food... still confused!

[688peterl]

come to think of it im on day 25 and nothing has happened so far i know they are only due in 3 days but they should atleast be rocking now shouldnt they? they arent

:

 

[classroomducks]

Dude! You are stressing ME out

. Just let them be! mine did not rock at all before they pipped. And even then on three of the eggs i had pips for 3 days before i had babies. Nature knows what it is doing. You just have to be patient and let them do their thing.

 

[nettie]

you can actually feed ducklings layer crumbles from hatch... they do just fine on it. to a duck, food is food... boy ducks can have layer feed just fine, they'll just get longer toe nails you might have to trim every now and then. if you get a girl, she'll need oyster shell offered in a seperate dish. if you get both girls, go ahead and mix it in their feed when they hit 5 months old or start laying. Grit is different from oystershells and canbe mixed right in with their feed or offered seperate, and both sexes will need it. the protein should be 16-19% for babies, and no higher than 16 for adults. so if you get a 16% feed, you can it til it's gone.

If you want to do two different feeds, you can do a starter crumble, like a turkey or game bird crumble, which could have a higher protien level then you want, but in that case, just mix more scratch in with their food. When they hit four weeks old, start adding in your layer feed, i prefer pellets since they are less likely to choke and them seem to waste less of it.... I had a duckling feeding chart on here somewhere... let me go digging in my year old posts to see if i can find it...

 

[chickens4me]

I still have so much to learn. Ducklings need different food than baby chicks? My 10 (6 female) ducklings ate the same starter feed as my chicks and now they are older, they just eat the chicken layer rations. They also free range around my backyard, too. They are big & healthy ducks now. But perhaps their "eating habits" are why I only get 1 egg everyday or so. Hmmmm...

So glad I am a BYCer so I can keep on learning!

 

[nettie]

ducklings and chicks can eat the same starter feed, ducks can eat chicken or gamebird/turkey feed. Ducks shouldn't have medicated feed because they eat more and can overdose. not all medicines in medicated feed are bad for ducks, but to be on the safe side, i recommend non-medicated.

here's that c hart... i had to dig allllll the way back to Before Wifezilla got her ducks. lol....


Here's a good idea of what a feeding schedule with your diet incorporated should look like if you raise babies:

WEEK 1 to at least 8 you should have food and water available all the time. They eat a lot when they are growing their feathers. After that, you can feed them at certain times, or have food available all the time, it's up to you and your ducks.

WEEK 1: Just Starter feed no scratch, mixed with some water to soften it. this helps prevent choking. food must be changed regularly, every couple hours or so because it will sour and go bad.

WEEK 2: (Same as week one, but less water)

WEEK 3: Add a tiny bit of scratch to your feed. No need to soften it any more

WEEK 4: Start adding in Layer feed to the starter feed (maybe a 1:4 Ratio at first) with a little bit more scratch (maybe 1:8 ratio of scratch to both feeds together)

WEEK 5: 1:2 Layer feed to Starter feed. A little more scratch than last week, 1:4 part scratch to 4 parts feed.

WEEK 6: 1:1 layer feed to starter feed. 1:3 Scratch

WEEK 7: (Your duck should almost be fully feathered by this week or next) 2:1 layer feed to starter feed. 1:2 1 part scratch to 2 parts feed.

WEEK 8: 3:1 Layer to starter. 1:1 Scratch

WEEK 9: (this is when they can/will start to molt, they can do this through 12 week) 4:1 Layer to starter, 1:1 Scratch.

WEEK 10: Layer feed Only, no more starter feed. 1:1 Scratch. Incorporate a few new exciting treats for your duckies, like vegatables/fruits (avoid giving them extra protein at this time. Too much protein in a growing feathering duck can cause Angel wing. This is when the quills of the feathers grow faster and bigger than the muscles and tendons of the wing can hold causing the wings grow at 90 degree angles out from the body and is hard to fix.)

WEEK 11: Same as week 10 (But add more new treats)

WEEK 12: Same as week 11

WEEK 13: (By now your duck should be fully feathered and done with their first molt) Layer feed only (just to be safe throw away the starter feed, your adult ducks can not eat it any more due to the protein levels and the feed will most likely go bad before you raise ducklings again). scratch 1:1

WEEK 14: Layer feed, 1:1 Scratch, more health friendly foods/proteins. You may also want to get some duck multivitamins from your local fed store, these are generally added to your ducks water in small doses like the one found here: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/quik_chik.html
To help make sure they get what they need. you can give this to them in their water from the time of hatching as well.

WEEK 15: same as week 14

WEEK 16: same as week 14

WEEK 17: same as week 14

WEEK 18: same as week 14

WEEK 19: same as week 14

WEEK 20 and on: (By now your ducks will be 5 months old and may start laying if the weather is nice. If it is cold or winter, they may wait until the spring) Buy OYSTER SHELL from your local feed store and add it to their food. This helps them to produce good eggs, hard. If you have males, offer the oyster shell in a separate. Males can eat layer feed just fine, they'll just have longer toe nails. oyster shells should not be offered to ducks that aren't laying because it can damage their kidneys.

hopefully that helps!!! just keep being patient and wait to see how everything turns out!

 

[geosheets]

Quote:
I feed al my ducklings chick starter and never had any problems...

 

[Wifezilla]

Chick starter and then game bird feed. That's it. When to switch over? When the chick starter bag gets empty