Blue Seal Feed and general feeding questions for Ducks

Quote:I'll try to hit them all. Whoo.....

I use Blue Seal Feed exclusively. I don't suppliment niacin, and have never had an issue.

I feed the ducks when they are let out in the am. During the winter months I give them a little more in the afternoon. They never finish off the afternoon meal.

I don't provide water in the coop at night for the ducks. Never have. They are fine at night without it, and it keeps the sloppy mess down in the coop.

My Pekins have a small pond in their run for drinking and swimming, but ducks need to keep their nasal passages clear, so I would suggest a pail or bucket of some type, so they can submerse their head for drinking.

I use large plastic spinach containers (plastic) to feed our 11 Pekins. I fill each with 1 large coffee can of feed. Game bird crumbles/coarse cracked corn, mixed 50/50.

My girls and boys are confined to a run, but forage like crazy in that run. I don't supply additional grit, they find it on their own.

 

Hello and welcome!

I feed blue seal and have been for years. I only feed the layer pellets though. In my area, the only chick starter I can get through blue seal is medicated. If you don't already know, DO NOT feed medicated feed to your ducks! It can be fatal!
So my babies get Poulin grain to start with. I feed that until they are 4 months old, then switch to layer pellets.
I do not feed mine extra grit. They free range during the day and go into a large penned in area at night. I do supplement all of my layers with calcium (oyster shells). I found that if you don't, they tend to lay a lot of soft shelled eggs. But I only give them oyster shells once every 2 weeks or so ( I mix about a pint to a quart into their grain). Keep in mind that this is for 50+ layers.

Mine also have a pond during the day. In their night pen, I have a shallow 50 gallon sheep trough that I keep full. I put a water heater in it in the winter which prevents it from freezing. I do have to fill it daily, but you shouldn't have to if you only have 12 birds!

I keep their feeder ( a 50 pound hanging feeder, same as you would use for chickens) in their coop. I keep it filled so they can eat as much grain and as often as they want. They definitely eat less grain in the spring/ summer when there's a lot for them to forage outside. I the winter, I go through more grain but they still forage outside. It's just harder for them to find food when there's snow on the ground!

As for fruits and veggies, I only feed scraps in the winter. I have a large family and we eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, so the ducks get the leftovers. You can also feed them frozen food. If you or your friends clean out your freezer, give tHe ducks the freezer-burnt veggies. They love them! And fruit, blueberries, raspberries. They'll eat pretty much anything!
In the summer, I go to a local veggie farm and get bags of their "non-sellable" veggies. It's pretty much peppers and tomatoes and corn that has a spot on them, are a little soft, or just oddly shaped. Nothing wrong with them, they just can't sell them to the grocery stores. So they become duck food!

 

Quote:I'll try to hit them all. Whoo.....

I use Blue Seal Feed exclusively. I don't suppliment niacin, and have never had an issue.

I feed the ducks when they are let out in the am. During the winter months I give them a little more in the afternoon. They never finish off the afternoon meal.

I don't provide water in the coop at night for the ducks. Never have. They are fine at night without it, and it keeps the sloppy mess down in the coop.

My Pekins have a small pond in their run for drinking and swimming, but ducks need to keep their nasal passages clear, so I would suggest a pail or bucket of some type, so they can submerse their head for drinking.

I use large plastic spinach containers (plastic) to feed our 11 Pekins. I fill each with 1 large coffee can of feed. Game bird crumbles/coarse cracked corn, mixed 50/50.

My girls and boys are confined to a run, but forage like crazy in that run. I don't supply additional grit, they find it on their own.

I second the above post, however with my 6 ducks/ 3 are still laying, I have not used the cracked corn and have fed them straight layer pellets.

I also had no problems due to niacin as I supplemented the first six weeks with brewers yeast. I leave oyster shell in a separate dish and refill as necessary.

 

Quote:I'll try to hit them all. Whoo.....

I use Blue Seal Feed exclusively. I don't suppliment niacin, and have never had an issue.

I feed the ducks when they are let out in the am. During the winter months I give them a little more in the afternoon. They never finish off the afternoon meal.

I don't provide water in the coop at night for the ducks. Never have. They are fine at night without it, and it keeps the sloppy mess down in the coop.

My Pekins have a small pond in their run for drinking and swimming, but ducks need to keep their nasal passages clear, so I would suggest a pail or bucket of some type, so they can submerse their head for drinking.

I use large plastic spinach containers (plastic) to feed our 11 Pekins. I fill each with 1 large coffee can of feed. Game bird crumbles/coarse cracked corn, mixed 50/50.

My girls and boys are confined to a run, but forage like crazy in that run. I don't supply additional grit, they find it on their own.

I second the above post, however with my 6 ducks/ 3 are still laying, I have not used the cracked corn and have fed them straight layer pellets.

I also had no problems due to niacin as I supplemented the first six weeks with brewers yeast. I leave oyster shell in a separate dish and refill as necessary.

To attest to Blue Seals feed, one of my girls already started laying again. 4 days straight. No one else around me has duck laying.