Question about Breeder versus Maintenance Feed

[3bird]

Hi, All.

We feed our flock of silver Appleyard ducks Mazuri Waterfowl Maintenance Feed, and we've been very happy with it overall. We only have one drake, and we think our hens would benefit from the Mazuri Waterfowl Breeder Feed. We've been told the breeder feed is not appropriate for our drake, but at night (and some days) he is separated from our girls. What do you all think about giving the girls the breeder feed at night and during the day to the girls he is not with? Is it worth the hassle and the possibility that our drake may unintentionally sometimes get some of the breeder feed?

We'd love to hear your thoughts....and thanks!

Here are the breeder feed details:

And here are the maintenance feed details:

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

is mazuri better than purina?

 

[Ratchnick]

Whats The calcium on the breeder? That's the only reason i can think that you would not want to feed it to your drake.

 

[3bird]

is mazuri better than purina?

We have been very pleased with Mazuri feeds, which are recommended highly by several vets we know.

 

[3bird]

Whats The calcium on the breeder? That's the only reason i can think that you would not want to feed it to your drake.

That's correct. The exact recommendation from Mazuri was:

Since you have a male I would go with Waterfowl Maintenance and leave a dish of oyster shell out for the females to get enough calcium. The reason for not feeding the Breeder diet is because the level of calcium in the feed can cause bone defects, kidney failure and the males may become sterile when feeding to non-laying birds. If you have questions, please let me know.​

Here is the analysis on the breeder feed:

and here is the analysis for the maintenance:

Back when we originally made the choice to feed the maintenance feed exclusively, we were not separating our drake from the flock during breeding season, so the breeder feed was not really an option. Now he is separated (or kept with a couple of girls with which he is getting along) for most of the breeding season (except for daily supervised free ranging).

While our girls have generally been laying well, we have more soft eggs than we should, and we have one bird that has had more consistent egg issues. We do offer free choice oyster shells to the girls, but they don't show a lot of interest. A couple of the girls do devour egg shells, but we don't have enough, which is why we were considering experimenting with the breeder feed.

 

[chickensssssss]

put play sand in the pen

 

[3bird]

put play sand in the pen

I don't understand. Please explain? Thanks!

 

[Ratchnick]

If your drake gets a few mouthful here and there he will be fine. If your not hatching your eggs a layer feed is likely cheaper and also has elevated calcium and protein. Maintenance feed is intended to be feed in the off season.

 

[3bird]

If your drake gets a few mouthful here and there he will be fine. If your not hatching your eggs a layer feed is likely cheaper and also has elevated calcium and protein. Maintenance feed is intended to be feed in the off season.

Thanks! We'd like to keep them on Mazuri, and so it's either maintenance or breeder. We really just want them to bump up the calcium, and they don't seem to be doing that through oyster shells (and we don't have enough eggshells, which they devour).

 

[Ratchnick]

Then feed the breeder when laying and maintenance in the off season.