Just got some babies, and confused on diet.

[DeannaMari]

So I just got some baby ducks yesterday (then I'm so bad that I got 2 more today, making it a lovely 6) they're all about half a week old. The first 4 I got at Wilco, and I asked the lady what I should be feeding them and she told me either unmedicated chick feed or Purina Flock Raiser. Since we were already buying flock raiser (we buy medicated feed for our chicks) we went ahead and got the flock raiser.

Now, I'm reading online that ducklings need all this special niacin supplements and some protein supplements, and electrolytes, and shouldn't be started on flock raiser.

I don't have a problem with going into town tomorrow and buying them the stuff they need, but all the websites give different information, and really what I want is just a timeline of what my little ducks need in their diet to be happy and healthy. I ordered a copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks, but since my local Barnes and Noble didn't carry it, I had to order it, so it will probably be here within the week, but I don't want to wait that long if my duckling's life is in danger!

So here are my basic questions.
-Should I switch them to a chick starter/ waterfowl starter (if I can find one, I know we have 1 other feed store that has a lot of different feeds, so they may have it, and if not I'll resort to buying a bag of nonmedicated)
-For the niacin supplement, I know it comes in pill/powder form and sometimes in bags, but I just want to clarify that I want Brewer's Yeast specifically, and with deactivated yeast.
-What type of electrolyte supplement should I add into their food? I'm guessing you don't just pour some gaterade in there lol (just kidding, I know sugar is horrible for them)
-How much protein do they need and how do I make sure they get it?
-When can I switch them back onto the flock raiser?
-Is there anything about their diet that I'm missing?

Please don't tell me that I've already doomed them into a horrible life of limp-legged ducks. When they get older they'll be able to free range and eat vegetables to make sure they are getting a healthy diet, but I just want to make sure I'm giving them the best start.

Thank you very much for any help you are able to offer. I will make my boyfriend run me into town tomorrow (since they are our ducklings) and buy anything we need to get to change their diet.

Also, I just realized how intimidating this post may seem, by no means feel obligated to answer all of my questions, any answers to help me when I head to the feed store tomorrow will be much appreciated.

 

[Amiga]

Welcome to the Duck Forum!

You are among the not-so-easily-intimidated, so don't worry about questions or lengthy posts.

You have not (yet

) doomed your ducklings. And you're right. You want to give them the best start.

So.

I would get a bag of unmedicated chick starter if you cannot find a turkey-waterfowl or waterfowl starter.

If you need to go with chick feed, you can either get brewer's yeast or nutritional yeast, not the baking kind, or you can get capsules of plain old niacin, not timed-release or no-flush, just plain niacin.

The brewer's yeast is generally sprinkled on top of the food. I have not seen precise measurements per duckling, so a tablespoon on top of their bowl of food in the morning should work out.

For capsules, Storey's Guide is clear that if there are signs of niacin deficiency, to use 100 to 150 mg per gallon of water till the ducklings are several weeks old. From that, and from seeing what forum members do, that amount of niacin for ten weeks seems to be working. Thinking about it, if you start them out with some supplementation, 100 mg per gallon ought to be fine, since they are not playing catch-up.

I use Vitamins and Electrolytes Plus (probiotics). There are other fine supplements, but this has it all. I did give my runner babies gro-gel once during their first week, to get them off to a good start.

There are different camps about protein levels. I went with Storey's Guide, everyone seems fine. I cut the 27% protein turkey-waterfowl starter with one part chopped rolled oats (not instant) with four parts feed. That got the whole ration down to around 20%.

At two weeks, I started adding some grower pellets into the crumble, gradually increasing the pellets, till the crumble was used up, somewhere around 3 to 4 weeks. When the ducks started playing hop on top, I set out the oyster shell, and after the first egg was laid, we went to layer feed. I had all females at the time.

I will let the Flock Raiser folks answer those questions.

