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

[Zombified]

Welp, looks like I'm no longer feeding Dumor.

I only read up to page five of this thread and then this last page, though, so I apologize if the following questions have already been answered.

Does anyone know of any other corn-free feeds? (I'm looking at Scratch and Peck now.) I'd love to completely drop feed and do homemade feeding, but I can't 100% do that right now. They do get /mostly/ homemade food, but only fruits/veggies/meats, no grains other than their bagged feed.

 

[Amiga]

This came up when I did a search

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/04/homemade-whole-grain-chicken-feed-updated-and-now-corn-free/

 

[Zombified]

Thanks Amiga, reading it now.

The closest place to get Scratch and Peck is three hours away, lol. And to ship is a little too expensive for us right now. Putting it on the back burner in the hopes that we're able to get more monies~

Amiga, do you know if that recipe is okay for ducks, as well?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I just read this morning that Alfalfa is now GMO.

I gave up thinking I could make my own feed since there is nothing around here that sells grains in bulk that I can afford.

 

[Zombified]

Alfalfa, too? D: Aw man.

Well, we have a few feed stores and some farms, so I can definitely try and find some places that sell in bulk. If not, I guess I'm stuck feeding bagged feed(which is fine, of course, as long as it's good for them).

 

[Amiga]

My approach is that while there could be some tweaks to make a feed a little more duckworthy, many many domestic ducks do well with poultry feed.

I tried some feed from a far-away provider, just to see. And because it was not ground up, the ducks would pick around certain ingredients. So I stopped that experiment. It was a good recipe, from an organic nutrition point of view, but to have them waste so much did not work for me.

On my list (most of us have a list of things we will do that would be very wonderful), is developing a feed from local sources. Some ideas include raising mealworms, sprouted fodder, and winter squash. I already add ground flax seed to their pellets. I think it is helping them absorb more calcium, but it is very early and that's just a feeling - maybe just being hopeful.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My approach is that while there could be some tweaks to make a feed a little more duckworthy, many many domestic ducks do well with poultry feed.

I tried some feed from a far-away provider, just to see. And because it was not ground up, the ducks would pick around certain ingredients. So I stopped that experiment. It was a good recipe, from an organic nutrition point of view, but to have them waste so much did not work for me.

On my list (most of us have a list of things we will do that would be very wonderful), is developing a feed from local sources. Some ideas include raising mealworms, sprouted fodder, and winter squash. I already add ground flax seed to their pellets. I think it is helping them absorb more calcium, but it is very early and that's just a feeling - maybe just being hopeful.

Do you buy the flax seed already ground or do it yourself?

 

[Amiga]

Do you buy the flax seed already ground or do it yourself?

I buy it whole, usually in bulk (recently I found a package at the Ocean State Job Lot store). I have a hand-powered grinder (made in the Czech Republic) that I use to grind up a third of a cup to add to their feed daily (this is for 13 ducks).

I have read that whole seeds and grains keep longer, so that's why I do it that way. And the whole, bulk seeds are less expensive.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I buy it whole, usually in bulk (recently I found a package at the Ocean State Job Lot store). I have a hand-powered grinder (made in the Czech Republic) that I use to grind up a third of a cup to add to their feed daily (this is for 13 ducks).

I have read that whole seeds and grains keep longer, so that's why I do it that way. And the whole, bulk seeds are less expensive.

What about feeding them whole? I use to grind mine in a coffee grinder[ electric]

 

[Zombified]

Do you /have/ to grind flax seeds?