Ran out of duckling food, what to substitute temporarily?

[FluffHoarder]

I got a batch of three week old duckkings who went through their feed waaay faster than I thought they would and I ran out overnight and none of my feed stores are open just yet. What could I use to substitute until then? They are very hungry screamers atm. I wasn’t quite sure where to put this thread so I’m putting it here

 

[NatJ]

Make sure they have water, give them a bread crust, then come back for more details

[Typing a more detailed post takes longer, and you said they were screaming with hunger, so I was offering one quick suggestion immediately.]

 

[FluffHoarder]

I was thinking about maybe giving them a lil bit of oatmeal since it doesn’t contain a lot of stuff and would temporarily fill them up, think that would work?

 

[NatJ]

I was thinking about maybe giving them a lil bit of oatmeal since it doesn’t contain a lot of stuff and would temporarily fill them up, think that would work?

Yes.

 

[NatJ]

If they are going to be eating various foods other than starter, they will need grit to grind it up in their gizzard.

Make sure they always have plenty of water.

In an emergency situation, for no more than a few days, offer them a selection from each of these categories:

--protein foods (cooked egg, meat, fish, bugs, slugs, snails, etc. Cooked beans or other legumes are also acceptable protein sources, but the animal-based ones tend to be more complete proteins, so I would try to include some of them if at all possible. Cat food or dog food can also be a protein source.)

--calorie sources (bread, grains, birdseed, warm or cold cereal, crackers, cooked potatoes, etc. Try not to use things that are heavily salted, and whole grains are definitely better than refined grains. But in a pinch, just offer them some choices and hope for the best.)

--fruits & vegetables (anything you would eat; also grass, dandelions, or other safe wild plants.) These are a source of vitamins & minerals that may be missing in the other foods, and also fiber.

Try to offer more than one thing from each category, and provide enough that they can pick and choose the ones they want. Yes, this is wasteful, which is an extra reason not to feed this way for long. But it should keep them alive and in reasonably good health for up to a few days. For longer periods of time, it becomes much more important to have the proper balance of nutrients.

 

[FluffHoarder]

Okay, thanks for the advise! I love ducklings but sheesh they scream worse than geese when they’re hungry

 

[Zoologist]

I kept an adult duck once for a week when she had a broken leg because there was no one to watch her or take her to a vet. I fed her oats, frozen peas, and frozen corn