New to raising ducks

[mscrunk85]

Is it ok to feed my 3......8 week old ducks 10 grapes, 1 tomatato, 1 cucumber, 1 banana? 2 boiled eggs, a hand full of cabbage the (purple one) and some dried mealworm ok for one feeding plus i leave there feed out all day with water n they have a pool too

 

[Callender Girl]

Baby ducks are so adorable!

Are you also giving them regular feed and just supplementing their diet with the treats you listed? I probably would not give that many treats to growing youngsters who need balanced nutrition. Plus, I always worry about ducklings getting enough niacin. Supplementing whatever you feed them with frozen peas will help boost their niacin intake.

I'm good with leaving them feed and water out all day. I think at 8 weeks, they are probably fine with a pool.

Best wishes with your babies!

 

[Isadora]

Is it ok to feed my 3......8 week old ducks 10 grapes, 1 tomatato, 1 cucumber, 1 banana? 2 boiled eggs, a hand full of cabbage the (purple one) and some dried mealworm ok for one feeding plus i leave there feed out all day with water n they have a pool too

That's too much treats in one feeding. Treats should be no more than 10% of the regular diet, which should be formulated feed.

 

[mscrunk85]

That's too much treats in one feeding. Treats should be no more than 10% of the regular diet, which should be formulated feed.

What would be a good meal plan for them? Im so new to this....i chopped up 2 big celery 4 straw berry 1 banana 1 yellow squash lots of cabbage and turnips threw frozen mini peas and sprinkled some yeast on it tossed it and gave all three in one big bowl just 2 hand fulls...and put the rest in thr fridge for tomorrow....ive been feeding them in the morning n night this and they have there other stuff all day long.

 

[mscrunk85]

That's too much treats in one feeding. Treats should be no more than 10% of the regular diet, which should be formulated feed.

They have medicaid scratch...which i dont think they r supposed to eat that n i told my mom...so i need to get them new food right? And i feed them nutritional yeast flakes...i didnt know they had to have extra niacin until one of them was born with a messed up foot and i thought my kid did something to it...then started reading about that and once i put that in the diet omg it was so cool how his or her foot went normal.....we kept that one and 2 others out of 6...this is my moms 2nd time doing ducks....we love them they r scared of us and ive got them almost coming close when i feed them n sit n talk to them n just watch them..heres a video of them swimming n playing

 

[mscrunk85]

Baby ducks are so adorable!

Are you also giving them regular feed and just supplementing their diet with the treats you listed? I probably would not give that many treats to growing youngsters who need balanced nutrition. Plus, I always worry about ducklings getting enough niacin. Supplementing whatever you feed them with frozen peas will help boost their niacin intake.

I'm good with leaving them feed and water out all day. I think at 8 weeks, they are probably fine with a pool.

Best wishes with your babies!

They have medicaid scratch...which i dont think they r supposed to eat that n i told my mom...so i need to get them new food right? And i feed them nutritional yeast flakes...i didnt know they had to have extra niacin until one of them was born with a messed up foot and i thought my kid did something to it...then started reading about that and once i put that in the diet omg it was so cool how his or her foot went normal.....we kept that one and 2 others out of 6...this is my moms 2nd time doing ducks....we love them they r scared of us and ive got them almost coming close when i feed them n sit n talk to them n just watch them..heres a video of them swimming n playing

 

[Callender Girl]

Are you able to get commercial duck feed? I know that ducks were able to feed themselves naturally long before people started making the commercial stuff, but I think it's really hard to figure out proper duck nutrition on your own.

I am able to buy Nutrena duck feed at my local feed store. But before that, I fed my ducks regular all-flock feed (cheaper than Nutrena, I bought the generic store brand) and frozen peas. Glad to hear your duck's foot recovered with a little niacin boost.

I hand raised all the ducks I have right now, and not a one of them is really what I would call friendly. They all still dash away from me, unless I have something to feed them. Then, all but one will eat out of my hand. Mine are all runners, and it seems to be a more skittish breed than some of the others, based on what I've read on BYC.

Once all the snow melts, my ducks spend most of their day scouring the ground for their own food. Right now, they are happy when the sun comes out enough to make puddles they can drink from or bathe in. Of course, the water is dirtier than the water I provide in their dishes. But, ducks do what ducks want to do.