 

[Going Quackers]

There is nothing wrong with the flock raiser, you can feed that just fine. I have raised countless ducks and chickens on the very same one(by purina) it does not need added anything no niacin, no electrolytes. I just do clean water, and the flock raiser...

There is a treat chart in the duck stickies to show you what can you give, when giving anything other than basic feed you need grit, like chick grit that you probably familiar already.

As for the book, i couldn't find it either had to buy it in e format.

 

[DeannaMari]

Ok, so if you can use flock raiser, maybe I'll just buy a smaller sized bag of waterfowl starter or chick feed(still like 25 lbs because I know those babies are going to grow fast, I saw some yesterday that were only 2 and 1/2 weeks old, and they were as big as our 8 week old Jersey Giant chicks, and those are our largest chicks!)
Then I'll just resort to using the chick feed for a few weeks until the little guys are maybe 2-3 weeks old, it says on their site that flock raiser can be used from hatch until they are 18-20 weeks (laying) but I want to make sure they are going to be nice and strong little guys, so I'll change it to some chick or duckling feed this evening. I'll try to keep the protein at 20% since that seems a good amount to be giving them.
Then, since Flock Raiser doesn't mention niacin, I'll go ahead and pick up some brewer's yeast for them and add it to their food in the morning. Also some electrolyte, I'll look for the vitamins and electrolyte's plus. I just want to ensure that if my little ducklings do have some sort of difiancy now, they'll not get behind on it.
Just to be safe, can ducklings go overboard on naicin? And what are the signs?
Because I don't want to harm them by adding too much of that stuff in.

I went with the actual book, and just ordered it to be delivered, because we have 8 different people in the house, and I wanted it as a resource for everybody instead of just sitting on my nook XD.

Thank you guys for your answers, more answers are welcome. I'll be checking this all day on my phone, whenever possible. And my boyfriend and I will be heading into town today after school.

 

[mominoz]

I have Storeys guide and got my birds from him too. You don't need probiotics for ducks, they are much hardier than chickens (used to have them), alot of the supplements are just $ wasters and from overanxious mommies. All this stuff didn't exist years ago...and people raised and showed ducks just fine. Storeys mentions putting a bit of honey or molasses in water for 'shipped ducks' for the first time as a pick me up. I do it the first water bottle in my babies. He suggests you put some grass clippings or lettuce in the water (washed of course, be careful of chemicals), and give some fresh greens every day.
Flock raiser is 20% protein which is too much after the first 3 weeks. Aim for 14-16%. You can cut it with rolled oats(flattened) (Buy a big round box at grocery store for the first few weeks.
You can read the rations he has in book later...

Waterfowl food is not available here....one day I ran across a 89.$ bag at a tractor supply....

(it was taped up with a hole in it , he said I could have it for 60.$ I mix mine for my 52 ducks from 3way grain, layer, cat kibble, and calf manna, and I sprinkle some niacin capsules on food in winter...but my ducks free range some and so they get plenty of bugs, which fulfill the niacin requirements, and they eat mud, what else could they need?

If you read the labels, mostly it is soybeans, corn, grains, alfalfa, you pay for the pretty bags, advertising, overhead, etc. If you have a lot of birds you learn to mix your own or you burn money...

 

[DeannaMari]

Ok, so today I'm going to go get duck feed, rolled oats, and brewers yeast, should that be good to for them?

 

[DeannaMari]

Ok, so today I'm going to go get duck feed, rolled oats, and brewers yeast, should that be good to for them?

 

[Rosie42892]

I am raising mine on Flock Raiser because I only had that or chick starter available. I do add niacin to the water as a precaution, but I have to say that I (and many others on the forums) are very happy with the results. The only waterfowl feed I could find was 28% Protein and extremely expensive. At 3 Weeks I cut the protein with oats to prevent angelwing and like disorders. Good luck!

 

[Rosie42892]

Oh, and I buy the 50lb bag of rolled oats they stock as horse feed. Much less expensive than grocery!

 

[DeannaMari]

Ok, so overall will flock raiser and rolled oats work? Even for babies