U.S. drought fallout . . . might it affect all of our ducks?

[CelticOaksFarm]

Haunted I am changing up the feeding some. Try offering whole wheat it has more protein than oats and corn and you can avoid the GMP corn issue too. I need to finish writing up the feeding routine we are moving to and will happily share. I know many use grower and game bird for turkeys for the higher protein.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Wow I just read through the whole thread and while I don't have ducks, find this very interesting! Thanks to all for posting in here.

 

[Haunted55]

Haunted I am changing up the feeding some. Try offering whole wheat it has more protein than oats and corn and you can avoid the GMP corn issue too. I need to finish writing up the feeding routine we are moving to and will happily share. I know many use grower and game bird for turkeys for the higher protein.

Awesome Celtic!! I am in need of guidance here, trust me. This is my first time with ducks and geese and I want to do it right. I've even thought of getting the ducks sardines to help out with the lack of protien. This summer they have been able to catch frogs but that's coming to halt real quick.

I'll try and make some calls tomorrow and see if I can get the whole wheat here. Oh and by the way...I tried the timothy pellets on the geese and ducks. Let's just say they were underwhelmed at best. This may change as the grass dies and gets covered with snow. Don't know. They did eat most of it but for right now I'd say if you haven't bought it, don't, wait until there's no fresh for them to compare it to.

Okay, back to the Blue Seal and question about the game bird food. Can I give them straight game bird/turkey food? What I am giving right now is BS [notice the letters, lol] Multi-Flock starter/grower, 22% protein, 3.5% fat, 4% fiber. They have a game starter that has 28% protein, 4.25% fat and same fiber. One or the other? Mix of both? Forget them all and wait for your list?

 

[Miss Lydia]

This is great Miss L!!! I am glad to see they finally got back to you.
Great Celtic! Talking to someone is a better thing to do if you can. Oh and rather than going back and quoting all of the posts, I too have not been happy with the results from the FR. That is why I switched to the Blue Seal. I can only get 3 different feeds up here. Purina/Tractor Supply from the Penn. plant, Blue Seal from N.H. or the Shur-Gain out of Quebec. That's it, we are so limited here it's pathetic. My BB Turkeys seemed to do alright with it except the females are laying and I've had to add in layer pellets as their eggs were rubbery. Size wise, they are big. As in we had better get these guys done soon. Feather quality? Slim to nil. My heritage turkeys are about the same as for the looks. They're growing but they aren't much to look at. Ducks and geese, are probably the best looking out of the bunch but I wouldn't call their feathers great.

After reading your feeding reccomendations on your site, I have offered sunflower seeds and rolled oats. It would seem to me that from the amounts they eat, they should be fat and sassy. They got the sassy down pat but they aren't fat and I would say I really need to find something to help them get a little more meat on their bones before the deep cold really hits.

Another thing that bothers me, ducks, geese and chickens are all laying. The chickens get the Purina Omega 3 for their feed. This is supposed to be complete and not need calcium added to their diets. For the past 4 months I've had to do just that. The girls stopped eating their eggs as soon as I offered the oyster shell to them. They and the ducks, geese and turkeys are all eating feathers as well. I thought they only did that when their protien level wasn't where it was supposed to be? I have offered the Omega 3 to the ducks, geese and turkeys and the eggs are almost transparent with the ducks and geese and as I said, the turkey eggs are rubber. I am at a loss, I hear you about Blue Seal. I used them in the past and had many troubles with moldy grain and 'short' bags. Even their pellets were more dust then solid. I am into the Blue Seal by 2 weeks now. I'm not seeing harm but not much improvemnet either.

I'm not Celtic but I am wondering do you give your flock corn? it will help put some meat on them and with cold weather coming they will need the extra. I use a 7way scratch along with most of the grains Celtic mentioned except millet and none of my birds are over weight. Their not under weight either.

 

[Haunted55]

I'm not Celtic but I am wondering do you give your flock corn? it will help put some meat on them and with cold weather coming they will need the extra. I use a 7way scratch along with most of the grains Celtic mentioned except millet and none of my birds are over weight. Their not under weight either.

Sorry, tried to answer 2 posts at once. Yes I do give them scratch. In fact last night every one got cracked corn as a bonus so I knew they'd have the 'heat' they'd need to get through the night. I wish they'd eat the sunflower seeds more. They nibble at them but just don't seem that enthused with them. I've got to find out what I can get for whole, straight grains here. I know I can get the oats, the only millet I've found has been in wild bird seed.

