New duck mom here - questions

[tegthom]

Okay so I have 3 ducklings. Bought them from tractor supply. They are around 2 weeks old or so. My first and main question is do I need to be giving them anything in addition to their food? Like brewers yeast or?? I am feeding them purina flock raiser crumbles. I also have been offering them a little bowl of grit since I have been giving them meal worms as treats. They have been going outside when the weather is nice. Supervised of course. Yesterday I noticed they found and ate quite a few worms. They also have been eating dirt and such when outside. They are growing so fast and all are doing great. I haven't noticed any issues with them. I just want to keep them healthy and make sure I'm doing everything right.

My other question is about their breed. I assume they are Pekins. But 2 have a more pink colored bill whereas 1 has a more orange colored bill. Could 2 be white layers?? They all seem about the same size. The orange billed one does seem like it could be a hair bigger but not by much. Just curious. I will add some pictures. Sorry if they aren't the best. Pictures were also taken at different times.

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC!

It would be advised you add a supplementary source of niacin to their diet in addition to their feed since it is a common occurrence with Pekins to suffer from B3 deficiency due to the fact that they are fast growers. You could supplement with Brewers yeast, nutritional yeast, a poultry vitamin or B complex either one would be great at preventing future leg problems with them. It sound's like you have everything else down though!

Pekins generally have orange bills while White layers tend to have pink if that answers your question.

 

[tegthom]

Thanks for the reply. So I went on TSC website and saw a bottle of vitamin b complex. I will attach a screenshot of it.
How many ml's is recommended and for how long do you have to supplement them for? Also, do I still need to add some brewers yeast in addition to the b complex? Or is the b complex enough?

 

[Isaac 0]

That stuff is very potent but effective, so I'd only go about 1/2ml a day over treats for each duckling. Brewers yeast won't be needed if you are supplementing with the complex. There is only so much they can actually take in, the rest will just be expelled through waste, and not actually be absorbed into the body.