How do you feed your ducks and what treats are good for a duck? UPDATE

[Cottage Rose]

Aside from grass, bugs and garden/kitchen surplus growing ducklings should be fed chick or duck starter feed then grower pellets.
When mine are laying age they get 16% chicken layer pellets.

 

[Wildsky]

Mine share with the chickens, they also share the scratch and sunflower seeds, they all get scraps once a day as well, and if I catch a duck taking a bath - I throw some sunflower seeds in the water - they love that!

 

[Alaskan]

I never thought of giving them sunflower seeds....

My ducks will go absolutely wild for chick weed, little bitty leaves and long very tender stems. I was so sad for then when winter came on. They don't like other weeds as much.

They seem to really like rice and stale cereal.

but again, the chick weed is a hands down favorite.

 

[trulyviolet]

i have muscovy

i give them a lot of different things

berries ( i grow all sorts of different ones)
fresh off the vine green beans and also the leaves of green beans, peppers, cabbages celery

they love slugs
occational raisins
chopped cabbage
lettuce
some table scraps
chicken scratch
brussel sprout leaves
pumpkin ( ok that one they helped theirselves to)
sweet peppers
cherry tomatoes
cucumbers
worms
patty pan squash
squash blossoms
apples
dandelion greens


they do not like carrots

i occationally give them a slice of whole grain bread

i love to call them over to give them berries, as they will really gently take them out of my hand
i was surprised that they don't hurt at all

vi
(they jump for green beans though)

 

[nettie]

From everything i've read, seeds are NOT good for ducks, something about them being too hard to disgest (their crops can get impacted i believe).

To be on the safe side, i wouldn't give sunflower seeds as treats to ducks. (they also have a lot of natural oil, whihc isn't that great for ducks to ingest either).

Here's a long list of treats i've collected from all over the internet (including some no no's)

Diet Supplements:
Romaine Lettuce
Kale
Worms
Nigh Crawlers
Cucumber
Cracked Corn
Eggplant
Peas
Bell peppers
Carrots
Eggs (scrambled or hardboiled chopped with shells on)
Beans (overcooked)
Feeder goldfish, minows, guppies
Plain yogurt
Mealworms
Broccoli
Cabbage
Brussel sprouts
Cauliflower
Beets
Asparagus


Special Treats:
Floating Coy Food (esp in their kiddie pool/pond/tubs)
Cottage cheese
Tomatoes
Apples (applesauce)
Bananas (no peel)
Marigolds and pansies (from a florist, no pesticides!)
Pears
Peaches
Cherries
Grapes
Melons (cantaloupe, watermelon)
Squash
Pumpkin
Pomegranate
Turnips (cooked)
Raisins
Zucchini
Oatmeal (cooked)
Strawberries
Occasional string of spaghetti or two
A few cheerios (remember carbs should be kept at a minimum)


These Treats are No-No’s!!!!
Bread (no nutrients, pure carbs)
Crackers (too salty)
Spinach (this one's iffy, i've heard mixed opinions)
Onions Potatoes (onions and potatoes supposedly breakdown to some toxin that's not good for them, i'm not exactly sure on these but i like to play it safe)
Avocados (TOXIC)

 

[pirtykitty]

I feed my 3 whistling ducks, organic mixed baby greens from sams, they love meal worms,, young waterbugs, young june bugs, grubs, red wigglers occasionally, peas, .. Fred likes to eat a slice of apple from my fingers but that he doesn't get to often because of the high sugar.. also cut up grapes every so often and tomatoes. the other two or younger are learning whats good...

they also get wheat, oats, mazuri waterfowl maintence, oatmeal. and Iams cat food.. the will walk up and run the cats off if the cats are eating out side.. so I have to give them a little iams dryed of their own !!!!
they also go ga ga over cracked corn which I limit...

 

[Promiselandfarm]

We have a creek and a spring which are full of living things for them to have their pick. We have Pekin, Mallard, Muscovy ducks and a mutt which looks like a purebred which starts with a C but I can never remember the name. Anyway if we do not feed ours they let us know that they feel under feed or WANT IT NOW! We usually feed every morning before 9 but sometimes we are slower than normal. They will come and stand under my bedroom window and quack up a storm until we come out and give them a bucket of cracked corn. They have 15 acres to roam and rummage from in addition to the minnows, crawdads and such form the waters here,so they are not hungry, just want what they want. Not to mention they get under the chicks pen where food is always being split out and clean that up too. We have a couple of Muscovy that are so fat they are too heavy to fly....I would guess they are pushing 25 to 30 lbs. If you raise the sunflowers yourself they are softer and if you do like us and have organic it is better. We also have too many drakes but may but a couple at a neighbors pond so we can change out drakes now an then. You can always share your drakes with someone who may need their pond stirred up and keep the algae down

 

[conny63malies]

How do i feed them? I have a bowl and a pie plate outside. The regular food goes in the bowl and leftover scraps go in the pieplate. Unless i am too lazy. Then i just open the bathroom window or backdoor and fling the goodies out. Sometimes i also throw dry dogfood outwhich they love and of course their daily dose of scratch. In the spring i also planted some peppers and tomatos for "their" enjoyment.

 

[Gloria]

Well, I had to separate them a couple of days after I started this thread. So I have the duck and one of the drakes in my garage now. They just wasn't going to wait until spring!

I want to thank everyone for your ideas! I was right they aren't eating the layer I give them. I put it in a pie plate and noticed they wasn't touching it. So I mixed it with some scratch today and it still looks like they aren't eating it because it was still there from this morning!

I just went out and put a handful of Cheerios and a handful of peas in the pie plate right on top of the layer mixed with scratch. They are eating that right up! I also put torn up romain leaves in their water now and they gobble that right up too.

But my question now is that enough for them? I'm thinking they need more than that to stay healthy. BTW, they will eat the scratch without being mixed with anything. So any ideas on what I should do for them? Thanks again!

 

[nettie]

I mix my scratch with the feed they eat. I do about half and half ratios. I also add the grit and any other dry foods to the mix too (I sometimes throw a handful of cheerios or other cereals, or calf manna into the mix.) I keep all the feed/scratch/ etc seperate in big dog food tubs and then mix it together in a more pourable/portable plastic container. Its the shape of a cereal box and has a pour spout.