Help! I'm new to raising ducks and my duck is being picky

[Epi_03]

My duck is around five weeks old- i unintentionally hatched them. ive been introducing vegetables and fruits into their diet dince last week and so far they are enjoying it.

But lately, they've been really picky. They've only touched a bit of their main food. I tried wetting the food or giving it dry with their water beside and still less eating :<.

Theyve been given either rice, feed, or oats and so far ricr has been the one thats been touched most. But when I placed a few watercress chopped in the rice they only picked the watercress out and didnt eat much of the rice...

They do drink a lot of water.

I'm also trying to find a way to add more niacin in their food cause resources in my area for ducks are scarce...

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ducklings need a really good source of nutrients when young so adding other things to their feed isn't a good idea because of what you are seeing they may not be eating their feed. You should be feeding only a good quality feed for poultry or waterfowl[ we realize not everyone has access to waterfowl feed] so we use poultry feed and add something like Nutritional yeast over their feed. 1 Tab per cup of feed till at least 10-12 weeks old. This is when they are growing the fastest and need good nutrition. Everything else your giving your duckling should be just a treat and in very small amount. 10% of it's daily feed.
Just like a kid if you put good wholesome food on the table and a cookie or slice of cake which one do you think they will choose.
Nutritional yeast can be found at some grocery stores that have bulk food or natural food stores or on line.
How did you unintentionally hatch ducklings?

 

[Epi_03]

Ducklings need a really good source of nutrients when young so adding other things to their feed isn't a good idea because of what you are seeing they may not be eating their feed. You should be feeding only a good quality feed for poultry or waterfowl[ we realize not everyone has access to waterfowl feed] so we use poultry feed and add something like Nutritional yeast over their feed. 1 Tab per cup of feed till at least 10-12 weeks old. This is when they are growing the fastest and need good nutrition. Everything else your giving your duckling should be just a treat and in very small amount. 10% of it's daily feed.
Just like a kid if you put good wholesome food on the table and a cookie or slice of cake which one do you think they will choose.
Nutritional yeast can be found at some grocery stores that have bulk food or natural food stores or on line.
How did you unintentionally hatch ducklings?

In my area we have fertilized duck egg delicacies called "Balut", my mom was gifted a box of uncooked ones and she brought them home, we have a huge chuck of the eggs to my uncles and kept some with us since my family really like the dish- we kinda forgot two in the basket , and when I realized it, it was too late and I candled the egg and lo and behold a huge baby was inside mom and I didnt have the heart to do anything to the lil babies so we placed them in the basket and let fate take its course since we really didn't have any background on ducks only chickens but if they hatched we were willing to learn and care for them as much as possible.


Both hatched last May 13-14th, sadly one hatched with wry neck(?), lil ducky improved after a week with my giving supplements and hand feeding but then we lost the duckling last week since they had the same issue i think again, couldnt get up, and eat...

This one-Epi, survived and tails me 24/7 - I know ducks shouldn't be kept alone, but adopting new ducks to keep them company kind of scares me since I might not be able to take care of them all at once...

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Would there be a possible substitue to waterfowl feed? We've checked the markets near us and theres only chicken feed, fish pellets, turtle pellets, and cat and dog food available...


The 1 tablet of nutritional yeast, could I ask how many grams the tablet to feed ratio should be..? I'll try to look online for the tablets thank you so much!

 

[Epi_03]

Ducklings need a really good source of nutrients when young so adding other things to their feed isn't a good idea because of what you are seeing they may not be eating their feed. You should be feeding only a good quality feed for poultry or waterfowl[ we realize not everyone has access to waterfowl feed] so we use poultry feed and add something like Nutritional yeast over their feed. 1 Tab per cup of feed till at least 10-12 weeks old. This is when they are growing the fastest and need good nutrition. Everything else your giving your duckling should be just a treat and in very small amount. 10% of it's daily feed.
Just like a kid if you put good wholesome food on the table and a cookie or slice of cake which one do you think they will choose.
Nutritional yeast can be found at some grocery stores that have bulk food or natural food stores or on line.
How did you unintentionally hatch ducklings?

I'm really worried about my duckling since they haven't been eating as much as they did the first three weeks... :< is it possible that my duckling is depressed because their sibling/buddy died? Should I keep my duckling with me more hours of the day?

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Are you still feeding rice? Rice has no nutrition for ducks. You need a waterfowl or poultry feed.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I'm really worried about my duckling since they haven't been eating as much as they did the first three weeks... :< is it possible that my duckling is depressed because their sibling/buddy died? Should I keep my duckling with me more hours of the day?

If you are unable to find a poultry feed I would go with cat food. I would definitely stop giving them rice. Fresh veggies like romaine lettuce, tomatoes or kale aren't bad for them other than again they might not eat enough feed to grow properly if they are conditioned to eating that instead. Frozen thawed peas will add a bit of niacin and is usually a favorite treat here.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I'm really worried about my duckling since they haven't been eating as much as they did the first three weeks... :< is it possible that my duckling is depressed because their sibling/buddy died? Should I keep my duckling with me more hours of the day?

I don't think it's depressed, my ducks do act funny when one dies but they get over it very quickly once the deceased bird has been removed from their sight. It's more likely an inadequate nutrition problem.

 

[Epi_03]

Are you still feeding rice? Rice has no nutrition for ducks. You need a waterfowl or poultry feed.

I've swtiched to oats and chicken feed with vitamins in the container... does it specifically have to be vitamin B3 or could it be any other vitamin b?

 

[Epi_03]

I don't think it's depressed, my ducks do act funny when one dies but they get over it very quickly once the deceased bird has been removed from their sight. It's more likely an inadequate nutrition problem.

Can i still help my duck? is it too late? how long do i have till it's irreversible..? I can't go to the market until sunday and I'm kind of panicking...

 

[Epi_03]

If you are unable to find a poultry feed I would go with cat food. I would definitely stop giving them rice. Fresh veggies like romaine lettuce, tomatoes or kale aren't bad for them other than again they might not eat enough feed to grow properly if they are conditioned to eating that instead. Frozen thawed peas will add a bit of niacin and is usually a favorite treat here.

would cat food be alright with a month old duckling? I've been looking for frozen peas in the stores near me but there isn't any available...
i have almonds, chia seeds, moringa leaves,- but im not sure since some say its bad for them, some say its good...