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

[Miss Lydia]

Neither do we. I am grateful that the mom and pop store has such a big bulk section. I can stock up on my favorite seasonings as well.

Cool, we have to go about 55 miles round trip to Sams club for bulk.

 

[Amiga]

Cool, we have to go about 55 miles round trip to Sams club for bulk.

Oof.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oof.

It's really not too bad, we usually go 1X a month make a day of it. Thats where Lowes and Walmart and places to eat, so It's rather fun actually. Although Sams doesn't have bulk grains. except rice is that considered a grain?

 

[Tivona]

Regular rice is a grain. Wild rice is a seed. I doubt they care on if its a grain or not as long as it sells in the bulk well.

Just out of curiosity what sort of whole grain mixes do all of you feed to ducks? I would like to get some sort of whole grain mix added to my regular waterfowl feed to increase overall nutrition and hopefully also cut cost. Last winter I was adding some BOSS and now that its starting to get cold again I will be getting some. I just have no ideas on other grains to mix in.

My ducks hate regular chicken scratch and oatmeal. I tried fermenting both, serving dry, and cooked. My little brats refuse to eat any of it. Seems like they should like oats some way or other, but nope. As far as the scratch I was given a half bag and tried sneaking it into their feed dry and fermented and some will eat it but some eat around it no matter how well I mix it in. Only thing I have had success with is the BOSS... Seems like there should be some sort of grain they will eat. Now as far as veggie and fruit treats they will take any I give them.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Regular rice is a grain. Wild rice is a seed. I doubt they care on if its a grain or not as long as it sells in the bulk well.

Just out of curiosity what sort of whole grain mixes do all of you feed to ducks? I would like to get some sort of whole grain mix added to my regular waterfowl feed to increase overall nutrition and hopefully also cut cost. Last winter I was adding some BOSS and now that its starting to get cold again I will be getting some. I just have no ideas on other grains to mix in.

My ducks hate regular chicken scratch and oatmeal. I tried fermenting both, serving dry, and cooked. My little brats refuse to eat any of it. Seems like they should like oats some way or other, but nope. As far as the scratch I was given a half bag and tried sneaking it into their feed dry and fermented and some will eat it but some eat around it no matter how well I mix it in. Only thing I have had success with is the BOSS... Seems like there should be some sort of grain they will eat. Now as far as veggie and fruit treats they will take any I give them.

I use whole oats/ wheat/and 7 way scratch and Boss. I mix it up in a separate container than the FR .

 

[sherrik9]

I buy a product called Fightin Scratch that my feed store gets from a mill in Guntersville, AL. It is loaded with Millet and BOSS and goes light on the corn. It is pricey....the 4-way is 15.20 a bag and the 7-way a bit more, but the birds love it.

I

Can someone please tell me what BOSS is. Sorry if this is a stupid question. Love this thread.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Can someone please tell me what BOSS is. Sorry if this is a stupid question. Love this thread.

Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.

and not a stupid question

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Wow, I love all your ideas! I'd love to start a worm or mealworm farm, but the things creep me out and they go for the dried ones like crazy, LOL!

You know, the mealworms used to creep me out too. My family thought I had lost my marbles when I ordered them. I started with 2,000 in February in one of the large sized 3 drawer plastic storage things: I now have 3 of those storage units and two 10 gallon rough totes. I keep a box of latex gloves on top of one of the containers for when I need to root around in the bedding. If I am just grabbing a couple worms for my favorite rooster, Chico my Barnevelder, I just grab them. I got over being squeamish pretty quickly after getting them: They really aren't all that bad.

My wonderful husband is building me a new coop for turkeys and geese. He is putting in a completely secure (rodent proof) insulated feed room: Mainly to get the pallets of feed out of his garage I think, but I'll take it whatever the reason behind it.

We are going to move the mealworms out there and when I do...I am going to expand the system and add a couple more drawer units.They reproduce better when kept warm, so with our mild winters a couple 75 watt light bulbs ought to keep enough of the chill off them. Unless they are in beetle stage (these beetles don't fly...only live for up to 3 months), I feed between 3,000-10,000 a week to the birds. The chickens even enjoy the dead beetles and all come running when they see the little white bucket that I only use for the worms/beetles.

 

[Amiga]

Just want to thank everyone for the great posts here. Nothing like sharing our wisdom and experience in the face of a difficult problem that we are likely to face.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Purina just emailed me a coupon, which they say I am allowed to share: It is for $3.00 off on a bag of Layena Plus Omega-3 or Layena Sunfresh Recipe. Didn't know if anyone would be interested.

http://images.revtrax.com/RevTrax/s...Type=viewFull&affiliateId=15147437&ip=Y2MZQ4G