this might be a stupid question but...

[FrannyLW]

Ducks only need the extra Niacin when they are growing rapidly. Once they are adults they have the same nutritional requirements as chickens.

Also, an “All Flock” type feed has enough Niacin for growing ducks. That makes it easy to feed a mixed flock.

Oh and the somewhat higher Niacin won’t harm your chickens at all.

Well that is a relief! My ducks are about 7 months old now and they look great. My chickens are about 6 months old.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Scratch,mealworms,cracked corn are like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal. The kids will pick out and eat the marshmallows and leave the nutritional cereal in the bowl.
One thing I tried
(Don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner) is I soak my feed (pellets) and mash it up and yes...I warm it up. I feed this first thing in the morning. I feel SO good knowing that my girls are scarfing up their “complete” feed. They absolutely love it!
I had to make changes for the health of my birds. I still give a bowl (yes each has their own) of extras. But now the bowls go down and anything not gone in 3-5 minutes is pulled up and I adjust the quantity I give them next time. Moral of the story they are eating more of what they should and not just marshmallows. Best wishes

 

[FrannyLW]

Scratch,mealworms,cracked corn are like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal. The kids will pick out and eat the marshmallows and leave the nutritional cereal in the bowl.
One thing I tried
(Don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner) is I soak my feed (pellets) and mash it up and yes...I warm it up. I feed this first thing in the morning. I feel SO good knowing that my girls are scarfing up their “complete” feed. They absolutely love it!
I had to make changes for the health of my birds. I still give a bowl (yes each has their own) of extras. But now the bowls go down and anything not gone in 3-5 minutes is pulled up and I adjust the quantity I give them next time. Moral of the story they are eating more of what they should and not just marshmallows. Best wishes

I might want to try this. I do it with my older oatmeal I don’t want. So maybe I’ll just throw some scratchings around to keep them busy but meanwhile just keep their bowls full of food.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I might want to try this. I do it with my older oatmeal I don’t want. So maybe I’ll just throw some scratchings around to keep them busy but meanwhile just keep their bowls full of food.

When I say they love it I mean they LOVE it. There’s no squabbling or pecking order going on....they’re just too busy....eating

 

[rebrascora]

It sounds like you have been giving them a cup of scratch a day between 6 chickens which is far too much, especially if you formulated feed is just a 16% protein layer feed. I would strongly urge you to give them a warm mash of their regular feed as suggested by @MissChick@dee and either stop the scratch altogether or reduce it to less than a quarter of a cup and alternate it with meal worms and/or sunflower seeds each day.

 

[FrannyLW]

Do chickens care if their food gets hit by a rainstorm. I see the ducks don’t care. They love shoveling watery stuff down.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Do chickens care if their food gets hit by a rainstorm. I see the ducks don’t care. They love shoveling watery stuff down.

The problem with wet feed (that sits) is mold. If it’s not consumed that day I don’t keep it. I make daily batches of mash (quick & easy)

 

[FrannyLW]

The problem with wet feed (that sits) is mold. If it’s not consumed that day I don’t keep it. I make daily batches of mash (quick & easy)

I know about the mold. I am talking about if the food is sitting out and we get a rainstorm and there is a puddle of water on top of the food. I always dump it out but sometimes there are days of rain! Anyway, warmed up some mush this morning. Glad I read this, makes my mornings a bit easier!

 

[Naser]

Do two things, Put some pellets at the hole and don't give them anything else, they will use it, hens are smarter than you think.