Only eating bugs

[mskupcake]

Hello duck friends!
I am new to raising ducks, I have just gotten my 1st Muscovy ducks about 3 weeks ago, making them 9 weeks old now. They are growing fast, they look healthy & seem to be doing fine however I've noticed they are only eating bugs & worms. They will not eat oats, bird seeds, peas, cracked corn, rice, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, lettuce, chick starter.... Nothing other than bugs & worms. I'm afraid they aren't getting the correct nutrition.
Is this normal? Why should I do?

 

[Amiga]

Hmmmm, I do know that ducks can be picky eaters, oddly enough. I would keep offering small amounts of especially grower pellets (mix in some of the chick starter, but at 9 weeks I think they should be on grower-maintenance food).

And a little less, but still offer a few bits of lettuce - you could try sprouting the sunflower seeds, several people here do that, I think.

Now, how big an area are they foraging in? And are they only eating things you offer, or eating these things on their own?

Try just a couple tablespoons of dry cat kibble - see if they go for that.

What were they fed before?

 

[mskupcake]

Before they were just being fed chic starter. But they were in horrible condition when I got them. I was heart broke when I 1st saw them. They had hardly any feathers, covered in poo, sickly looking. They were just in an old horse trailer with about 50 others.

They started in a dog kennel (decent size) but I have been letting them free range most of the day & evening, tho they still hang around their kennel & a tree thy they have taken to. We have about a 2 acre yard, so there is plenty of space.
They do forage well on their own, however I have kinda started a bad habit I think with mealworms.
Since they wasn't eating anything really when I got them I picked some up & it was like they had never eaten before. They went crazy eating, trembling, almost chocking.
I gave them some each day a little in the morning & in the evening. Kinda preparing them for the free range thing. (Which I read on here) but now they seem to expect it every time I go near them or if they hear me they come running, biting & nipping at anything I have or my toes.

At 1st my male was eating some oats, raisins & sunflower seeds for about a week but now doesn't seem interested. He follows Sophie (my female) & seems to do what she does. And she doesn't like anything but bugs & worms.

I haven't been able to find the pellets any where around here. I'm thinking I'll just go online.

I'm really just afraid they are not getting the healthy dose of what they need to be healthy.
I just Love them so much even though it's only been 3 weeks. It would just break my heart if they got sick.

 

[quackingdom]

If they're growing and look healthy, they're probably just fine. I'm sure they eat some plants and other food when you're not around. Forage and bugs is the healthiest food possible for ducks – the commercial feeds really aren't the best thing for them, even if they might lay more eggs on it. After all, if they eat so many bugs and worms and you don't have to feed them, you don't have one of the biggest expenses that raising ducks often requires. You're lucky!

My own Muscovies, which free-range during the day and are locked up for the night, find a good portion of their own food. We also give them garden & kitchen scraps – wilted lettuce, cucumber peels, watermelon rinds with still some juicy red parts left, and other things. In the morning and evening, we offer them some wheat and sorghum, and they usually don't eat more than two pounds a day.

I wouldn't worry about it. You can be glad you don't have to pay much for feed. Once they start laying, their eggs will be WAY healthier than anything you can buy at the store, because they eat so naturally!

Another idea...could it be that perhaps they associate being fed with their original horrible conditions, and are thus afraid to eat anything offered from humans now? If that is the case, you could just try to wait and slowly try to get them used to food that you offer.

~Hannah

 

[mskupcake]

Thank you so much friends. I'm feeling a bit better already!

 

[mskupcake]

These are my Babies! Sophie & Duckie.

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[mskupcake]

 

[mskupcake]

I have another question.....
My ducklings are about 9 weeks old & they still don't like to get in the water.
Is this normal?

 

[cayugaducklady]

I have 4 12-ish week old Cayuga duck hens that are picky eaters.

They were always given brewer's yeast w/ garlic and probiotic powder as ducklings.

As hatchlings they loved manna pro game bird starter mixed with nonfat yogurt. But since I didn't have a local source for it when I finished that bag I tried all of the different duck chows at TSC. They would just pick at them and made a wet mess. Purina anything was their least favorite. Dumor they ate OK for about 2 weeks and then they started picking at it.

I tried Farmer's friend chicken kibble mixed per instructions with old fashioned oats. They loved that mix. So I'd use it when I worried they weren't eating enough of the premixed duck chows.

I started them on scratch & peck naturally free feed and lots of supplementary grit. They would pick at it.

I tried water fermenting feed. They would pick at it.

I tried steaming veggie waste stems (collards, chard etc.), mixing in the steamed veggie stems and using the steaming liquid to moisten the feed. They'd pick out the steamed bits and eat a bit more of the duck chow.

I tried mixing in non-fat yogurt with their feed. Bingo! Feeder clean within an hour. Since I made that discovery all of their feedings are moistened with yogurt in a 1 to 1 ratio.

(For my next experiment I'm going to try yogurt + any TSC duck chow to see if they'll eat it. But i still have 10-ish pounds left to feed before I start that experiment.)


When they were smaller and growing like crazy, I'd steam and mash potatoes for them just to keep myself from worrying about them being hungry.

I have always made sure they had a dish of chopped greens to gobble. As ducklings any variety of cabbage was their favorite. Now they'll eat beet greens ,turnip greens, fennel fronds, green plants and herbs I clip from the yard, etc.

Now that they're older and I can see that they're growing into beautiful hens, my gut tells me that the birds that are good foragers do a good job of finding worms/bugs/greens/herbs as long as plenty of forage area and forage time is available. They're so efficient at it that we call them the four ducks of the apocalypse... Nothing escapes them in foraging formation.

I don't mind mixing in yogurt with their feed. Their poop smells less and it is easier to clean up. Their home smells less ducky, too, because they aren't wasting the food.

And i don't have to worry about them being hungry.

They still get a dabbling dish of greens, too. And steamed potatoes for treats a few times a week because I enjoy treating them.