 

[ChristineR]

Awesome Celtic!! I am in need of guidance here, trust me. This is my first time with ducks and geese and I want to do it right. I've even thought of getting the ducks sardines to help out with the lack of protien. This summer they have been able to catch frogs but that's coming to halt real quick.

I'll try and make some calls tomorrow and see if I can get the whole wheat here. Oh and by the way...I tried the timothy pellets on the geese and ducks. Let's just say they were underwhelmed at best. This may change as the grass dies and gets covered with snow. Don't know. They did eat most of it but for right now I'd say if you haven't bought it, don't, wait until there's no fresh for them to compare it to.

Okay, back to the Blue Seal and question about the game bird food. Can I give them straight game bird/turkey food? What I am giving right now is BS [notice the letters, lol] Multi-Flock starter/grower, 22% protein, 3.5% fat, 4% fiber. They have a game starter that has 28% protein, 4.25% fat and same fiber. One or the other? Mix of both? Forget them all and wait for your list?

I've thought about sardines, too, but I think they are pretty high in sodium and I don't think that would be good for the birds. Not sure, though. I have been meaning to grab some and look at the label, but I keep forgetting.

I'm not Celtic but I am wondering do you give your flock corn? it will help put some meat on them and with cold weather coming they will need the extra. I use a 7way scratch along with most of the grains Celtic mentioned except millet and none of my birds are over weight. Their not under weight either.

Corn helps in the cold, but we were worried about this year's corn crop because of the drought and the increased levels of aflatoxin. I think normally corn is fine as a treat, but you don't want it to be a large part of the diet. If I'm trying to put on weight, I generally just increase the amount I'm feeding.

 

[ChristineR]

This is great Miss L!!! I am glad to see they finally got back to you.
Great Celtic! Talking to someone is a better thing to do if you can. Oh and rather than going back and quoting all of the posts, I too have not been happy with the results from the FR. That is why I switched to the Blue Seal. I can only get 3 different feeds up here. Purina/Tractor Supply from the Penn. plant, Blue Seal from N.H. or the Shur-Gain out of Quebec. That's it, we are so limited here it's pathetic. My BB Turkeys seemed to do alright with it except the females are laying and I've had to add in layer pellets as their eggs were rubbery. Size wise, they are big. As in we had better get these guys done soon. Feather quality? Slim to nil. My heritage turkeys are about the same as for the looks. They're growing but they aren't much to look at. Ducks and geese, are probably the best looking out of the bunch but I wouldn't call their feathers great.

After reading your feeding reccomendations on your site, I have offered sunflower seeds and rolled oats. It would seem to me that from the amounts they eat, they should be fat and sassy. They got the sassy down pat but they aren't fat and I would say I really need to find something to help them get a little more meat on their bones before the deep cold really hits.

Another thing that bothers me, ducks, geese and chickens are all laying. The chickens get the Purina Omega 3 for their feed. This is supposed to be complete and not need calcium added to their diets. For the past 4 months I've had to do just that. The girls stopped eating their eggs as soon as I offered the oyster shell to them. They and the ducks, geese and turkeys are all eating feathers as well. I thought they only did that when their protien level wasn't where it was supposed to be? I have offered the Omega 3 to the ducks, geese and turkeys and the eggs are almost transparent with the ducks and geese and as I said, the turkey eggs are rubber. I am at a loss, I hear you about Blue Seal. I used them in the past and had many troubles with moldy grain and 'short' bags. Even their pellets were more dust then solid. I am into the Blue Seal by 2 weeks now. I'm not seeing harm but not much improvemnet either.

A couple years ago I had a duck that was laying rubbery eggs. I got an avian calcium supplement that dissolves in water and that took care of the problem. I think it was actually called Cal-D-Sol or something like that. I'll see if I can figure out what it was.

 

[Haunted55]

A couple years ago I had a duck that was laying rubbery eggs. I got an avian calcium supplement that dissolves in water and that took care of the problem. I think it was actually called Cal-D-Sol or something like that. I'll see if I can figure out what it was.

I'll look into it as well. I hae been mixing in the layer pellets but they haven't seemed to have helped.

 

[blondiebee181]

I am going to start a bag of Omega3 Layena for all my ducks and chickens here soon....but more and more I can't help thinking I need to go more organic/pesticide/hormone free.....thanks for the tip Amiga

 

[wildpeas]

I'm not Celtic but I am wondering do you give your flock corn? it will help put some meat on them and with cold weather coming they will need the extra. I use a 7way scratch along with most of the grains Celtic mentioned except millet and none of my birds are over weight. Their not under weight either.

Is it chicken scratch that you are giving or something else?