feeding your ducklings

[GoldDogsMom]

Quote:
I have had Pekin, Mallards and now Rouen ducks and have found that as long as I spend significant time with them as ducklings they are the sweetest things! I love my ducks, they come running to me when they hear my voice, follow me around the yard and at almost a year old, they still eat out of my hand! They even "play chase" with 1 of my golden retrievers, they take turns chasing each other!

 

[Quack Addict]

Our Pekins have access to a real nice duck house but refuse to sleep in it and every day is an Easter Egg hunt since they literally lay all over the place. Sometimes the best laid plans are not what the ducks had in mind... lol

 

[EJPedrazzi]

Meat bird maker is the one we use...it says All Grain, but it might be Southern States brand...anyway it has only 20% protein and says you can feed it to anything you are planning on eating from start to finish, or feed it to layers from hatch to 16 weeks...or feed it to breeders hatch to finish...So it seems to just be chick starter that you may or may not be eating the animal you are feeding it to. I give my ducks something different with every feeding...One time I'll give them the chick starter with 24% protein...the next time it will be gamebird starter (already has niacin added), and then the next it will be the meat bird maker...soon though they can switch to the flock raiser the chickens get.

I tried finding "duck food" but there seems to be no such thing, other than the gamebird/showbird starter ( it says it's good for ducks too)...and I can only find that in small bags, and the ducklings are getting older, so the small bag doesn't even last a week...


If you aren't ready to deal with a creature that is 10x nastier than any bunny alive, and 100x nastier than a chicken you need to not get a duck...but I wouldn't say a duck is for life...I mean if you get a pekin duck they are ready to eat in 7 weeks...so if you get one and then change your mind, just eat it...
People on here said ducks are nasty, but I didn't realize how nasty we were talking...but now that I know I am thinking of either keeping very very very few ducks, or possibly processing all of the ones we have bought so far...Lol. They are really gross...and the ducklings are cute for about 10 minutes and then one takes the biggest grossest poop ever and you are just like, "hmmm, I no longer wish to hold and cuddle this creature from the land of poops..." To tell the truth, that is what I love about poultry as "pets" if I should happen to tire of them, or don't like one's attitude I can just eat them... It doesn't get better than that... They aren't pets around here though...they are either laying eggs, or being roasted slowly...

So a pekin duck is for at least 7 weeks after easter...

I have no problem with people eating their ducks if that's what they choose to do, but I do have a problem with people buying cute little baby animals for any occasion, not just Easter and dumping them at their local shelter / the side of the road when said baby animal grows up and isn't so cute any more or they just can't be bothered to deal with it. Responsible pet ownership is what I'm trying to encourage here!

 

[DenverDucky]

I wouldn't say a duck is for life...

This is to discourage people from the Easter impulse buys that can result in dumping after the duckling is no longer tiny. It's sad how many end up at lakes and ponds after the Easter Holiday :'(

 

[GoldDogsMom]

This is to discourage people from the Easter impulse buys that can result in dumping after the duckling is no longer tiny. It's sad how many end up at lakes and ponds after the Easter Holiday :'(

Agreed! They are so cute when you see them at the store...but...they grow up FAST!