- Apr 26, 2011
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I see lots of questions about how much to expect to feed one's ducks, but I'm not clear on how I know they're eating enough and not overeating?
My Pekin ducks are allowed to free range from the time I leave for work in the morning (around 8am) until just before or after dinner (6-8pm), and I'm feeding the 3 of them only around 3/4 to 1 lb of poultry layer pellets per day, when they come in for the night. Since they have a pond and plenty of yard to pasture on they're getting plenty to eat from foraging, and a little higher density feed to wrap up the day. The female is laying wonderfully, and they all quite happily run around the yard until dinner time, when they gather by their pen for me to shoo them into it.
My concern is that I'm not sure how to tell that they're actually eating enough, and when winter comes, practically all of their nutrition will be from what I feed them and I don't want to under-feed them.
Will I have to start weighing them and monitoring their weight, or is there an easier way to tell if they're not getting enough food?
My Pekin ducks are allowed to free range from the time I leave for work in the morning (around 8am) until just before or after dinner (6-8pm), and I'm feeding the 3 of them only around 3/4 to 1 lb of poultry layer pellets per day, when they come in for the night. Since they have a pond and plenty of yard to pasture on they're getting plenty to eat from foraging, and a little higher density feed to wrap up the day. The female is laying wonderfully, and they all quite happily run around the yard until dinner time, when they gather by their pen for me to shoo them into it.
My concern is that I'm not sure how to tell that they're actually eating enough, and when winter comes, practically all of their nutrition will be from what I feed them and I don't want to under-feed them.
Will I have to start weighing them and monitoring their weight, or is there an easier way to tell if they're not getting enough food?