So my girlfriend and I got 3 ducks (2 mallards and 1 Peking). Primarily for pets. They are a little over 3 weeks old now and Ive got questions about nutrition.
Naturally rural King gave us chick starter and I quickly found out about niacin and protein levels and got them switched to a non medicated duck crumble. (I've raised and had parrots/cockatoos my whole life so I did a deep dive on duck info). The feed I use has the 35mg/lb niacin, (unmedicated) but I read the suggested protein is around 18%. The crumble mix is a 22%.
I imagined that's okay, but my question is concerning giving them treats. I pick dandelion and dandelion greens (originally trying to make up for their initial lack of niacin, but now they love them). and also have dried mealworms. Would giving the mealworms as treats be giving them too much protein and hurt them in some way being that the feed is already kind of high?
Also, in terms of keeping them occupied. It's too cold here still to let them outside much, but I wanted them to be able to get fulfillment through their foraging so I dug up a 12" pan worth of sod out back And put in their enclosure to rifle through. I often add the dandelions (greens and flowers) into the sod as snacks. But again I am worried about the nutritional balance and how it will affect growth.
These little guys are amazing and my girlfriend and I have bonded with them each individually so we would be devastated if we lost any.
Also other ideas to give them things for general enjoyment in the enclosure is welcome.
**Also curious about how much water to keep for them. Cleaning the space is a non issue, and I let them take a deep water swim every day to bathe. They are big enough to stand in one of the old school square metal dish sinks now.
(The enclosure picture is about a week old, they are larger now. Duck selfie is current)
Naturally rural King gave us chick starter and I quickly found out about niacin and protein levels and got them switched to a non medicated duck crumble. (I've raised and had parrots/cockatoos my whole life so I did a deep dive on duck info). The feed I use has the 35mg/lb niacin, (unmedicated) but I read the suggested protein is around 18%. The crumble mix is a 22%.
I imagined that's okay, but my question is concerning giving them treats. I pick dandelion and dandelion greens (originally trying to make up for their initial lack of niacin, but now they love them). and also have dried mealworms. Would giving the mealworms as treats be giving them too much protein and hurt them in some way being that the feed is already kind of high?
Also, in terms of keeping them occupied. It's too cold here still to let them outside much, but I wanted them to be able to get fulfillment through their foraging so I dug up a 12" pan worth of sod out back And put in their enclosure to rifle through. I often add the dandelions (greens and flowers) into the sod as snacks. But again I am worried about the nutritional balance and how it will affect growth.
These little guys are amazing and my girlfriend and I have bonded with them each individually so we would be devastated if we lost any.
Also other ideas to give them things for general enjoyment in the enclosure is welcome.
**Also curious about how much water to keep for them. Cleaning the space is a non issue, and I let them take a deep water swim every day to bathe. They are big enough to stand in one of the old school square metal dish sinks now.
(The enclosure picture is about a week old, they are larger now. Duck selfie is current)