I have 4 ducks, 1 duck and 3 drakes! They live in the chicken coop until spring when I plan to separate them from the chickens. I was wondering how everyone else feeds there ducks that live with the chickens? I have a big feeder and I try to keep it full so the ducks can just eat from the top of it. Because I don't think they are getting much from the bottom. So how does everyone else feed their ducks? Also do you feed them scratch and if you do how often? They always act like their starving. BTW, they are about 14-15 weeks old. What do you give a duck for treats, besides lettuce? I didn't see a duck treat thread here anywhere. Thanks for your help everyone!
I give mine any table scraps w/o problems. cooked potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, etc. As for being always hungry has to do more with the breed you have. I only raise muscovies for that reason; they never run for the food and over me like other breeds. they will always wait until i am done serving food and change their water, and then come out and eat. Geese have similar good manners (atleast my geese). we had pekin ducks once and they would run all over me when I would bring the food; I did not like that much.
Thanks for the ideas. I will give them a try. They don't mob me or anything like that. They all stand back while I set the dish down or toss the scratch in the pen. They sure don't like to be too close to me. They are mixed mutts: Runner Pekin Crested and Cayuga I was really hopeing for lots of ideas here. I know there's a lot of people besides us on this forum with ducks! Oh well, I guess I'll just keep on looking. Thanks again!
I used to have a Rouen who was completely spoiled. He had a crush on one of our dogs. He would fight the Beagle for dog food. His very best favorite treats were slugs.
I chop up broccoli, whole grain bread, carrots, spinach, and a little milk to make it moist, then chop it in my mini food processor. My ducks (white crested and Cayuga) live with the chickens and they ALL love it.
My two ducks, a Cayuga and a Rouen drake, are housed with my chickens. The chickens have a hanging feeder which they completely ignore, and everyone eats out of a shallow livestock pan (about 4" deep by 10" across). Every morning I just re-fill the pan. As for treats, the ducks love chopped lettuce tossed into their water bowl. I toss scratch and/or other veggies into their run and it's a free for all. Fresh, young grass is also a treat for everyone, as are worms. The ducks and chickens get fresh goat milk a few times a week also which is a huge hit.... and messy!
Umm... You need to fix your ratio before spring hits. You should never have more that 1 drake per 4-5 ducks, and thats the min more is better. Come spring you are going to have a hurt duck and constantly fighting males on your hands. Anyway, about the food. I give mine a mix of layer crumble and scratch. Its about 2 scoops of scratch per 3 scoops of layer for the winter, but in the summer its 3 scoops of layer and 1 scoop pf scratch. They do fine and are perfectly healthy. They LOVE sweet feed, you know the kind you give horses, goats, etc. It is really one of the best treats. They also LOVE dog food and cat food. They go crazy for dog food and even try to steal it from our old beagle hound on a daily basis.
I feed my ducks duck pellets and the chickens are skupposed to be eating their own crumbles, but they prefer the duck food. I give my duck a large scoop of scratch grains everyday and they love it. I have never tried any treats, but maybe I should. I have no problem with them trying to run over me at feeding time. My goats do that. I have 3 pekins and a cayuga. Wanting more of both.
When your ducklings are more mature, you might want to get another duck hen or twr separate a couple of drakes from the duck. She will get too much "attention" from the drakes if you actually have 3 drakes to 1 duck. Way too stressful methinks.
