Help with feeding routine!

[Isaac 0]

Hi!
So I’m going to school soon (about 3 weeks) and when I’m at school there’s nobody to take care of my ducklings! My parents don’t know how to take care of them and they dont want to take care of them because they have to take care of our other pets!
My school schedule is most likely from 9am-4pm. My ducklings are going to be 9 weeks when school starts.(right now their 6 weeks)
i want to keep them as pets therefore I don’t want them to become that big!
I have 5 ducklings and I feed them 1/4 cup EACH , 3 times a day (breakfast ,lunch ,dinner). So each day each duckling gets 3/4 cup of food. They also live outside so they can forage around in a grassy area.
Should I feed them a lot in the morning before I go to school then once I get him from school feed them a little and at night feed them their typical amount so their lunch is shortened therefore their breakfast is extended?
or I could feed them their normal amount just they would have to wait 7 hours? maybe that would be too long, but they could forage around??
also an extra question is in the winter should I keep them on this feeding schedule but add an extra 1/4 cup to each meal? because I heard that in the winter they need a little more extra food to keep warm.
If you have any other suggestions that would be great as I’m a first time duck owner!

Provide them with an adequate amount of space, and things to do (water), they will likely stay a healthy weight.

 

[RainbowHen]

That feeding routine sounds exhausting! I've always fed my ducks free choice feed with lots of free ranging. Never had an issue with weight. My cats on the other hand..

 

[Duck momm]

What kind of ducks?



Do you have a link to the article? I'd be curious to read it.

There is one kind of chicken (Cornish Cross) where that is required. They are bred to have enormous appetites and get fat quickly, but they usually cannot live long enough to lay eggs. So deliberately stunting their growth with limited feed is needed with them, if someone wants eggs at all. It is not true for any other kind of chicken, and this is the first time I've heard anything similar for ducks.

Pekin ducks
There were two articles and they both said the same thing, but I only found one article link; I can’t find the other article but I took a screenshot of it a while back and it was from Metzer farms.
There was also an article saying how giving ducks too much food could ruin their appetite for natural foraging?
https://animals.mom.me/how-much-to-feed-a-duck-12570139.html

 

[NatJ]

There were two articles and they both said the same thing, but I only found one article link; I can’t find the other article but I took a screenshot of it a while back and it was from Metzer farms.

Very interesting! I would expect they know what they are talking about
[googles]
https://www.metzerfarms.com/MaximizingEggProduction.cfm
Here's an article on their site.
You're right, those folks definitely do recommend restricting feed:
"For maximum production a duck must have limited feed from 3 weeks of age until they are laying well - no more than .35 pounds of feed/duck/day for the larger strains. Otherwise they become overweight with egg production, fertility and hatchability suffering. When you start increasing their day length (see below) you can begin to increase their feed. Increase a little every week and by the time they are laying at 40% production (4 eggs for every 10 females every day) you can start to give them as much as they want to eat. Ideally they should clean up their feed every day but it should be available most of the day. "

There was also an article saying how giving ducks too much food could ruin their appetite for natural foraging?
https://animals.mom.me/how-much-to-feed-a-duck-12570139.html

When I read that article, I actually see the opposite:
"Ducks love foraging on mixed corn and greens, such as chickweed, cabbage, lettuce and a variety of grasses. It is advisable to feed these food items in the afternoons, as ducks will end up eating these treats and consume less of the feed or pellets."

So they are worried that the ducks will forage too much.

Isn't it fun to find contradictory information on the internet? (sarcastic)

If ducks like forage better than feed, and if Metzer Farms is raising them in confinement with no forage available, that may be why Metzer needs to restrict feed. That would also fit well with what other people on this thread are saying, that ducks with sufficient forage do not overeat on the purchased feed.

So it looks like free-choice feed and free-choice forage might work out about right, and would be much easier to fit into your school schedule as well.

 

[Duck momm]

Very interesting! I would expect they know what they are talking about
[googles]
https://www.metzerfarms.com/MaximizingEggProduction.cfm
Here's an article on their site.
You're right, those folks definitely do recommend restricting feed:
"For maximum production a duck must have limited feed from 3 weeks of age until they are laying well - no more than .35 pounds of feed/duck/day for the larger strains. Otherwise they become overweight with egg production, fertility and hatchability suffering. When you start increasing their day length (see below) you can begin to increase their feed. Increase a little every week and by the time they are laying at 40% production (4 eggs for every 10 females every day) you can start to give them as much as they want to eat. Ideally they should clean up their feed every day but it should be available most of the day. "



When I read that article, I actually see the opposite:
"Ducks love foraging on mixed corn and greens, such as chickweed, cabbage, lettuce and a variety of grasses. It is advisable to feed these food items in the afternoons, as ducks will end up eating these treats and consume less of the feed or pellets."

So they are worried that the ducks will forage too much.

Isn't it fun to find contradictory information on the internet? (sarcastic)

If ducks like forage better than feed, and if Metzer Farms is raising them in confinement with no forage available, that may be why Metzer needs to restrict feed. That would also fit well with what other people on this thread are saying, that ducks with sufficient forage do not overeat on the purchased feed.

So it looks like free-choice feed and free-choice forage might work out about right, and would be much easier to fit into your school schedule as well.

Ohh wow! Ok that seems about right! I’m starting to give them more feed slowly, this morning I have them 1/2 cup each and they are it in about five minutes. I’ll soon start giving them how much they can eat in 30-1 hour twice a day but I have a concern about this thing called porker keel belly; it’s when a duck eats too much and becomes overweight and they can lose the fat but not the skin.

 

[Duck momm]

Provide them with an adequate amount of space, and things to do (water), they will likely stay a healthy weight.

With the same amount of feed I give them(1/4 cup per duck)? Or the 1 hour free choice every morning and evening?

 

[Isaac 0]

With the same amount of feed I give them(1/4 cup per duck)? Or the 1 hour free choice every morning and evening?

Free choice all day.

 

[Trisseh]

Bored ducks (especially heavyweight meat type breeds) that are locked in a pen with nothing to do all day and nothing to forage would for sure get fat. but if yours are out playing in the yard all day they shouldn’t gorge themselves if you just leave food out for them free choice. My ducks have access to their feed 24/7 in a Rubbermaid feeder bin I made and all have access to pasture during the day. No one is fat, even my porky silver appleyard. She gets a little on the chonky side in the winter when there’s less to do but otherwise she’s svelte and in perfect condition.

 

[KaleIAm]

I gave my duckings 24/7 access to food/water for their first several months. Then access to as much food as they wanted all day, but none at night for a couple years. Because of my rat population I now feed them 2-3 times a day as much as they can eat and then pick up the rest. They also have a huge aviary, and daily supervised foraging walks.

My ducks have always been thin. And it isn't my opinion, more than one vet has called them thin and recommended testing for parasites. Even when they had free access to food all day. They have also been daily layers and even needed birth control to stop them from having reproductive issues from laying too much.

This is my experience, and yours could be different. But I would not recommend restricting their food unless you have an overweight duck. You can tell by feeling the breast under the feathers on either side of the keel bone.

 

[Duck momm]

Here’s what I’m starting off with for tonight! Going to let them eat however much they want from this! But I’m going to take it away at night because I don’t want their coop to become messy! Tomorrow morning I’ll fill it to the top and refill when it becomes empty, gonna go to the store to get a bigger bin soon! Thanks for all your help