Organic Duck/Chicken Food Nutritional Content Help

[kublackbird]

Right now, I have four chicks that are six weeks old and three ducklings that are three weeks old. They are not living together yet, but I plan for them to as soon as the ducks are fully feathered and everyone gets close to the same size--probably within the next few weeks. Because there will be no reasonable way to keep them on separate foods at that point, I'm looking for options to feed them all the same thing.

I've found a local mill that will supply me with organic feed. The gentleman who runs the place says their feed is 19% protein and they use it for both their layer and broiler chickens from birth to adulthood. However, he admitted that he is not necessarily familiar with the nutritional requirements of ducklings.

I've been looking at the nutritional content of Purina Flock Raiser, which is supposedly formulated for both chickens and ducks. (I figure they wouldn't still be in business if it didn't work.) It has 20% protein, but the Purina website says it's also supplemented with extra niacin for the ducklings.

Sooo, my question is, if I go with the organic feed, do I need to give the ducks extra niacin? If so....

1. Where can I get it?
2. How much do they need?
3. How long do they need it for?
4. Will the extra niacin be detrimental to the chicks?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

 

[chickboss]

I am feeding the same organic feed to both my ducklings and chicks. I use Brewer's Yeast sprikled on top of the food for the exta Niacin. I can't even imagine that Brewer's Yeast would hurt the chicks. I think you can feed it to just about anything. Hope this helps!