Duck Feed Requirements Advice

[MandoDuck]

I strongly support giving them exactly what they need (also because any leftover = lost money), but we shouldn't rely only on one recipe, but lots of blends that are rotated over a period of time

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good to know, just like processed food offered to humans. My flock has over half acre to forage on but still eat a lot of feed. I would like to offer them more of a variety but know that they are getting all they need My birds are pets and the bonus is eggs. So I don't grow them out for processing I appreciate any help on making sure they are getting the best in feed.

 

[MandoDuck]

You can join the Facebook group Avian Raw Whole Food Nutrition to find out more about this concept. Most people there have parrots, but I've seen a few that also have chickens and ducks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't do FB so I guess that leaves me out.

 

[MandoDuck]

I don't do FB so I guess that leaves me out.

Here is a presentation you can access online that I found very useful : https://lafeber.com/vet/avian-raw-whole-food-nutrition/

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

Hi there Mando! I, too, am BARF style raw feeder to my pup for a few years now and my girl is absolutely thriving, doing so much better than when she ate processed kibble/canned food. During my quest to become a better owner to her through feeding her better and expanding my knowledge in all areas of canine health, I’ve become very passionate about animal nutrition and holistic healing in general, and plan to at least become a certified specialist in dog nutrition and other holistic therapies. I want to apply the same concepts of whole raw foods to my chickens as well and make my own feeds, without having to add synthetic nutrients (I don’t do this at all with my dog, and avoid any synthetics) but it seems quite a bit more difficult to find reliable and plentiful info on the nutritional needs of chickens. Most people don’t make their own feed for their chickens like the way so many make their own balanced meals for dogs/cats. So I’m just not sure where to begin! This presentation looks very interesting though and I will have to give it a listen!

 

[MandoDuck]

Hi there Mando! I, too, am BARF style raw feeder to my pup for a few years now and my girl is absolutely thriving, doing so much better than when she ate processed kibble/canned food. During my quest to become a better owner to her through feeding her better and expanding my knowledge in all areas of canine health, I’ve become very passionate about animal nutrition and holistic healing in general, and plan to at least become a certified specialist in dog nutrition and other holistic therapies. I want to apply the same concepts of whole raw foods to my chickens as well and make my own feeds, without having to add synthetic nutrients (I don’t do this at all with my dog, and avoid any synthetics) but it seems quite a bit more difficult to find reliable and plentiful info on the nutritional needs of chickens. Most people don’t make their own feed for their chickens like the way so many make their own balanced meals for dogs/cats. So I’m just not sure where to begin! This presentation looks very interesting though and I will have to give it a listen!

It's so nice to meet other people that are interested in this holistic approach! I agree that there is little to no research in bird feeding, but I'm sure the basics of nutrition apply to all species. The challenge is to study what each individual would thrive on and apply this pattern by trial and error.
If you find any useful articles on this topic, please share them on this thread

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

It's so nice to meet other people that are interested in this holistic approach! I agree that there is little to no research in bird feeding, but I'm sure the basics of nutrition apply to all species. The challenge is to study what each individual would thrive on and apply this pattern by trial and error.
If you find any useful articles on this topic, please share them on this thread

I agree it is wonderful to meet others in the same mindset! My philosophy when it comes to nutrition is more the idea of “balancing over time”, something I’ve learned from other raw feeders and experts in the field of nutrition. I am sure you’ve heard of it? Instead of obsessing over whether or not each and every meal is completely nutritionally balanced, you focus more on ensuring the diet is balanced over the course of, say, a week. This works wonderfully for my dog, and when you really think about it, us humans never eat a 100% nutritionally balanced meal every single day. Some days we may eat more veggies and other days we might eat more meat. Naturally, this means we absorb different nutrients everyday, never exactly the same. This doesn’t mean we are lacking the necessary nutrition just because we don’t eat the same exact way each day and I don’t believe that applies to animals either. As long as you are eating a wide variety of healthy, whole foods, with a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, etc. you should end up with a pretty balanced diet by the end of the week so long as you make an effort to eat foods that will provide you with adequate nutrition and not just junk foods.

