New duck

[Farmer jr]

Ok so I went to a friend's and got a duck and a barred rock I'm new to ducks and don't know what to feed him and what to do with him any suggestions

 

[sylviethecochin]

Ducks, like chickens, need a maintenance feed of at least 15% protein. You can feed chicken feed, allflock or chick starter. A laying female will do fine on layer feed. I prefer to feed mine pellets, as they tend to try and choke themselves on mash, and have nearly as much trouble with crumbles. You'll probably have to supplement B-vitamins, as most chicken feed doesn't have enough (especially niacin) for them. Just buy vitamin B-complex (powder, liquid, or pills) and add it to his feed occasionally. Some people use brewer's yeast, but that's rather expensive, comparatively.

 

[Farmer jr]

Does cow Fred work it is ground corn and oats

 

[sourland]

If the 'duck' is a drake, get him a girlfriend or he may cause serious problems with your chicken hens.

 

[Farmer jr]

It was the domanite male of four and a hen I will get him a girlfriend

 

[sylviethecochin]

Chop ain't gonna work. Ground oats + ground corn is rarely more than 11% protein, lacks many of the vitamins and minerals a duck needs, and is mostly intended for huge ruminants that can actually get nutrition out of fibrous husks. Ducks are omnivores, not herbivores. My free-range ducks eat snails, mosquito and dragonfly larvae, newts, tadpoles, small frogs, and any other small animals they can catch. Corn and oats simply do not have all the nutrition that they need, though you could keep them alive on it for a while.

 

[Miss Lydia]

How old is your new duck and barred rock and what breed of duck?

 

[Farmer jr]

The duck is full grown and so is the chicken the duck is a kaki kamble and I let him out today and he flew off

 

[chickens really]

He flew away from your place?..Gone?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I am sorry. New ducks should be kept penned for at least a week or more so they know where home and food is. Always a chance it will come back.