Tips Wanted for Feeding Ducks

[gmjarvi]

New duck mama here, and while I fully expected them to be messy, I did not expect to be so perplexed by feeding them. They are wasting so much food (currently they eat Purina duck pellets) because they get it so wet that it turns into a solid mass in their dish and they can no longer eat it effectively. Is there a special duck feeder I should make? Any tips for feeding them or is this just the way it is?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Texag87]

We always brooded in a bathtub so there was plenty of room to separate their water from their feed. I am assuming you are talking about ducklings. With our ducks, the waterer and the feed are separated by about 6 humon steps. That way they cannot take too much feed to the waterer or too much water to the feeder.

 

[gtaus]

Ducks will be messy, that's part of their charm. I like the idea of putting distance between the food and water if possible. But, yeah, my ducklings made everything into a mess.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Here is the progression of duck feeders I use. I find they don't make much of a mess at all with these. The red one is the only one that isn't homemade and a mason jar screws into it. They won't use the first 3 for long but that last one is the one they end up with and I have very little mess with 11 ducks.

 

[gmjarvi]

Thanks everyone, I had assumed the food should be close to the water so I will try separating it a bit! The ducks in question are about a month old now.