I believe this would work particularly well with birds who have daily access to pasture, and are able to forage for a lot of their food and specifically choose which plants, bugs, seeds their body needs. I plan to do rotational grazing with my flock once I build their new coop and runs, or in this case, pastures or “paddocks”. So they will always have access to forage in their run so long as I rotate them through several of them weekly and reseed when necessary. Once I have their new coop and runs completed (which I am sure will take me quite a while as I am new to building) I will be focusing more on learning about chicken nutrition and how I can formulate a pretty good base feed for them for now we are trying out Mile Four feed and seeing how that goes.

 

[1chip2chicks3cheeks]

I agree it is wonderful to meet others in the same mindset! My philosophy when it comes to nutrition is more the idea of “balancing over time”, something I’ve learned from other raw feeders and experts in the field of nutrition. I am sure you’ve heard of it? Instead of obsessing over whether or not each and every meal is completely nutritionally balanced, you focus more on ensuring the diet is balanced over the course of, say, a week. This works wonderfully for my dog, and when you really think about it, us humans never eat a 100% nutritionally balanced meal every single day. Some days we may eat more veggies and other days we might eat more meat. Naturally, this means we absorb different nutrients everyday, never exactly the same. This doesn’t mean we are lacking the necessary nutrition just because we don’t eat the same exact way each day and I don’t believe that applies to animals either. As long as you are eating a wide variety of healthy, whole foods, with a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, etc. you should end up with a pretty balanced diet by the end of the week so long as you make an effort to eat foods that will provide you with adequate nutrition and not just junk foods.

I believe this would work particularly well with birds who have daily access to pasture, and are able to forage for a lot of their food and specifically choose which plants, bugs, seeds their body needs. I plan to do rotational grazing with my flock once I build their new coop and runs, or in this case, pastures or “paddocks”. So they will always have access to forage in their run so long as I rotate them through several of them weekly and reseed when necessary. Once I have their new coop and runs completed (which I am sure will take me quite a while as I am new to building) I will be focusing more on learning about chicken nutrition and how I can formulate a pretty good base feed for them for now we are trying out Mile Four feed and seeing how that goes.

Something else to note, is that I do use a fermented, whole food multivitamin and natural mineral supplement with my dog. So all vitamins and minerals in the supplements come from natural sources are not synthetic. Even though I strive to provide her with the proper balance of meat, organs, bones, veggies and fruits throughout a few days to a week, I give her the extra boost every now and then just to ensure that she is getting all she needs. I mainly add it due to food these days not having as many nutrients as it once did, because of the depletion of our soils.

Sharing that info, because it relates to why I think it would also be a great idea to provide supplementation for our birds as well, to make sure they are getting all they need when making your own feed, but I haven’t been able to find any multivitamin/mineral supplements for poultry that are from natural sources in place of synthetic.

 

[MandoDuck]

Something else to note, is that I do use a fermented, whole food multivitamin and natural mineral supplement with my dog. So all vitamins and minerals in the supplements come from natural sources are not synthetic. Even though I strive to provide her with the proper balance of meat, organs, bones, veggies and fruits throughout a few days to a week, I give her the extra boost every now and then just to ensure that she is getting all she needs. I mainly add it due to food these days not having as many nutrients as it once did, because of the depletion of our soils.

Sharing that info, because it relates to why I think it would also be a great idea to provide supplementation for our birds as well, to make sure they are getting all they need when making your own feed, but I haven’t been able to find any multivitamin/mineral supplements for poultry that are from natural sources in place of synthetic.

Can you share that multivitamin supplement, please? Now that the allergy season is on its way, I would like to boost my doggy's immune system a lil bit. Maybe I will also find a retailer that sells it locally.