How much should ducks eat?

[Ducksandchickens]

Winter is coming and one of my drakes is looking peaky. They get fresh grass everyday and I feed them everyday but just wondering how much they should be fed? And how many times a day?

I’ll post pics tomorrow of the Cup I use.

Tia

 

[alexa009]

Duck seem to consume a lot more feed than chickens and imo I wouldn't let ducks go without food any longer than 2 hours. Free ranging does reduce feed consumption which though is a good thing.

 

[arrowti]

I always keep a continuous supply of feed in the feeder. My ducks eat less than my chickens (my ducks seem to be en exception to the rule of feed, though, that or my chickens are just pigs) and generally don't eat more than a full scoop of food each for for the 5 of them (3 quart scoop). In summer they eat less than half a scoop, in winter closer to the full scoop.

Generally speaking if you keep the feeder always full of feed you would only need to fill it when it was getting low, but how often would depend how many ducks and how much they eat. I would keep the feeder under cover to avoid it getting full of snow!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Free choice feed ALL day long... and collected at night is my choice.

If it is a formulated ration and not something being fed as a treat... the ducks should only eat to meet their ENERGY needs... which will vary according to weather, pasture conditions, parasite load, personal foraging interest, and other things.

The ONLY way ducks are going to consume less than chickens is if they are foraging more or if they are smaller. They may be getting more pasture bugs or the chickens may be lazy and just hanging by the feeder. But generally speaking ducks are larger animals than chickens and will require more feed.

How old is your drake? Is he maybe approaching molt or something?

I found if I took feed out more than once per day... the birds acted like it was treat time and pigged out. If just once per day, they just ate the feed whenever but not as excited as when I hand deliver it.

Worming *may* be in order, or a fecal float to check load. Hope he is well and you are just vigilant at noticing changes!

 

[arrowti]

Oh yeah. My ducks pretty much forage from the moment they get out to the moment they go in.. my chickens?

Nah. Lazy bums just sit by the feeder all day and take turns eating and sleeping!

 

[PirateGirl]

Depends what kinds of ducks. There is a huge difference between what a Pekin would need to maintain weight vs. a call.

 

[Ducksandchickens]

Depends what kinds of ducks. There is a huge difference between what a Pekin would need to maintain weight vs. a call.

Yes I’m sorry. They are khaki Campbell drakes

 

[Ducksandchickens]

This is the cup I use to feed them. I put a pencil that hasn’t been sharpened yet to give you a better idea. Idk if this’ll help but I thought I would try

 

[Ducksandchickens]

Free choice feed ALL day long... and collected at night is my choice.

If it is a formulated ration and not something being fed as a treat... the ducks should only eat to meet their ENERGY needs... which will vary according to weather, pasture conditions, parasite load, personal foraging interest, and other things.

The ONLY way ducks are going to consume less than chickens is if they are foraging more or if they are smaller. They may be getting more pasture bugs or the chickens may be lazy and just hanging by the feeder. But generally speaking ducks are larger animals than chickens and will require more feed.

How old is your drake? Is he maybe approaching molt or something?

I found if I took feed out more than once per day... the birds acted like it was treat time and pigged out. If just once per day, they just ate the feed whenever but not as excited as when I hand deliver it.

Worming *may* be in order, or a fecal float to check load. Hope he is well and you are just vigilant at noticing changes!

They will be 2 this spring

 

[Ducksandchickens]

View attachment 1583984 This is the cup I use to feed them. I put a pencil that hasn’t been sharpened yet to give you a better idea. Idk if this’ll help but I thought I would try

I’ll post pics of there feeder one sec