Now my Drake is sick

[Kleonaptra]

Oh yes Im sure my produce store where I buy my horse feed will have poultry feed. Im not due to get feed for another week though and its too far to drive out this afternoon particularly with a sick toddler. Petbarn is much closer and I know they have stuff....They also sell a poultry mix at the supermarket where I work (but not where the medical centre is!) so I could grab some of that on saturday to get them through. Its wicked expensive but it will do the job until I can get some layer pellets. Thats what I want isnt it? Not grower or starter?

 

[Pyxis]

Yep, you want layer. Grower and starter will have too much protein for your guys.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

http://www.metzerfarms.com/NutritionalRequirements.cfm?CustID=1952066

 

[Kleonaptra]

Howdy all,

Wist is GREAT. He was looking much better last night but I still kept him in all night. He had some very questionable poops last night, but I got my partner to run out to Petbarn and we got a gorgeous layer mix and pellets and a box of crickets. Crickets are my favourite treat for a sick duck. Wistapew tucked right in to both and this morning was bright eyed and happy with perfectly normal poop.

The layer mix I got is whole and cracked grains - my birds wouldnt know it was food if it was all pellets - its barley, wheat, corn, sunflower seed and milo. Its very similar to the original one I used to give and not that different to the seed mix. I want to explain that I did not just randomly buy a bag of seed saying 'yeah, that looks good', I knew exactly what was in the horses grain mix, I knew it was identical to most layer mixes and I chose a seed mix with similar ingrediants. I just didnt have a chance to source a new poultry mix yet with my feed place closing down suddenly. This one is really nice and I think it will work out cheaper. I bought some pellets too to mix through, do you think my big girls will still need calcium supplement on top? The reason I started giving it in the first place is because our soil (and grass) causes problems with calcium uptake in the horses. The big girls really looked terrible a few months ago without it, so Im not sure how to proceed.

The layer mix boasts 14% protien but doesnt have a percentage for calcium. The chickens are absolutely nuts for it, Wist loves it and the big girls are not sure yet!

 

[Pyxis]

Howdy all,

 Wist is GREAT. He was looking much better last night but I still kept him in all night. He had some very questionable poops last night, but I got my partner to run out to Petbarn and we got a gorgeous layer mix and pellets and a box of crickets. Crickets are my favourite treat for a sick duck. Wistapew tucked right in to both and this morning was bright eyed and happy with perfectly normal poop.

 The layer mix I got is whole and cracked grains - my birds wouldnt know it was food if it was all pellets - its barley, wheat, corn, sunflower seed and milo. Its very similar to the original one I used to give and not that different to the seed mix. I want to explain that I did not just randomly buy a bag of seed saying 'yeah, that looks good', I knew exactly what was in the horses grain mix, I knew it was identical to most layer mixes and I chose a seed mix with similar ingrediants. I just didnt have a chance to source a new poultry mix yet with my feed place closing down suddenly. This one is really nice and I think it will work out cheaper. I bought some pellets too to mix through, do you think my big girls will still need calcium supplement on top? The reason I started giving it in the first place is because our soil (and grass) causes problems with calcium uptake in the horses. The big girls really looked terrible a few months ago without it, so Im not sure how to proceed.

 The layer mix boasts 14% protien but doesnt have a percentage for calcium. The chickens are absolutely nuts for it, Wist loves it and the big girls are not sure yet!

So glad he's doing better What you might do for extra calcium is to pick up a bag of oyster shell next time you get to the feed place. Then, you can offer it separate from the main food and they will take as much as they need and no more.

 

[Kleonaptra]

Ok cool that sounds good. I forgot to mention this has grit in it too, I know someone mentioned grit!

Im tentatively hoping again I might see his babies. He is now 6, and for years I had just him and one little girl, both rescues. Thats why I didnt need a large amount of poultry feed, just 2 little ducks. He used to breed with her but she never laid eggs. I got the second female (also rescued) dec 2011, we moved here Aug 2012 and lost the elder female. Then I got the 3 part pekins and the chickens. It was so exciting last year when he bred them all, and they all laid eggs, only for all of them to die. It was all the girls' first season, so no one knew what to do. Lil Pipers eggs had the best chance but the big girls chucked her eggs out and they died, Im still beating myself up over that. I just lost Piper a month ago, no chance of purebreds now, but Im hoping he and his favourite female will come through for me. If you go to my profile and look down the bottom at embedded photos, in my other 'sick duck' thread Ive posted Wist with Varia in the pond. Hes tiny in the foreground and she's a mountain of duck behind him. Im amazed he can even get the eggs fertilized!

 

[Pyxis]

Oh he's a cutie Good luck with the babies! I breed welsh harlequins, and this was my drake's first breeding season. He's such a good boy, good with the girls, protective, not aggressive. He's now got babies all over New York, and as far away as California! I couldn't be happier

Also, if you had the time, you could make yourself an incubator and hatch some that way. That's what I'm about to do so I can have a few more girls this spring. We're going into winter, so it's an odd time, but whatever Do you ever post in Thread formerly known as hatch day is today? If not you should pop in and chat!

 

[Kleonaptra]

I actually hatched Wist out of a homemade incubator, his egg was rescued from a landclearing site. He shouldnt have hatched - no misting or turning and his egg was upside down! I also hatched Piper the same way, but I dont have the lamp anymore. Im looking at getting a real incubator, because even though the girls arent sitting, some of the eggs are fertilized, every time I crack one for pastry and its fertilized I nearly cry!

I cant wait to get in on hatching threads, believe me!