Pickled Plaid
Songster
Background: I'm relatively new to poultry overall, and so far I've managed to keep the ducks mostly happy and healthy since getting the original bunch on April, then the box of ducklings in July. I have a ton of severe food allergies, which greatly limits what I can feed my layers if I want to eventually consume their eggs. I do understand that Muscovies have different nutritional needs than mallard type ducks. I intensely dislike highly processed pet foods, as it feels like I'm feeding my animals fast food junk. Organic feed is preferable, but greatly limits options, and greatly increases cost. I've tried a variety of foods for my birds, but none seems like the right fit. Currently feeding my first bag of Mazuri (I think that's how it's spelled), but the ducks *really* don't like it, and it just sogs up and breaks down if I put it on their ponds. They would rather eat any
thing else. The food they absolutely adore is an organic whole grain feed from Scratch and Peck that I honestly can't afford now that there's a whole platoon of them! They ate it dry and fermented with equal enthusiasm. Any type of crumble and the Mazuri puff-things are picked at, scattered, and passed over.
Is there a soy free, organic, whole grain/food option for Muscovies that I could try? I'm curious about Mile Four feeds, but they use soybean oil in every formula. I found one company on the east coast of the US (the name escapes me now) who makes an affordable organic, whole grain, soy free layer feed - but does not ship and requires a minimum order of 2000lbs of feed which I can't easily transport or store. Factoring in pick up and the necessary additional supplements compounds the cost to prohibitive.
Is there any kind of organic, whole grain duck feed on the US market that can be fed straight out of the bag, with nothing added for Muscovies? If I need to make a stricter budget to be able to order Scratch and Peck again, I will. But the S&P will also require niacin and protein amendments (at least that's my understanding from the reading I've tried to do into Muscovy nutrition), as the feed is formulated for chickens.
At the end of the day, I really want my ducks to enjoy eating (wasted food bums me out), get all the nutrients they need to be healthy, and still be able to eat their eggs! I'm not intentionally setting out to be unreasonable, but it's amazing how limited the options seem to be for duck food.
thing else. The food they absolutely adore is an organic whole grain feed from Scratch and Peck that I honestly can't afford now that there's a whole platoon of them! They ate it dry and fermented with equal enthusiasm. Any type of crumble and the Mazuri puff-things are picked at, scattered, and passed over.
Is there a soy free, organic, whole grain/food option for Muscovies that I could try? I'm curious about Mile Four feeds, but they use soybean oil in every formula. I found one company on the east coast of the US (the name escapes me now) who makes an affordable organic, whole grain, soy free layer feed - but does not ship and requires a minimum order of 2000lbs of feed which I can't easily transport or store. Factoring in pick up and the necessary additional supplements compounds the cost to prohibitive.
Is there any kind of organic, whole grain duck feed on the US market that can be fed straight out of the bag, with nothing added for Muscovies? If I need to make a stricter budget to be able to order Scratch and Peck again, I will. But the S&P will also require niacin and protein amendments (at least that's my understanding from the reading I've tried to do into Muscovy nutrition), as the feed is formulated for chickens.
At the end of the day, I really want my ducks to enjoy eating (wasted food bums me out), get all the nutrients they need to be healthy, and still be able to eat their eggs! I'm not intentionally setting out to be unreasonable, but it's amazing how limited the options seem to be for duck food.
