, at least you have company.

I've been wondering the same thing.

 

[Soccer Mom]

I've always put out layer ration for everyone and never had an issue. I start the babies off seperately and house them seperately at night. (I put wire mesh between them).

By the time my ducklings are old enough to sleep with the big guys, they eat what the big guys eat. When they have lots of free range pickings, mine don't eat so much of the pellets.

 

[Cetawin]

Layena by Purina Mills is a balanced layer for chickens and ducks. Same with their Flock Raiser for the earlier stage. I think the calcium may be a unnecessary for the drakes but not sure it will hurt them...it does not hurt the roos and they eat the chicken layer all the time.