Supplement okay for ducks?

[Crazyducklady87]

I have 6 five week old bantam ducks who regularly need niacin. I’ve been using nutritional yeast (Engevita) as this is tasty so they eat more too. Also supplementing with meal worm snacks

They’re going well but two are a particularly difficult breed to raise (Black East Indias) and keep needing an extra boost.

It’s a heatwave here in UK at the moment and the duck breeds definitely aren’t suited to 24H temperatures above 25C! Just wanted to try and get them all through it

Picked this Vit Supplement up today from the poultry section. Just wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerous for ducks in here?

Thanks!

Would this be safe as a vit B/niacin supplement for ducks?

My local farm supplier said it was …and I’m leaning towards the fact it has Niacin means the manufacturer intends it to be used for ducks as well (I find most purely chicken stuff doesn’t have Niacin added)

I’ve googled the individual ingredients but just wanted to double triple check as it’s for 7 week old Bantam ducklings

Brand is Nettex, Poultry Vit liquid

Thanks

 

[Debbie292d]

If the manufacturer intended for it to be used for ducks, one would think they'd say so. This says, "formulated specifically for chickens."

I don't know enough about each specific vitamin, but I'd try find one that's meant for just ducks or ducks as well as chickens. There could be not enough of one thing or too much of another is what I'd worry about.

I've heard a lot of duck owners say they use Brewer's Yeast.

The Kalmbach's Flock Maker crumbles we feed to our baby chicks, adult chickens, and our ducks says right on it that it's complete for ducks (as well as geese, turkeys, and chickens.) We don't supplement anything else, so I'm not familiar with the supplements other than Poultry Cell, Nutri-Drench, etc. we've occassionally given to our chickens.

I found a thread here: How to Add Niacin. Hopefully that'll help! Good luck!

 

[ruthhope]

I have 6 five week old bantam ducks who regularly need niacin. I’ve been using nutritional yeast (Engevita) as this is tasty so they eat more too. Also supplementing with meal worm snacks

They’re going well but two are a particularly difficult breed to raise (Black East Indias) and keep needing an extra boost.

It’s a heatwave here in UK at the moment and the duck breeds definitely aren’t suited to 24H temperatures above 25C! Just wanted to try and get them all through it

Picked this Vit Supplement up today from the poultry section. Just wanted to make sure there was nothing dangerous for ducks in here?

Thanks!

View attachment 4178703

Would this be safe as a vit B/niacin supplement for ducks?

My local farm supplier said it was …and I’m leaning towards the fact it has Niacin means the manufacturer intends it to be used for ducks as well (I find most purely chicken stuff doesn’t have Niacin added)

I’ve googled the individual ingredients but just wanted to double triple check as it’s for 7 week old Bantam ducklings

Brand is Nettex, Poultry Vit liquid

Thanks

There is very little made specifically for ducks. Im in the US and when I have a sick duckling that urgently needs more niacin, I use a preparation manufactured for cows and sheep. (Durvet high level vit B compound is an injectable preparation used for cows/sheep that duck keepers here give orally to ducks.) In situations where I want to increase my ducks vitamins and mineral intake, for example convalescence recovering from an illness or trauma, I use a preparation intended for chickens: Rooster Booster Poultry Cell which is added to the drinking water.

I think that adding nutritional yeast to the feed is the best way for getting routine additional B vitamins in to your ducks. It has a lot more niacin than brewers yeast but is also a lot more expensive in the US as its human grade. We can get non- human grade brewers yeast that is produced for reptiles and is much cheaper.

The preparation that you are enquiring about, I am assuming is liquid and added to the ducks drinking water. It does have niacin and so I think it would be OK as a supplement for your ducks. Anything sold for chickens is in general ok for ducks, except as you noted, chicken feed and supplements can be inadequate sources of niacin.

I am unfamiliar with your duck breeds and the challenges raising them. If you are only concerned about increasing Vit B3, niacin, in their diet. Continue the nutritional yeast in their feed. The liquid supplement should be in addition to that.

 

[Crazyducklady87]

There is very little made specifically for ducks. Im in the US and when I have a sick duckling that urgently needs more niacin, I use a preparation manufactured for cows and sheep. (Durvet high level vit B compound is an injectable preparation used for cows/sheep that duck keepers here give orally to ducks.) In situations where I want to increase my ducks vitamins and mineral intake, for example convalescence recovering from an illness or trauma, I use a preparation intended for chickens: Rooster Booster Poultry Cell which is added to the drinking water.

I think that adding nutritional yeast to the feed is the best way for getting routine additional B vitamins in to your ducks. It has a lot more niacin than brewers yeast but is also a lot more expensive in the US as its human grade. We can get non- human grade brewers yeast that is produced for reptiles and is much cheaper.

The preparation that you are enquiring about, I am assuming is liquid and added to the ducks drinking water. It does have niacin and so I think it would be OK as a supplement for your ducks. Anything sold for chickens is in general ok for ducks, except as you noted, chicken feed and supplements can be inadequate sources of niacin.

I am unfamiliar with your duck breeds and the challenges raising them. If you are only concerned about increasing Vit B3, niacin, in their diet. Continue the nutritional yeast in their feed. The liquid supplement should be in addition to that.

Thanks so much for such a detailed response. The ducks are Black East India’s and although they are classed as a Bantam duck breed they develop and behave much more like waterfowl (Teals, Mandarins, Merganser I think is similar in US)

I’ll keep up with the nutritional yeast for a few weeks for everyone. The weaker Black East Indie is very friendly and I can manage to get her to hand feed/drink - I might make a small preparation of this Vit Boost just for her as everyone else is okay now despite the heatwave!

See Durvet mentioned a lot on duck subs thank you for explaining the difference! I’m going to try and source some here or something with matching ingredients- we have a livestock supply store close by who will definitely sell vit B supplements for cattle/sheep