Can pekins eat fish?

[Srt4te]

I was thinking recently about getting some minnows or small fish as a treat for my 2 pekins .theyre about 7 weeks old. I was gonna get them some fish and throw them in their pool.is it ok for them to have small fish? Will they enjoy them or just get freaked out and not wanna swim? Thanks!

 

[Kevin565]

Yes they can eat them and will enjoy hunting. However PLEASE buy any live food from a reputable source. Live food can harbor parasites and diseases. This can be quite common in fish kept in poor conditions

 

[Srt4te]

Ok. So I guess buying them from a local hunting and fishing store isn't a good idea. Although the store is very clean. What or where would be a wise choice to buy?

 

[Kevin565]

If it's a clean enviroment and the tanks look clean it should be fine. If your looking for a variety of feeder fish I would try your local fish store. They will have a variety of live foods.

 

[Srt4te]

Ok.thanks for your help and info!

 

[028Jacy]

Actually yesterday I went out and bought some feeder fish for my nine week old ducklings. It was sooo cute seeing them dive under water chasing the fish.

 

[Apyl]

I bought mine 15 cent feeder fish from Walmart. They LOVED them. It took them a few minutes to get brave enought o try one then it was a frenzy lol. I've also given them DH's left over minows from fishing.

 

[lizzyGSR]

You should be careful about where you buy fish. Wal-Mart is notorious for having sick fish, and having tanks that look clean doesn't necessarily mean they are. If there are sick fish in ANY tank, beware because the filtering systems for each tank are usually tied together. If one tank has it, most likely they all do. Ick, cottonmouth, fin rot, etc. are prevalent in stressed fish and are highly contagious. I don't know what kind of effect they would have on larger animals that eat the fish though.

Also, there are often chemicals used in aquariums that say "not for use with fish intended for consumption". If your ducks are used for eggs or for meat it might be good to avoid those kinds of fish or, at least, to do more research. Water conditioning chemicals designed to remove chlorine and other harmful additives from the water are used to make the water safe for fish. Many/most of these say "keep away from children" and/or "do not use with fish intended for consumption". Many stores also add aquarium salt, which is NOT the same as table salt. You should research what additives are added to the water where you get your fish before feeding the fish to you ducks.

 

[Yetti]

you can treat the fish prior to feeding them to the ducks
use Iodine free table salt. put in 1 teaspoon for ever gallon of water you keep them in, at the very least 24 hours. the salt breaks up parasites and bacteria that's common in fish from pet stores.

 

[Srt4te]

Lizzygsr where do you normally get your fish from? To be honest I don't know where you would be totally safe buying fish, including Walmart, petsmart, and fish and aquarium stores.