How much to feed ducks?

[Miss Lydia]

i get 1 dozen beautiful eggs per day from my ducks. and the numbers will be increasing. i had one new layer start off with soft shell eggs so i save all my egg shells and every 3 days i blend them up with a little vitamin D milk and pour it in their feed. the soft shells disappeared immediately.

Welcome to BYC..

 

[debbiemay]

I am a new 'duck mother'. I have two Pekin ducks that are now about 4 weeks old.
They eat like hungry bears! I give them about 2 cups of chick starter three times a day.
They gobble it up and then rest but are more than ready by the next meal.
I haven't had luck with the feeders that are round and the food is supposed to funnel
down to the eating section. I like the looks of the metal one above.
My main concern is that I'm feeding them enough. They look amazing and healthy
to me. Of course I'm like a new mother and think they are perfect!

 

[TJAnonymous]

I am rebooting this old thread with some questions of my own. I have 7 ducks (2 mallards, 5 females) that are in a pen that is about 25 ft by 30 ft square. There is some grass but 2/3rds of the pen has been turned into a muddy, grassless mess. With it being winter, I'm concerned about the lack of grass and bugs.

They do have a 5ft baby pool and access to another tub of drinking water. My concern is about food.... Every morning I give them 2.5 Qts (10 cups) of Purina duck pellets with 2 cups of whole oats. By the next morning at feeding time, they are acting starved. I do occasionally bring them out some fresh fruit like cranberries, raspberries, etc...or some kale but I don't readily have that stuff on hand most of the time.

None of my ducks appear "thin." There's 4 Pekins and 3 Silver Appleyard. How can I tell if they are being underfed? Should I be feeding them more?

 

[SolarDuck]

I only have 3 Muscovy girls. I let them eat as much as they want but generally they eat about 2 cups of feed per day between the 3 of them. Along with whatever bugs and weeds they eat while foraging and sometimes treats.

 

[SolarDuck]

Now and then I get some mice in the duck house area where the feeders are

Just curious, do your ducks ever eat the mice?

 

[TJAnonymous]

I only have 3 Muscovy girls. I let them eat as much as they want but generally they eat about 2 cups of feed per day between the 3 of them. Along with whatever bugs and weeds they eat while foraging and sometimes treats.

I had some free choice feeders out but they weren't waterproof so it was causing a lot of spoiled food. I don't have anywhere to put a free choice feeder at the moment to keep it out of the rain. I hope to change that after the 1st of the year, but for now I just need to make due. :/

I found an article which said ducks should have been 4 - 6 oz of food per day. 8 oz is 1 cup of food.... I'm feed 2.5 Qts which equates to approximately 10 cups of duck pellets. Then there's also 2 cups of whole oats added each day. That is easily 1+ cup (8 oz) of food per duck a day. Of course, when spring comes, I hope to let them free range and go down the pond where they will have PLENTY of grass & bugs. Just making sure that they are being fed "sufficiently" through the winter. They don't seem underweight but they sure do act like they are starving when they get fed each morning.

 

[SolarDuck]

If you think they might not be getting enough you could always just add an extra cup or 2 and see if they still eat it all. Also if you wanted to you could swing by a pet store and try and find some Grass Hay and live crickets or mealworms and just give them some as treats.