The ULTIMATE list of DUCK Treats and Supplements...

[ruffles]

Interesting, I drink apple cider vinegar unprocessed daily.

Is this also good for chickens???

Sandi

 

[waterfowlrescue]

Calcium in large quantities can be just as bad as too much of anything else. It seems be the one thing though, i see people overdosing their birds on. Anything in moderation including spinach is fine. Calcium can block the intake of iron and our birds do need iron, they need a healthy balance though.

We actually have a bird here who is anemic and part of the problem was the layer feed, the oyster shell and some of the other calcium rich food hindered her iron absorption. I add spinach to her gavage mix to bring up her iron and switched her off layer feed. In her case the anemia is a secondary problem but was aggravated by the calcium push in our feeds. So it goes both ways. Give your ducks what they like but as a treat only and in moderation. Overdoing one food is never a good thing.

I have seen several cases of people feeding so much calcium to their ducks that the ducks body stops producing the calcium themselves and your pretty much stuck giving them a supplement for life, and it damages the bones you just don't realize it.

We get a large volume of produce donated to us from the grocery stores. We run all the harder foods through the processor on shredder mode and everything else gets chopped. We have a mucking trench we pour it into and its like Christmas. We put everything out and they will take what they want and leave what they don't. The trench gets flushed out every day and the leftovers leave. We give them bags of spinach and lettuce but they don't get much of one thing just a large variety. Its enough to maybe replace one meal for them. They rest of the time they are eating pellets or mucking for bugs. By and large the favorite is the tomatoes. Clarence begs for them.

 

[drmeyes236]

I think you should also put at what age to start giving treats.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

In addition to the kale, we also feed mustard, turnip, and dandelion greens. I also specifically grow white clover for my ducks as its a delicacy that they love.

Laurie

 

[nettie]

i just got white clover seeds from my feed store and am experimenting with growing them in cups for my duckies... they are inside now and don't get out as much so i grow them grass too... they seem to enjoy eating up.

as far as age, baby duckling can start getting greens in the firs week. anything softer and smaller they can eat, like cut green beans and kale.

 

[Wifezilla]

I was giving my ducks thawed out frozen french cut green beans at a couple of days old. They played with them more than anything the first couple of time, but they soon figured out it was food

 

[seaneduck]

I have been feeding my call ducks tomato plant leaves all summer, and they just eat them up. They don't seem to be toxic so far! (It's mostly been smaller stems with small 1-2 inch or smaller leaves).

 

[nettie]

alrighty... updated the list....

as for apple cider vinegar, i am not so sure... i know it have a diuretic effect in humans and doesn't seem like a good idea for ducks.

 

[Wifezilla]

Nettie, I have used it as a tonic several times. When one of the ducks looks listless, is puffed up and wont eat, I spike the water with ACV and by the next morning they are completely fine.

It helps with mineral absorption and kills bad germs.

A lot of the chicken people use it once a week.

 

[nettie]

ah, thanks wifezilla... I've never heard of that before... perhaps i should ad that to the supplement section.

any idea how it works exctly? or suggestions on a dosage?