too much niacin?

[tiffrosef]

I have two duclkings in with my chicks, I know they need extra Niacin, so I fully intend to feed it to them. My question is, is it possible to over feed Niacin to the chicks and can it hurt them? Ideally it would be more convenient to feed everyone the same stuff but if I need to separate the duckies for feeding I can do that. I just want to know if the chicks can be hurt by too much Niacin. Any and all advice appreciated

 

[tiffrosef]

Bumping, anyone have any advice at all, please?

 

[Sabz]

Hi there!

I am new to raising chicken and ducks also, my advice might not be correct.. but here is what I am doing and what I think:
I have 3 ducklings with 20 meat chicks. They are 4 weeks old. I feed them all the chick starter BUT:
- they go outside to free range so they eat grass, worms, etc. I thought they would naturally find niacin somewhere outside.
- I feed them extra veggies every day. I searched on google to find the veggies and fruits that contained most niacin.
- sometimes I will feed some grains also (not daily yet, I want to start doing fermented feed but haven't got to it yet). From what I understand, grains are the #1 source of niacin (oatmeat, wheat).

So, I just tried to give them a menu that varies a lot. I tend to think that by nature, ducks will eat more food containing niacin and the chicks will not, but that's just me. I may not be correct

 

[tiffrosef]

Unfortunately free ranging is not an option where I live, too many predators.

 

[keesmom]

You might have better luck asking over on the Duck forum.

I have only raised a couple of batches of ducklings so I really can't answer.

 

[tiffrosef]

I'm not asking about ducks though, I know how much to feed the ducks. I need to know if I can over feed my chickens niacin and if it can hurt them, that's why I am asking it here.

 

[keesmom]

I certainly wasn't paying attention was I! Unfortunately I can't answer that either. I kept my ducklings separate due to the swampland they'd create daily.

 

[LauraHope]

I am looking for the answer to this question also. Can you overdose chickens And if so, what happens. Or does the unused portion pass through the digestive system much like vitamin C might.

 

[OH2MA]

I am embarking on the odyssey of duck raising myself and have four 5-day old ducklings in the brooder now. From what I have read, niacin is water soluble, so everything a critter does not need gets expelled (a la vitamin C). I also read that niacin in vegetation is not bioavailable to ducklings and they normally get what they need from insects and worms. I have been giving mine nutritional yeast on top of 22% crude protein organic chick starter (bought form McMurray with my duckling order, also given them chick grit and Quick Chick). Once we get some warmer days here in MA, we'll be going outside for some foraging.

 

[LauraHope]

Wow! I didn't know that about niacin, Nor vitamin c being water .....very informative, thanks OH2MA.

SO now I won't worry and will be putting it in her water and won't worry what how much I give her.