Niacin for Ducklings

[Hylander]

Good Afternoon,

In about 2 weeks I will be getting two ducklings to add to my mainly chicken family. I have been researching on line the dosage for adding Niacin to their diet. I have ordered 500 mg capsules, but I am a little unsure of the dosage. Most articles say to add it to their water. If I did the math right I will need to add 35 mg per 1 quart of water.
So many of articles are for much larger water containers. The niacin was easier for me to get then the brewers yeast. Some of the articles say to use it for 2 weeks all the way until they start laying eggs. Any suggestions that any of you have would be so appreciated.

 

[Knighstar679]

I add mine to my food. They don’t spill as much. I make it a soupy mash to get them eating it. Ducks tend to play too much in their water for it to be known to really be effective in my opinion. And most of us will go from hatch to 8 weeks for niacin on most ducklings. Only a few breeds Mascovy and Pekin size are the ones that I know where many keep it going until 16 weeks.

dosage I do for mine is about 50mg per duckling mixed into the soupy mash. I will do more if I have a problem duckling.

 

[Isaac 0]

Are the Niacin Capsules flush free? They won't work if they are. Metzer farms a reliable source, recommends one 500mg capsule per eight gallons of water, or if you are thinking they are only drinking about half of the water, you can do 500mg per four-gallons of water.

 

[Hylander]

I add mine to my food. They don’t spill as much. I make it a soupy mash to get them eating it. Ducks tend to play too much in their water for it to be known to really be effective in my opinion. And most of us will go from hatch to 8 weeks for niacin on most ducklings. Only a few breeds Mascovy and Pekin size are the ones that I know where many keep it going until 16 weeks.

dosage I do for mine is about 50mg per duckling mixed into the soupy mash. I will do more if I have a problem duckling.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Thank you so much for the information. Hopefully everything will go smoothly now.

 

[Abigail Joanna]

I added 1/4 of a capsule to a 10qt bucket, then dosed out the water according.
You absolutely need niacin for ducks and geese. They will lose all leg control without it. It's an easy fix if you accidentally forget, two hours tops once they get some in them, but it's unnecessary, and you can also get food that has niacin and not have to do the water way.

 

[Hylander]

I added 1/4 of a capsule to a 10qt bucket, then dosed out the water according.
You absolutely need niacin for ducks and geese. They will lose all leg control without it. It's an easy fix if you accidentally forget, two hours tops once they get some in them, but it's unnecessary, and you can also get food that has niacin and not have to do the water way.

Thank you!

 

[Conan]

Purina makes a Flock Raiser crumble that is perfect for ducklings, with no additions necessary. If that feed is available, I'd go with that. I use it for all my littles, both chicken and duck.

 

[TomCahalan]

I start my ducks with a bag of food specially formulated for ducks, so that should give them their niacin. Just to be sure I put liquid B vitamin complex in their water. I don't bother measuring.

You can buy pure niacin powder on Amazon. This is far, far cheaper than buying capsules or liquid b complex. Once my ducks reach two weeks old I put them outside in the coop (with heat) and they drink from 3 gallon nipple feeders. I dump a bunch of niacin powder into the water. It is better to overdose than underdose, plus they waste so much water.

 

[Isaac 0]

I start my ducks with a bag of food specially formulated for ducks, so that should give them their niacin. Just to be sure I put liquid B vitamin complex in their water. I don't bother measuring.

You can buy pure niacin powder on Amazon. This is far, far cheaper than buying capsules or liquid b complex. Once my ducks reach two weeks old I put them outside in the coop (with heat) and they drink from 3 gallon nipple feeders. I dump a bunch of niacin powder into the water. It is better to overdose than underdose, plus they waste so much water.

They only have nipple feeders as a water source? Ducks can be overdosed, but from what I've read it would need to be a high amount for it to have an effect. Metzer has dosage for niacin powder, and the dosage they recommend is considering they waste about half. I don't prefer the water route, niacin complex and tablet have a very potent taste, which could cause the ducks to drink less water.

 

[TomCahalan]

They only have nipple feeders as a water source? Ducks can be overdosed, but from what I've read it would need to be a high amount for it to have an effect. Metzer has dosage for niacin powder, and the dosage they recommend is considering they waste about half. I don't prefer the water route, niacin complex and tablet have a very potent taste, which could cause the ducks to drink less water.

Yes, keeping their coop clean is hard enough, so I picked something that they couldn't splash around in.

My first set of ducks (runners and campbells) had no problem with it. My second set (pekins) started getting dirty eyes, but I only had them in the coop for two weeks (I bought them older and allowed them to free range at a younger age). My third set (runners) have no problem with it. So in my experience it depends on the breed. The pekins developed problems quickly, the runners never did. In fact, my first set of runners/campbells stayed in that coop for about 8 months. 8 months drinking from a nipple with no eye problems, compared to about a week before problems for the pekins started showing up.

Once my ducks are big enough to free range they have three options for water: a nipple feeder, a bin of water that I refill daily, and the pond that I am currently digging.