The Right Food?!

[amandanp]

I had been feeding it and zipped it all the time, then skipped a couple weeks between hatches and it molded in that short time

Hmm ok. Well if we choose to go with that we’ll make sure to keep it somewhere dry

I have Buffs and rec you use Nutritional yeast sprinkled over their feed until they are at least 12 weeks old. My girls are going on 7 yrs now and they still get Nutritional yeast sprinkled over their feed daily. Your more heavier-weight ducks need the extra niacin. Even my Runners and Muscovy still get NY on their feed daily. It's so good for them.

With them free feeding how do you measure out the nutritional yeast? I’m having a hard time understanding all the measurements because there are so many different recommendations. And do they need to be fed twice a day after a certain age? Is free feeding fine as adults?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Mine all free feed during daylight hrs. Young ducklings get feed and water 24/7 until they are 6 weeks old. The Nutritional yeast is 1 Tablespoon to each cup of feed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nutritional-yeast-vs-brewers-yeast.1393856/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

 

[amandanp]

Mine all free feed during daylight hrs. Young ducklings get feed and water 24/7 until they are 6 weeks old. The Nutritional yeast is 1 Tablespoon to each cup of feed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/nutritional-yeast-vs-brewers-yeast.1393856/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niacin-deficiency-in-waterfowl.1367557/

Can the nutritional yeast be mixed in the food or just sprinkled on it? We built them a feeder out of PVC.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I just sprinkle it over top but it can be mixed too. I found the only problem with mixing it is a lot of it will fall to the bottom. But what feed is left here by days end gets mixed with water and the ducks slurp it all down.

 

[amandanp]

Ok that sounds good. I will get some nutritional yeast to sprinkle on their food. We decided to go ahead with the Nature's Balance Organic crumbles. It’s 18% protein and 25mg of niacin per pound. I was reading in Holderread Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks that ducklings after 2 wks should have 30mg of niacin per pound so I will need to supplement anyways it sounds like.