Ducklings hatching soon! What now??

[Jimbosvt]

Hi everyone. I am new to backyard chickens although it has been an excellent resource when I got my 7 ducklings last year. I tried incubating a batch of eggs this spring and made it to day 23. Then we had a a power outage and I lost the batch. However, a few weeks back one of my ducks suddenly disappeared and I found her sitting on a nest of 5 eggs. She has been sitting for about 21 days now so I want to start preparing for ducklings if all goes well. My main question is what do I feed the ducklings and how do I feed them so the other ducks don't eat their feed? I imagine the adult ducks shouldn't be eating a duckling starter crumb. Anybody have any advice on this? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I won't have ducks until spring.. I wish I could help. But also feel, come spring, I will be in shoes asking you what you did..
I have to ask B.O.B. to make me a welcome duck egg for duck peeps!
WELCOME TO BYC! connie....

 

[Miss Lydia]

Since all my flock eats together I use all flock for everyone [crumble] It's one feed they can start on and stay with their entire lives. Oyster shell put out in separate container for my layers.

 

[chickens really]

The best thing to do is separate the Momma and Ducklings from the flock...Always a good idea incase others try to kill them or they get trampled while Momma tries to protect them...I feed my Momma and her Ducklings starter...Being Momma has been setting she will be under weight...Provide the baby food wet to a soupy mix twice a day with dry in a separate bowl....
Best wishes on the Hatch.....

 

[Jimbosvt]

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll switch their feed so they can stay together. I spoke to my local feed store and they mentioned that the all flock feed is just the standard grower crum. Would that be accurate? I would hate to lose a batch of ducklings due to feeding them incorrectly. I used a starter crum for the first round ducklings I had but I didn't have any adult ducks at that time.
Also, since I mainly have the ducks for egg production, is there anything special I need to do with the crushed oyster shell or do they just eat it as needed?

 

[chickens really]

The oyster shell they eat as needed....
If you can get Duckling starter it's better but if not the other is okay too...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have used chick starter also and just fed it to everyone. But I do keep my moms and babies separated for the first 2 weeks where everyone can see each other but new family is safe. All flock is better but if you can't get it go with starter.

Never heard all flock being grower.


https://www.purinamills.com/chicken-feed/products/detail/purina-flock-raiser

 

[Jimbosvt]

I have another local feed supplier I'll check out next week to see what they say regarding the all flock feed. Thanks for all the help so far. Hopefully the eggs are all still good and I'll have a few new additions to my flock mid next week!

 

[Jimbosvt]

Well it looks like none of my local feed suppliers have heard of any type of all flock feed. So I just bought some starter and will probably switch all the ducks over to that for a while.

But the ducklings have hatched! Only two out of the 4 remaining eggs but that still 2 that made it! Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Congrats!!! post pics when you can