Shocker Price for Feed

[Going Quackers]

So till my feed store orders wheat and millet for me, I went and bought some organic wheat at the bulk part of my grocery store, pretty pricey but want to see if my ducks/chickens would even eat it, well today I mixed in Blk oil sunflowers seeds. whole oats, wheat and FR and my goodness they dove in like they hadn't eaten in months, Thanks to Celtic Oak Farms for giving us an idea on what else we can feed to our flock. Hopefully this will also help us when the price of feed goes up even more by mixing various grains together we maybe able to keep the cost down somewhat and keep our flocks healthy too.

This is an interesting combo... i only use flock raiser... i do the odd time chuck down some scratch grain mix for them but this massively minimal, like i don't even use a 5lb bag a month. My FR barely went up, less than 2$ difference so for now they are attempting at keeping the increase modest, how long that will continue is hard to say.

I'm torn what to do, while i don't have A few birds i am sorta moderate, so large packages of several feeds i would worry if they could be consumed in A reasonable time frame. sigh.

 

[Miss Lydia]

no scratch is just that scratch. It is sold in bags labeled scratched. It use to be a great mix of whole grains with very little to any corn. As grain prices went up they switch to more corn than anything else. Most feed brands have their version of it. We want healthy birds, with good body weight without added fat reserves, healthy feathering and strong fertility. Since corn is like candy or fast food junk and we dont feed our human children fast food we dont feed the birds added corn. (whole, cracked or by adding scratch)

we have two breeds of geese who need no help in the fertility issue department, we have one heavy breed of duck who doesnt need the added fat packed on which could lead to leg issues.

I can say while others have reported low hatch rates from similar flocks we had a superb year with a 97% hatch rate in the Sebastopol geese. Diet has to be of some influence since many others dont feed the same as we do.

Also our Silver Appleyard ducks grow slowly allowing their legs to keep up, dont carry extra fat deposits when butchered, and had strong fertility this year as well.

I don't like Purinas Scratch grains mostly corn, thats why I switced to Homestead 7 way it has corn but 6 other grains too, I threw away the slip that says what the other grains are but 1 is blk oil sunflower seeds, and then I add more sunflower seeds to it. I think because my ducks/chickens /goose forage and have to walk up and down a hill everyday they don't get over weight. Since we live in the mountains there's not alot of flat surface here so they get a good workout everyday.

 

[cskotek]

Corn is like feeding your waterfowl bags of candy. The only time it is recommended is in very cold climates in the winter. It is not a complete nutrition and shouldnt be the only feed on a daily basis. Corn only packs on the fat making an unhealthy duck/goose. Excess fat also decreases fertility.

Well we have been useing it for years, and it hasn't done anything to our ducks, and I had a very great rate of runner ducklings that hatched for my first time doing it. Im not into buying expensive feed when I can just add to a cheaper product. And most of the time big companys that are susposeadly great add unnecessary items into the feed and tend to have -recalls-. And my ducks are not over weight by any means and get more then enough excerise and free range.

 

[Nebraskagirl]

no scratch is just that scratch. It is sold in bags labeled scratched. It use to be a great mix of whole grains with very little to any corn. As grain prices went up they switch to more corn than anything else. Most feed brands have their version of it. We want healthy birds, with good body weight without added fat reserves, healthy feathering and strong fertility. Since corn is like candy or fast food junk and we dont feed our human children fast food we dont feed the birds added corn. (whole, cracked or by adding scratch)

we have two breeds of geese who need no help in the fertility issue department, we have one heavy breed of duck who doesnt need the added fat packed on which could lead to leg issues.

I can say while others have reported low hatch rates from similar flocks we had a superb year with a 97% hatch rate in the Sebastopol geese. Diet has to be of some influence since many others dont feed the same as we do.

Also our Silver Appleyard ducks grow slowly allowing their legs to keep up, dont carry extra fat deposits when butchered, and had strong fertility this year as well.

Thank you! Ok, no I don't use scratch then. Do I HAVE to? My two forage all day in grass and do have feed in a bowl should they want it. Is it ok to use chicken layer feed? It says 16 percent protein. I also give them meal worms as treats every so often.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thank you! Ok, no I don't use scratch then. Do I HAVE to? My two forage all day in grass and do have feed in a bowl should they want it. Is it ok to use chicken layer feed? It says 16 percent protein. I also give them meal worms as treats every so often.

No you don't have to. and my ducks love meal worms, I think if I asked them to they would do a song an dance for some.

 

[Popcorn]

Wow. I pay $2.50 for a bale of straw for bedding and $12.50 for a fifty pound bag of feed custom made for our climate by a farmer.

 

[Nebraskagirl]

No you don't have to. and my ducks love meal worms, I think if I asked them to they would do a song an dance for some.

Thanks! He he...maybe I can teach mine to sing. I just tossed some into the pool and they are going absolutely insane for them.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Quote:
Thats a big difference between what breeds you have compared to what breeds we have. Runners should be laying machines with no fertility issues as a breed. Not the case for some of the breeds we raise. Again I am not discussing only ducks here too. Very different when you look into nutritional needs of various breeds. We spent 9 months researching the best grain blends to offer.

We also never not have pasture, we are green year round with plenty of grazing and bugs to be had. We also raise ducks for meat, so when butchering you see what various feeds can do to them as far as extra fat deposits. Visually they may not look much different, but once processed you see where the fat issues are.

What and how we feed isnt for everyone. Not everyone can afford it, not everyone want to store the various grains ect. The birds provide us food and a lively hood from sales so we feed them the best we can to ensure their health and productivity. Egg yolks are deep orange not yellow year round, they recover from molts faster, and higher fertility rates than some others of the same breed.

 

[cskotek]

Thats a big difference between what breeds you have compared to what breeds we have. Runners should be laying machines with no fertility issues as a breed. Not the case for some of the breeds we raise. Again I am not discussing only ducks here too. Very different when you look into nutritional needs of various breeds. We spent 9 months researching the best grain blends to offer.

We also never not have pasture, we are green year round with plenty of grazing and bugs to be had. We also raise ducks for meat, so when butchering you see what various feeds can do to them as far as extra fat deposits. Visually they may not look much different, but once processed you see where the fat issues are.

What and how we feed isnt for everyone. Not everyone can afford it, not everyone want to store the various grains ect. The birds provide us food and a lively hood from sales so we feed them the best we can to ensure their health and productivity. Egg yolks are deep orange not yellow year round, they recover from molts faster, and higher fertility rates than some others of the same breed.

Ahh, we will never have any of our ducks butcherd, they are there to be watched and to add to our yard/pond. We will incubate some of the eggs, but never eat the duck itself. And ive never eaten any of the eggs, but we do use the shells to feed our females, they love it! And ive never really looked at the yolk when we break them, my friend wants to try some of the eggs to bake (she loves cooking). So its worth a try haha.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Yep, you have a mixed flock of pets. Where we have breeding programs and provide birds and hatching eggs and eating eggs to others. I am just as OCD about the food our dogs get and the goats too. As I said before we dont let our kids eat fast food, so there is care given to feed details for the animals too.