Speceider said:
Pay attention to the top line on that chart. The ME controls how much they eat... all the other nutrients are based upon that value to assure they eat enough to meet their needs.
Clint
huh?
I believe what he's referring to is the duck's requirement for food (metabolic) energy (ME). Basically, the 'amount' of energy from food they need, based on calories (Kcal; just like for humans). So if looking at that
table you posted, grower stage would need more niacin than maintenance stage - because grower stage ME is greater.
Read more
here and
here.
By the way, if you're wondering why I'm responding to such an old post, it's because you posted that table link. I spent about 30 minutes trying to find such info, until I found your post. So, thanks!
P.S. I wrote this post on the fly, please ignore typos and such.
Speceider said:
Chick starters have less bioavailable niacin because ducks (and turkeys) have high levels of the enzyme picolinic acid carboxylase which converts tryptophan the CO2 and water. Chicks convert tryptophan to niacin.
Clint
Again, huh?
I believe he's saying is chicks can more easily (efficiently) convert 'bound' niacin (as the amino acid tryptophan) in foodstuffs to bioavailable niacin their bodies can use, than ducks. So, because chicks can convert more of the tryptophan in foodstuffs into bioavailable niacin, their food needs less niacin (i.e., tryptophan) - or, conversely, duck food needs more niacin.
Storey's Guide" said:
If regular chick starter is used, add niacin in the drinking water at the rate of 100 to 150 mg per gallon from zero to ten weeks of age.
Here is my best guess on brewer's yeast, trying to come up with an equivalent to the Storey's Guide recommended amounts of niacin.
Okay, two tablespoons of brewer's yeast contains 10 mg of niacin, based on this page http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/1323569/2
The guesswork is in how much water a duckling actually ingests in a day. If a duckling actually drinks a half a cup of water a day, it would be getting (16 cups in a gallon, 32 half cups in a gallon . . . . 150 divided by 30, more or less) 5 mg of niacin from water with 150 mg niacin per gallon. Which would be about a tablespoon of brewer's yeast.
I wouldn't suggesting adding yeast to water and assume it will provide the necessary amount of bioavailable niacin to the duck. If adding to water, it would be best, I imagine (I'm a biologist), to add liquid niacin (i.e., B3), not yeast. Like this
product, which uses vegetable glycerin as the solvent - I'm not sure if vegetable glycerin is OK for ducks, but in such small amount, I imagine it's fine, and, commentators for that product state they use it for their ducks.
So for example, if you want to add 100 mg of niacin to 1 gallon (3,785.4 mL) of water, it's easiest to first convert niacin weight to volume. So, 100 mg niacin with a density of 1.47 g/mL converts to ~68 mL. And if you're using 51.04% niacin solution (that's the purity of the liquid product I linked to), the amount (mL) of niacin per mL of the solution (product) is 0.5 mL.
Therefore, if you need ~68 mL niacin per gallon, and a product contains ~51 mL niacin per mL of product, you would divide the amount needed (68 mL) by the amount per volume (in this case, mL, which is 51), you need to
add 1.3 mL of that product per gallon. To convert mL to tsp, divide mL by 5, which in this case converts to ~0.25 (1/4) tsp.
Now, if you want to add 150 mg niacin to a gallon of water, using that same product, you would divide the original mass we used (100 mg) by the new amount (150 mg). Then, divide the original volume we found we need to add (1.3 mL) by that answer (0.67), for a new volume you'd
add of 1.94 mL per gallon.
So how much is 28 grams?? One tsp? One tbsp???
Or some other measurement??
This niacin thing is hard to figure out!!
Grams are a measurement of weight, while tsp and tbsp are measurements of volume. So, you're trying to compare apples to oranges. To convert weight to volume you need to know the density of the thing you're converting, assuming the source of niacin is a fine powder, if not, conversion is considerably harder.
It's really best to just stick with weight in this case (if you're adding yeast to the foodstuffs, and not using liquid niacin). So, buy a $20 scale and weigh the yeast.
I am New to bird's. I have a lame 5-6 wk old mallard out of 4 I have. I've been feeding chick started since I have 24 chicks but I'm just learning they need niacin. How do u kno how much to give them? Can u give too much?
For the first question, see what I wrote above. If you have a lame duck, due to niacin deficiency, I assume it's best to get it into it 'faster.' And if that's the case, you may want to use liquid niacin, or, get an injection of niacin from your vet.
