One feed for chickens and ducks together?

[benthere-donethat]

If you were housing chickens and ducks together, what commercial feed would you give: Starter, Grower, or Layer?

My ducks have free range access most of the day; the chickens do not. They all have access to oyster shell and granite grit.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RMK04]

i dont know if this is correct or not, i m about 9 months into this job of raising chickens and ducks. so take my opinion for what its worth. i have 3 male khaki campbell ducks, 1 male runner duck, 1 male pekin duck, 3 plymoth barred rock hens, and 4 rhode island red hens..... they are in one coop togehter. i feed a mixture of 100lbs layer crumbles-15%protein mixed with 50lbs of grower crumbles-17% protein. i do free range my birds as often as possible(probably 5 days out of 7 when its nice out) but they do all eat the same food.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Mine get non medicated chick starter with some brewers yeast mixed in (niacin for the ducks) and oyster shell on the side (for the layers). Everyone has what they need that way, ducks, chicks and layers and I don't have to feed out different rations to different groups. Easy peasy.

Good luck

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I feed an all flock pellet, with oyster shells on the side as well as some scratch and whole corn.

 

[KrisCVT]

I'm also sort of a newbie. My flock is 23 weeks old. I have 2 ducks and 5 chickens. I have 1 male and 1 female pekin ducks, and 2 barred rock hens, 2 buff orpington hens, and 1 golden laced wynandotte hen. I switched feed about 3-4 weeks ago to Nutrena All-Flock pellets, I mix the grit in with the food, and I have a little feeder that I fill with oyster shell that is always available. I had previously fed Dumor grower crumbles. At first it seemed that they didn't like the pellets, but once my hubby built me a PVC feeder, there is less waste and I can tell that it's getting eaten. My birds also get lots of veggies and fruit- especially when I can't let them out to free-range if I am not going to be home to supervise. Their favorites are leafy greens : any lettuce, napa cabbage, radish greens, arugula, kale, parsley, collards, etc. They also get cucumbers, pumpkin, chick peas, green peas, and tomatoes.
For treats I throw out handfuls of BOSS, mealworms, or cracked corn if its going to be a cold night.

Everyone seems to be doing well…my wyandotte has been laying for a week so far. No one else has started yet.

If anyone has issues with eggs once they all start laying, then I will switch to a layer food and take my chances with my drake unfortunately.