The Duck Thread

[sutherland]

I have a duck that was a rescue his old owner fed him nothing but scraps from the kitchen and he free ranged and he was doing fine so I'm sure they will be ok.

 

[Amiga]

I also add some ground flax seed - just a tablespoon per 5 cups of pelleted food. It adds a little extra nutrition.

Speaking of feeding ducks, I am going to give them some wheat sprouts today.

 

[DuckDodgers]

I trust they have had access to grit, so they can "chew" non-pelleted food? That is very important.

Some ideas:

oatmeal, soaked for a few hours
dry cat kibble
whole wheat, soaked
whole millet, soaked
hard boiled eggs, mashed up
chopped greens

I would combine things that have a little fiber, like the oatmeal and chopped greens, with a smaller portion of things higher in protein, like the eggs and cat kibble.

If you have poultry vitamins, I would be sure to put that in their water, too.

(and then set up a reminder system so this won't happen

)

OK I have some cracked corn for them that I throw out every day so that is good. I have some Quinoa whole grains can they eat that? It has 6g of protein per 1/4 cup. As for green-beans or peas, Will store bought canned be ok?

 

[Amiga]

I would soak the quinoa for about six hours. I have been reading that many dried seeds have components that keep critters from getting the most out of the nutrients. Soaking apparently does a lot for making nutrients more available.

Store bought canned peas and beans often have sodium (salt) in them, not so good. Frozen thawed, just the plain peas or beans would be okay.

 

[DuckDodgers]

I would soak the quinoa for about six hours. I have been reading that many dried seeds have components that keep critters from getting the most out of the nutrients. Soaking apparently does a lot for making nutrients more available.

Store bought canned peas and beans often have sodium (salt) in them, not so good. Frozen thawed, just the plain peas or beans would be okay.

ok I will start soaking the quinoa. warm or cool water? and as for the peas and green beans I don't have any non canned ones. But I do have lettuce, carrots, celery, and broccoli from the produce stand at my local Kroger. Would those be ok?

 

[Amiga]

The lettuce is fine - little ducks may need it chopped up a bit, I feed whole heads to my flock sometimes. Sometimes I put it in a bit soup pot with water - they really like that. But in a food tray is good, too, they will likely drag it around anyway

The other veggies I would chop or shred into pea-sized pieces just to be sure - I am a worrywart, having seen my ducks get into trouble in the most goofy ways.

Soak in cool water, should do it.

Do you or a nearby neighbor have cats? See if you can get ahold of a cup of dry cat kibble. Or, if you have canned fish in water, not oil not extra salt, a tablespoon of that per cup of other food ought to be okay - it will provide protein and some other vitamins.

 

[Miss Lydia]

ok I will start soaking the quinoa. warm or cool water? and as for the peas and green beans I don't have any non canned ones. But I do have lettuce, carrots, celery, and broccoli from the produce stand at my local Kroger. Would those be ok?

I vote for chopped lettuce, mine have never eaten carrots or celery [gotta be careful of the strings too] broccoli not sure of ,canned corn or peas green beans can be rinsed to get most of the salt off.

 

[DuckDodgers]

The lettuce is fine - little ducks may need it chopped up a bit, I feed whole heads to my flock sometimes. Sometimes I put it in a bit soup pot with water - they really like that. But in a food tray is good, too, they will likely drag it around anyway

The other veggies I would chop or shred into pea-sized pieces just to be sure - I am a worrywart, having seen my ducks get into trouble in the most goofy ways.

Soak in cool water, should do it.

Do you or a nearby neighbor have cats? See if you can get ahold of a cup of dry cat kibble. Or, if you have canned fish in water, not oil not extra salt, a tablespoon of that per cup of other food ought to be okay - it will provide protein and some other vitamins.

I have cats so I can get some kibble should I grind that up also?

 

[Amiga]

For ducklings I would grind it up, I put a little kibble on top of the feed for my adult runners. Do what you are comfortable with.

 

[DuckDodgers]

For ducklings I would grind it up, I put a little kibble on top of the feed for my adult runners. Do what you are comfortable with.

OK and when the quinoa is done soaking what is the best way to serve that? just drain the water and put it in a bowl?