Duckling feeding? (Not enough niacin?)

[docdubz]

So my ducklings are at about their 3 week mark (not sure how long tractor supply had them before I picked em up) and have taken off on their growth spurt. But, they aren't really eating their feed. I put their feed in one of those small round metal feeder tins and I wind up filling it once a day and then topping it off in the evening, which is a lot less than they had been eating previously it used to be that I'd have to fill it up 3 times a day. They seem to be holding out for peas rather than eating their feed. They started this bratty behavior 2 days ago and since then they have been crapping three or four times as much as normal and it has an absolutely putrid stench to it.

Is them holding out for peas a sign that the duck feed I'm giving them doesn't have enough niacin in it? Or should I just withhold the peas until they knock it off?

 

[tribalacres]

Good Article...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[docdubz]

It is a good article but my problem is that my ducklings are turning their nose up to their feed. They are not eating enough of it and are instead holding out for peas or mealworms. The four of them barely ate a cup worth of feed today. They were eating 3 times as much a week ago. I tried holding out for a couple of hours on the treats but they would not eat their feed. They don't look like they have any symptoms of niacin deficiency.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Don’t blame your ducklings they aren’t doing this to upset you. They are just like any animal they’d rather have treats than feed and just like kids that would like to eat candy if they can get away with it. So put their feed out and leave off the mealworms and peas till they are back eating their feed again. What feed are you using a by the way?

 

[docdubz]

Don’t blame your ducklings they aren’t doing this to upset you. They are just like any animal they’d rather have treats than feed and just like kids that would like to eat candy if they can get away with it. So put their feed out and leave off the mealworms and peas till they are back eating their feed again. What feed are you using a by the way?

I'm not blaming them but I'm more concerned maybe there is something wrong. Their feed is nature's best organic duck feed.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Do you notice anything out of normal with them?

 

[docdubz]

Not really. The only thing that seems off so far is they are not eating anywhere near how much they were eating just 2 or 3 days ago. Today has been the worst so far. I held off with the peas for the most part, I did give them some in the morning because they were not touching their food at all. I gave them one of the ~4inch wide feed tins from tractor supply worth of feed this morning and I mixed in a tablespoon worth of nutritional yeast. I figured if it was niacin deficiency maybe they would devour it faster than normal but they barely touched it, they only ate the very top layer (maybe a quarter of a cup worth of feed) all day.

They don't seem to have anything wrong with them aside from a fixation on demanding peas. They have been growing like crazy the past couple days but not eating and this has me extremely confused. They have been laying together every now and then but I'm not so sure this is problematic as they have plenty of energy to demand peas and then go lay down in defeat if I don't give in to them.