I have six baby ducks coming next week. Three Blue Swedish and three Khaki Campbells, one male and two females of each. Everything I read says to feed them chick starter feed which I have plenty of since I also have 25 3 week old hens brooding. BUT it says to mix it as a mash (add water to the feed) and to add either niacin or brewers yeast since they need the extra vitamins for bone development. I live in a little town far removed from any health food store. One lady here said to just use regular Hellmans yeast, that it was the same. Also, the local pharmacy does have niacin tabs. Can they be ground up and used? Help!!! Do I need to make a trip in to the bigger city to get actual Brewers Yeast?
I don't know if you have a Fred Meyer or bulk section in any of your local grocery stores, but most of the ones around here (even the lower end stores that have bulk sections) have something called nutritional yeast, which is essentially the same thing as "brewers yeast" nutritionally (except it tastes good). It comes in flakes and as a powder, and is yellow in color. Maybe swing by and keep an eye out for it? Otherwise, there's always amazon prime!
Do not use baking yeast. I ordered off of Amazon when I got Brewers yeast and you can order Niacin on line too which ever you decide on be sure it's plain niacin and Nutritional or Brewers yeast. Be sure to post pics when you get your babies.
I ended up making the 100 mile round trip to get Brewers Yeast. No big deal, I made an outing of it and got some things needed to set up a new brooding area for the ducks as well as a separate brooding area for the male chicks that will be included for body heat. I will absolutely post pictures of the new baby ducks and little boy-chicks next week when I get them settled in. Now, can anyone out there tell me how much Brewers Yeast to mix with the chick starter? Thanks, Jon
Should say in this link, i have never personally done it so i will defer to it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/750869/raising-and-caring-for-ducklings#post_10611711
