Free Ranging and Feeding

[Abraeri]

I was wondering how much those of you who free-range feed their ducks. Mine free-range - they have a bush they like to sit under during the heat of the day and go out to forage in the evenings and early mornings. We have 5 acres but the ducks hate to go out into open spaces so they only come out into the land in the front of our house when we cut our lawn (to get all the crickets that are running away ) They spend most of their time in the garden and around the area of their kiddie pool. However, I find that I'm still going through one 50lb bag of feed about every two weeks for 11 ducks. Will have to see if that number will go down now that it is summer but I was just wondering what your experiences on that were.

Ideally I would love to completely phase them off of feed at least in the summer months, but not really sure how I would go about that, or if it's even possible. One thing I've noticed is that while the ducks love to forage, they're not so great about picking apart kitchen scraps because of their blunt bills.

So I want to hear from you! How much space your girls (and boys) have, any tips for getting them out into land where there's a lot of good stuff, etc.

 

[Jbently28]

What kind of ducks do you have? Certain breeds are better foragers than others, and some larger breeds naturally will eat more than others as well. It all depends on your breed though.

 

[Abraeri]

I have White Layers and Golden 300 Hybrids. They are layer birds so not that heavy. It'd be cool if I knew how much each bird eats - I have one that is significantly bigger than the rest

 

[Jbently28]

Both of those breeds produce a lot of eggs. Ducks that are significant layers tend to need to eat more protein to keep up their egg supply.

 

[Gerty0630]

My female pekins forage all day long. Constant. Anywhere and everywhere, do not have a location preference. I have 2.5 acres but they do not forage within a large area of it at all. They pretty much stay just on the side of my house. I do still provide feed in their coop overnight or if it's a crappy or cold day and they lay in the coop that day - but I do not go through a lot of feed. Like someone else already said, depends on the types of ducks you have, same with chickens - some are better foragers than others. I have a pekin drake who honestly prefers simply laying outside most of the day and watching the others. He hardly forages. He will lay... peck at the ground by where he lays for a couple hours. He gets up a moves maybe a few times a day. They're all different!

 

[Tannerpauldean]

I have about an acre and when I was letting them free range on the whole property I gave each adult duck one cup (8 oz) of feed pellets each day. That is for Welsh Harlequins & Indian Runners. I am sorry, I don't know how much that weighs. I got to that point through trial and error - my goal was for them to run out of the pellets about 2-3 hours before sunset. Then I gave them some peas as a reward for going into their pen at night.

Do you provide them free choice pellets, or do you measure out each morning? Oh, and don't forget about crushed shells if their feed is not a layer mix.

 

[casportpony]

Ideally I would love to completely phase them off of feed at least in the summer months, but not really sure how I would go about that, or if it's even possible.

IMO, not possible. I free range mine too, and even with lots of bugs and grass they still need proper feed.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

IMO, not possible. I free range mine too, and even with lots of bugs and grass they still need proper feed.

Agreed. My Muscovies get the majority of their feed from pasture, and that species does better than mallards, but they still need feed. There is no way around feeding ducks unfortunately. You can reduce the need by rotating their pasture so bugs and legumes can replenish themselves (protein), and by seeding with nutrient dense plants. A generic cover crop mix from the feed store or nursery is what my ducks love.

 

[Abraeri]

That is what I'd think too... was interested in wether someone had done it though. What do you guys think about older birds though - ones without as high of a need for nutrients to go into their eggs?

Rotating is pretty much impossible lol. They always come back to "home base"; and hate to venture out into unfamiliar places. They also always come back for water too, no matter how much good stuff they were getting. We have a ton of grass in the front but they rarely come out there, usually they only come to eat the bugs when we cut the grass.

They get food free-choice. They stay under their bush during the hottest parts of the day but they do a lot of foraging. Sometimes I think they are not getting anything at all though, it's as if they are losing more energy out there digging holes and burrowing then they get from whatever they eat.

Is there no need to supplement if they are getting layer pellets? They do get layers pellets but lately I've been getting more soft-shells than usual. So I feed their eggshells back to them free choice.

 

[Fishkeeper]

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.