Is all flock feed of for laying bends?

[CalliBee]

Good advice above. All Flock for all your birds, all thier lives, without regard to age gender, start of lay, condition of molt. Free choice grit, oyster shell, good clean water on the side.
Sadly, USDA does not require niacin levels to be printed on guaranteed nutritional labels.

While a BYC poster contacted Purina and Nutrena years ago, to verify that the niacin levels met the needs of ADULT ducks, we don't know if that info remains accurate, and don't know the actual levels so we can check if they meet the needs of hatchling ducks (which are higher). Adding a niacin suppliment - either yeast or a B-complex - is common "insurance" against deficiencies, and won't hurt your chicks.

That said, if you feed medicated, be aware that B-complex, and plenty of fortified yeast products, are also quite high in vitamin B1 - Thiamine, which will render the amprolium in your medicated feed either less effective or completely ineffective.

Thanks so much! I will definitely be using all of y’all’s suggestions.

I truly don’t understand how come most companies don’t put niacin in their ALL. FLOCK. feed? It really baffles me!
If they do put any, it definitely doesn’t reach the standard for my baby ducklings. Almost all of them had some issues due to not having enough niacin, before I even started using brewers yeast. Luckily everything is back on track for their growth and development now.

And I’ve read that medicated feed is bad for ducks due to over dosing so I’ve refrained from doing so.

 

[Brooks_]

Yes.

 

[CalliBee]

No problem! Thanks for your help as well.

 

[Salixx]

When I got my ducklings last year I asked about the Nutrena All Flock because a young woman that worked at TSC recommended it as it had 125ppm of niacin (min is 60ppm for healthy ducklings I believe).

At that time, another member emailed them and got the same information. Here’s a link to that post.

I have been raising a KC duckling that is the baby of two of the ducks I got last year on the All Flock with no nutritional yeast supplementation and he/she has been doing well on it with no signs of niacin deficiency (it’s just shy of 4 weeks old now). I have also continued to feed mostly Nutrena All Flock to their parents without issue. I happened on some Swedish blue ducklings at TSC last weekend and got 4 to keep my lonely duckling company. Since they are a larger breed I guess we’ll see how they do by comparison!

Another note is that I can only get the pellet version in my area so I also have to add water to the ducklings feed when they are younger. It’s more work than gravity feeders and could lead to more food waste if you don’t have other birds to eat it as you have to dump left overs every day. I empty whatever food is left at the end of the day into the chicken run so it isn’t wasted.

With that said, nutritional yeast isn’t terribly expensive and my first ducks enjoyed it so it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add it to their feed.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

Good advice above. All Flock for all your birds, all thier lives, without regard to age gender, start of lay, condition of molt. Free choice grit, oyster shell, good clean water on the side.
Sadly, USDA does not require niacin levels to be printed on guaranteed nutritional labels.

While a BYC poster contacted Purina and Nutrena years ago, to verify that the niacin levels met the needs of ADULT ducks, we don't know if that info remains accurate, and don't know the actual levels so we can check if they meet the needs of hatchling ducks (which are higher). Adding a niacin suppliment - either yeast or a B-complex - is common "insurance" against deficiencies, and won't hurt your chicks.

That said, if you feed medicated, be aware that B-complex, and plenty of fortified yeast products, are also quite high in vitamin B1 - Thiamine, which will render the amprolium in your medicated feed either less effective or completely ineffective.

What about this feed for a mixed flock of chickens? Too much calcium for a rooster?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Nope.
Just provide calcium for the active layers.
I've fed nothing but ll flock for 9 years, Oyster Shells in a separate container.

What brand feed do you use aaart?