Kalmbach duck and goose

[Jenbirdee]

My yard isn’t big enough for my geese to have enough grass

they have about 3000 ft.² but a lot of of it is weeds there is some grass but they’ve eaten it down to tiny tiny stalks so I’ve been thinking about their feed and is it good enough?

used to give them all flock by Nutrena but have since switched to Purina duck feed which they seem to really like, but they are not Ducks.. I have Mazuri waterfowl maintenance that my ducks love in their water buckets morning and evening , but my geese don’t like it - I’ve tried giving them some many times over the past five years but anyway, I decided to try giving them Kalmbach duck and goose feed so I ordered some. It’s not here yet, but we will see while I was reading reviews. I found out that people can eat it too. Look here the reviews say the customers like the taste.

 

[Debbie292d]

I had to read that twice!

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm adopting two Buff Orpington ducks Thursday. I haven't had ducks for over 40 years. They're three weeks old. I was researching what to feed them. I've learned so much from you and other duck people already, but come to find out, they can eat what I've been feeding everyone else around here....meaning, just the chicks and chickens.

Yup, it's Kalmbach's too! But I didn't see where humans could eat this stuff. Guess just yours is. It says it's nutritionally complete for ducks and I don't have to add anything. We'll stock up on frozen peas though.

 

[FrostRanger]

I had to read that twice!

I mean, I have a cat that likes chicken feed for some reason. Humans have certainly eaten and enjoyed weirder things than duck feed..... I think I'll stick with normal human food personally though lol

 

[Debbie292d]

All jesting aside, have you thought of sod?

We put in new breeding pens last fall into winter and of course, trying to plant grass in those would be a waste of time as they'd just eat it before it could come up.

We're going to buy sod to cover 5x5 of the 5x10 pens x (4) so they still have room to scratch and dust bathe. Then hubby's going to build a frame with hardware cloth on it to cover half of it for each pen. So half of the sod they can eat and scratch in, but half they could only poop on it and peck it when it grows tall enough. Then we could switch sides when the open side starts looking worn.

 

[Jenbirdee]

All jesting aside, have you thought of sod?

We put in new breeding pens last fall into winter and of course, trying to plant grass in those would be a waste of time as they'd just eat it before it could come up.

We're going to buy sod to cover 5x5 of the 5x10 pens x (4) so they still have room to scratch and dust bathe. Then hubby's going to build a frame with hardware cloth on it to cover half of it for each pen. So half of the sod they can eat and scratch in, but half they could only poop on it and peck it when it grows tall enough. Then we could switch sides when the open side starts looking worn.

I layed quite a bit of sod several years ago but the ducks demolished it …

 

[Mrs Fryzzle]

My yard isn’t big enough for my geese to have enough grass

they have about 3000 ft.² but a lot of of it is weeds there is some grass but they’ve eaten it down to tiny tiny stalks so I’ve been thinking about their feed and is it good enough?

used to give them all flock by Nutrena but have since switched to Purina duck feed which they seem to really like, but they are not Ducks.. I have Mazuri waterfowl maintenance that my ducks love in their water buckets morning and evening , but my geese don’t like it - I’ve tried giving them some many times over the past five years but anyway, I decided to try giving them Kalmbach duck and goose feed so I ordered some. It’s not here yet, but we will see while I was reading reviews. I found out that people can eat it too. Look here the reviews say the customers like the taste.View attachment 4081188

I have reverted to giving my geese and ducks this Kahlmbach line... It was just not working withthe other feeds- from my local stores. This Kalmbach has a Niacin percentage that keep my galli-fowl legs and bodies healthy as they need to be- less work and worry for me. I have a duck and a goose that have a limp- but have improved from being on this food. I use Chewy and order the 2 50lb and the price ends up the same or cheaper than what I spent at Tractor. (I do love Tractor Supply- dont get me wrong...) Worth it! and my chickens love it too- go figure.

 

[addctd2plnts]

Have you tried overseeding the grass with something that sprouts quickly, like annual or Perennial Rye mixed with Bluegrass?. Always use a good starter fertilizer with it. We do it twice a year, fall and spring, to help keep fresh grass. You do have to keep them off it a few weeks, till it gets established but it really helps to get a fresh stand of grass.

 

[Zenmonkey]

Looks like Kalmbach has started using ChatGPT to write their ad copy. That AI wants to kill us.

 

[Goosehill]

Have you tried overseeding the grass with something that sprouts quickly, like annual or Perennial Rye mixed with Bluegrass?. Always use a good starter fertilizer with it. We do it twice a year, fall and spring, to help keep fresh grass. You do have to keep them off it a few weeks, till it gets established but it really helps to get a fresh stand of grass.

In addition to the grass, white clover, sub clover, or any other legume in the pasture fixes nitrogen from the air and makes it available to the grass. Using a purely nitrogenous fertiliser on pasture often has the effect of favouring grasses, which is not always desirable in the medium to long term; diammonium phosphate (DAP) is a good balance especially on less fertile soils.
I've observed that my geese graze the clovers and medics in preference to the grasses so they get moved every 10 days or so to allow recovery. This autumn I'll be oversowing the white clover/kikuyu/cocksfoot with chicory, plantain and strawberry clover in an effort to establish deeper rooted plants for summer.