Free Ranging and Feeding

[Abraeri]

You need to always have food available for them. Not least because, unless you're giving them an entire pond they can catch fish and aquatic inverts and seaweed out of, free ranging won't give them all the nutrients they need. It's not just a matter of sheer caloric intake, it's also trace nutrients.

That is true, and those are dreams! But in the very least I just wanted to know what everyone else's experience with free ranging was - as in does it reduce the amount of food intake compared to in a run all day?

 

[The Dapper Duck]

I definitely lean on the pasture more than most people. It kinda drives me nuts when people say "that feed is a complete ration" because my eggs look and taste a heck of a lot better than birds that only get commercial feed. I don't give free-choice because my birds are lazy and the poop the worst poops when they eat only feed. Young birds need feed free-choice but once they are adults, and this is speaking of Muscovies, they can forage quite well and I have not noticed any issues with shell thickness or production. I feed once a day or every couple days outside the laying season and once a day during laying and just enough that they don't leave too much in the bucket after everyone has had their fill. I know, I'll catch some flak for my methods, but my birds are healthy and happy and they make some great eggs. Results may not be typical, but these are my second flock of birds and my first flock didn't even get this much feed, but the foraging setup was a lot better with the first (slugs in the tropics are quite abundant).

 

[Abraeri]

That is good to hear. I get where people are coming from when they say it's a complete ration since we have bred most breeds to point where what they would get naturally is no where near enough for their production. But I do believe that we can get pretty close to feeding naturally without commercial feed... especially I think for older birds who aren't putting out as much.

 

[123RedBeard]

Sound like yours are not getting much from foraging ... as they are eating almost as much as a commercial feed only duck ...

https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-much-will-my-ducks-eat.html?m=1

I'd skip breakfast for a week ... give them feed in the afternoon ... hungry ducks will be more eager to go look for their own breakfast.

 

[CLSranch]

I'd skip breakfast for a week ... give them feed in the afternoon ... hungry ducks will be more eager to go look for their own breakfast.[/QUOTE]

Ditto

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Sound like yours are not getting much from foraging ... as they are eating almost as much as a commercial feed only duck ...

https://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-much-will-my-ducks-eat.html?m=1

I'd skip breakfast for a week ... give them feed in the afternoon ... hungry ducks will be more eager to go look for their own breakfast.

Yes! This is how I got my girls to figure out foraging. I bought them second hand and they had been raised in a run with no greens and had no idea that they could eat anything but feed. A little hunger motivation and they turned into real lawn mowers.