Not many sell bulk dried meal worms I like to spoil mine and give them wholesome treats . Also not many of us consider our birds live stock either I don’t anyway.
Preparing ducks for winter
- Thread starter Callduckmaster_12
- Start date
Never bought that ever and don't plan to either...
them!!
What do you do if they don't really like corn? I have put fresh corn cobs out and cracked corn--not a favorite. They didn't touch the fesh corn at all. Mealworms on the other hand are the favorite across the board. I was getting those at the feed store and switched to online because of price.
A friend gave us some corn on the cob for our birds not sure who all ate it but it was completely eaten. Meal worms by far are the biggest hit . Wheat is another fav here I put some wheat into a bowl of water and they devour it.
Yep my Chickens only eat the corn off the cob and get cracked wheat. No meal worms though..
Mealworms are a good high protein treat, at about 50%. My birds go crazy for them. They need that extra protein now to help them grow their new feathers. I don't feed mine corn, except for what's left on the cob after I cut off the kennels. Another good treat is BOSS. It's got a good amount of protein, about 22%, but it's also high in fat, about 50%. It is high in Omega 6 but you don't want to give too much. I guess that applies to most treats though. BOSS also has a good amount of vitamins and minerals.
I've got Welsh Harlequin and Saxony ducks (and chickens). My winter prep consists of plugging in heated buckets/bowls. Bedding in the coop is deep litter with straw and any hay the goats waste. The birds are fully free range. At my old house I had a run and in winter I covered it with clear tarps. I offer no additional heat. There are a lot of negatives/dangers in heating a coop and little benefit to the birds.
I've got Welsh Harlequin and Saxony ducks (and chickens). My winter prep consists of plugging in heated buckets/bowls. Bedding in the coop is deep litter with straw and any hay the goats waste. The birds are fully free range. At my old house I had a run and in winter I covered it with clear tarps. I offer no additional heat. There are a lot of negatives/dangers in heating a coop and little benefit to the birds.
So this is my thoughts... I'm switching out the 5 gallon heated bucket for a 2 gallon heated bucket(so I can carry it to change daily). I'm taking the pool down and in its place building a shelter out of pallets with one side open loaded with straw. The house will have the flax bedding and straw on top of that.
Will they(their feathers and stuff) be okay with no swimming for about 4 months?
Will their food freeze?
Will they(their feathers and stuff) be okay with no swimming for about 4 months?
Will their food freeze?
Dry feed unless wet shouldn’t freeze.they will wash in their buckets best they can .on nice days above freezing if you have them maybe put out a cement mixing tub for bathing or large rubber bowls some use
You don't have to feed them corn if they don't like it. They can do just fine on their regular formulated feed. Anything else is a snack/treat. Maybe I'm a bad mama, but I have never bought treats for my ducks and chickens other than an occasional bag of scratch grains. If there are scraps left from dinner or the garden, they get those. Their formulated feed is a complete diet and they don't *need* anything else.
Their food will not freeze, but ducks like to play with water in their food, so once in awhile it might, but they can usually break it up
It would be good to let them swim sometimes to let them clean and preen. Mine probably swim once every two weeks or something in winter. I pick the warmest day (which might still be below freezing) and they get a much smaller tub of water in winter, but it lets them fully submerge and clean off.
You could keep using the 5 gallon bucket and just don't fill it as high, no need to buy a new bucket.
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