Commercial Waterfowl Feeds

[Dances with Ducks]

I'm wondering what experience other people have with these feeds.
I wandered into a store quite a distance from me and found Mazuri Waterfowl Breeder at about twice the price of Layena, but I see online that Mazuri also has a Waterfowl Maintance which I hope would be cheaper.
This place also had Manna Pro Waterfowl Ration at about 3/4 the price of Layena.

So my questions are:
Is the Manna Pro Waterfowl Ration a good product?
Does anyone know how Mazuri Waterfowl Maintance compares pricewise with Layena?
Somebody mentioned Purina Duck Chow which I cannot find online, or is that be one of the Mazuri products?
Any other observations about these or other Waterfowl feeds.

I am assuming I could get one of my small local feedstore to ship some in at request, I just hope they don't have to purchase a large stockpile of it, so if I am the only buyer I am not coming back later to buy a stale bag.

 

[rainplace]

It appears that Purina Duck Chow isn't available everywhere. Here the Mazuri is almost 3 times the cost of Purina Flockraiser (which is what I use). I bought one bag of the Mazuri, but found it cost prohibitive.

 

[CityChicker]

Yeah, what Rainplace said, LOL... The duck chow is different from the Mazuri line. When I used to be able to get it, it was about $15 a bag. Most of the Mazuri line is about double that. Where did you find the Mazuri feeds in stock?

On the Manna Pro, I didn't know they had a Waterfowl feed. The places that I know of that sell Manna Pro, sell the Turkey/Gamebird as Waterfowl feed. I, personally, did not like it. It is 24% protein. I think Wifezilla uses it with good results and it is probably fine if a person feeds a lot of other feeds or the ducks get significant foarge time. I had a few problems raising ducklings on it, but only a few birds out of about 40 that I raised on it. All the others did fine on it.

Another option that I have not tried before is the Multi-Flock by Kent. It is 18% protein (as opposed to the 20% in Flock Raiser) and it contains some Fish meal and animal fat. That would make it more similar to the duck chow than Flock Raiser is. I might see if I can order it and try it out. The fact of the matter is that there are probably multiple feeds that waterfowl will do just fine on. Even the feeds that I have tried and not cared for as much as others have been pretty good, certainly better than acceptable. You sometimes have to have a large number of birds before you see any even minor issues. There are so many factors that contribute to how well birds do on a particular feed or a person's perception of how well the birds are doing. A person with only a couple of pet birds is going to notice minor issues more readily than someone that has a couple hundred.

 

[duckluck]

Well, you made me feel good...I just bought a bag of Multi Flock by Kent, and I do not have enough ducks to go through it fast, so hopefully it works well!

 

[Dances with Ducks]

I found the Mazuri Waterfowl Breeder feed and the Manna Pro at the Brighton Feed and Saddlery. I have the tag off a bag of the Manna Pro product right in front of me, but I couldn't find the same thing online. It says "Family Farm Waterfowl Ration 20, pellets. For growing , finishing, and breeding ducks and geese." (Oh, but it's 20% protein I just noticed!) It was eleven something a bag and I was thinking worth trying, but maybe not. The main ingredients are corn and then soybean meal. That's probably true of most feeds though.
Do geese need 20% protein? Ducks and geese eat very differently in nature, I doubt they should be lumped together when formulating feeds.
The lady at the Brighton store told me that both the Denver Zoo and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo order these products from them, using the Mazuri during breeding season and the Manna Pro the rest of the year. She said they don't like the Manna Pro as well but their budget doesn't allow Mazuri all year round.
So I will also ask my local stores about the Multi-Flock by Kent and Purina Duck Chow.
Thanks for the feedback, that was really helpful!