Dehydrating wet feed

[Fairywoodducks]

Hey all! With the freezing cold this past week the duck crumble will freeze up as they eat and drink. This has caused a lot of wet food and I'm going through a ton if it! I had a thought about putting the wet feed in the oven at its lowest temp (170° I think) and drying it out. Will this harm the feed any? Has anyone done this before? I'm not sure if heating the feed will change it somehow and the nutrients be leached or altered. I've lost some ducks in the past and it's made me overly cautious doing anything different with the feed. Thanks!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

I can't help with the "problem" but maybe with the root of the problem.

We keep our food in a "grandpa's feeder" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TXW0UQK/?tag=backy-20 which keeps it dry and mouse/sparrow free. They are pretty expensive, but there are cheaper setups and they aren't the most important part of keeping the ducks from wetting their feed. What does that is keeping their water about 30 ft from the feed. That means:

1. They eat their feed, THEN wash it down with water and don't get the chance to throw a bunch of their feed in the water.
2. By the time they come back from the water to their feed, they have fairly dry bills.
3. They have to give up their feeding position to drink and vice-versa so the lower ducks in the flock get a chance to eat and drink too.

This has worked out very well and none of the ducks have had any choking issues. They have had this kind of separation between their water and food their whole lives. Even in the brooder, they had about 10 ft between the water and the feed. That caused them to run back and forth and keep their leg strength up (important for Pekins, fun to watch for all the other 'lings.)

Also I feed my ducks pellets rather than crumble. I have found that they spill crumble on the ground and never pick it up. They spill pellets too, but will clean them up somewhat so there is less food waste. Even my runners handle the pellets just fine (ducklings need crumble as the pellets are too big.)

Summary: both the separation and choosing pellets over crumble cause the ducks to waste less food. The feeder keeps other animals from eating the ducks' food.

 

[Fairywoodducks]

I'm starting that tomorrow! Makes total since and as soon as my bag of crumble is out I'll buy the pellets instead. Thanks so much!

 

[Fairywoodducks]

Just as an update, I did dry the feed out and it was perfectly fine. It took about 12 hours on 170 to dry out completely. I have separated the food from the water and the food has been 100% dry since then. Plus as you mentioned the lowest on the totem pole gets her full share! Its like a revolving door of ducks when they feed now.

 

[Jpat]

Just as an update, I did dry the feed out and it was perfectly fine. It took about 12 hours on 170 to dry out completely. I have separated the food from the water and the food has been 100% dry since then. Plus as you mentioned the lowest on the totem pole gets her full share! Its like a revolving door of ducks when they feed now.

your power bill ide burn the house down to avoid that power bill haha

i like that grandpa feeder!

 

[Tevyes Dad]

your power bill ide burn the house down to avoid that power bill haha

i like that grandpa feeder!

That feeder is the only thing that we had for our two original ducks that we still have and use.

 

[Fairywoodducks]

I dehydrated stuff all the time (fruits mostly) and an oven at 170 doesn't take much energy. My furnace takes care of that haha

 

[onaharley]

I can't help with the "problem" but maybe with the root of the problem.

We keep our food in a "grandpa's feeder" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TXW0UQK/?tag=backy-20 which keeps it dry and mouse/sparrow free. They are pretty expensive, but there are cheaper setups and they aren't the most important part of keeping the ducks from wetting their feed. What does that is keeping their water about 30 ft from the feed. That means:

1. They eat their feed, THEN wash it down with water and don't get the chance to throw a bunch of their feed in the water.
2. By the time they come back from the water to their feed, they have fairly dry bills.
3. They have to give up their feeding position to drink and vice-versa so the lower ducks in the flock get a chance to eat and drink too.

This has worked out very well and none of the ducks have had any choking issues. They have had this kind of separation between their water and food their whole lives. Even in the brooder, they had about 10 ft between the water and the feed. That caused them to run back and forth and keep their leg strength up (important for Pekins, fun to watch for all the other 'lings.)

Also I feed my ducks pellets rather than crumble. I have found that they spill crumble on the ground and never pick it up. They spill pellets too, but will clean them up somewhat so there is less food waste. Even my runners handle the pellets just fine (ducklings need crumble as the pellets are too big.)

Summary: both the separation and choosing pellets over crumble cause the ducks to waste less food. The feeder keeps other animals from eating the ducks' food.

Very, very