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

[Miss Lydia]

I feel the same way. If the insides are off or outta sorts it shows on the outside. Back to my whole grains and mazuri it is.

But now you won't be talking to the Purina rep about the mold problem in the corn etc?

 

[Going Quackers]

ok so I ran a test here for the past 4 weeks. 2 feed deliveries in a row (each delivery covers 2 weeks of time). Switched from Mazuri to Purina Flock Raiser (based on an Avian vets dietary recommendations). The sebastopols look like CRAP, they have all blown off their new curls (even our adults), they look ratty and just pathetic. NO ONE on property is eating it. not the chickens, not the ducks, not the guinea fowl. They all eat around it, and only resort to eating it when the whole grains are gone.

On mazuri it was the first to go and the grains would be eaten during the day. We would have empty feed stations at evening lock up. Now I am lucky if the feed stations go empty after 2 days. This can not be good for them. I am all around disgusted with vigor, and appearance on the flock raiser and will NOT be ordering any more.

That's too bad, i have purina FR here and my birds all do well on it, that said of coarse i think our formula is slightly different in my country.

Really though, we all have to use what works best for our individual birds, in my part of the world choice is really minimal. We don't even have Mazuri here to my knowledge.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

My birds do fine on it as well, fine isnt the results I am looking for. I mentioned to someone earlier that if you havent ever made a switch between feeds, then you wouldnt understand the difference in appearance. We have brought in breeding stock who look "good" and after being on mazuri they looked exceptional. Feathers were tighter fitting, body condition was better. Its a big visual difference, and I am angry with myself for ever moving away from a feeding program that truly worked.

I know not everyone can get the mazuri, but this is about sharing knowledge and results of different feeds so I was doing just that. I can without a doubt report I see a difference between the two feeds and its a difference across the board with various breeds. Plus our birds just dont want to eat the FR. That in itself says a lot to me.

 

[Going Quackers]

My birds do fine on it as well, fine isnt the results I am looking for. I mentioned to someone earlier that if you havent ever made a switch between feeds, then you wouldnt understand the difference in appearance. We have brought in breeding stock who look "good" and after being on mazuri they looked exceptional. Feathers were tighter fitting, body condition was better. Its a big visual difference, and I am angry with myself for ever moving away from a feeding program that truly worked.

I know not everyone can get the mazuri, but this is about sharing knowledge and results of different feeds so I was doing just that. I can without a doubt report I see a difference between the two feeds and its a difference across the board with various breeds. Plus our birds just dont want to eat the FR. That in itself says a lot to me.

Well actually I have, but that really doesn't matter you have different goals in mind than I do. I don't think anyone was saying you shouldn't share your experiences with other foods, it's good for us all to compare what our results are.

I can tell your angry, and again I am sorry your change didn't go as you wanted that was really all i was trying to say.. i think i will just bow out of this conversation now.

 

[Amiga]

I know not everyone can get the mazuri, but this is about sharing knowledge and results of different feeds so I was doing just that. I can without a doubt report I see a difference between the two feeds and its a difference across the board with various breeds. Plus our birds just dont want to eat the FR. That in itself says a lot to me.

I am with you on this, CelticOaksFarm, Mazuri is on the edge of affordable for us. Last year when I switched, the runners and buffs seemed to lose interest in the mazuri.

So I found the Blue Seal organic, and things went fine. With the new adoptions, we got another bag of Mazuri to try. There seems to be interest again, so I will see if that continues. Actually, the new crew like to sneak bites of Blue Seal, and the old crew sneaks bites of Mazuri.

And I appreciate you sharing your results. Since you have so many birds, your experience carries some weight with me.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My flock looks good on FR and since it's the only feed I can get here I'll stay with it for now, but I am sure I won't be getting any response from Purina since it's been this long since I emailed them. You would think out of courtesy they would send something even to let me know they are still working on it. My flock looks and acts healthy using FR but I have added some extra grains to their diet as well and they are eating them too.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

GQ not angry towards you at all. But yes angry in a way that the results were so strong so quickly. If we had a small pet flock for eggs and fun FR would be a good choice for sure.

Amiga thats funny they are sneaking bites back and forth. Thanks for the compliment, I post what I see first hand with any changes we make. I figure if I am doing it across multiple breeds and flocks it might be of use to someone else. We feed the dewlaps differently than the sebastopols to a degree. I wont ever give the sebbies corn, but we do ferment whole corn and give small amounts to the dewlaps. The same between the khakis and silver appleyards, so we keep the heavy ducks with the heavy geese for ease of feeding.

returning to the mazuri feeding routine next week with our delivery and going to add in some kelp hoping to bring back the sebbies feathers quickly.

 

[ChristineR]

GQ not angry towards you at all. But yes angry in a way that the results were so strong so quickly. If we had a small pet flock for eggs and fun FR would be a good choice for sure.

Amiga thats funny they are sneaking bites back and forth. Thanks for the compliment, I post what I see first hand with any changes we make. I figure if I am doing it across multiple breeds and flocks it might be of use to someone else. We feed the dewlaps differently than the sebastopols to a degree. I wont ever give the sebbies corn, but we do ferment whole corn and give small amounts to the dewlaps. The same between the khakis and silver appleyards, so we keep the heavy ducks with the heavy geese for ease of feeding.

returning to the mazuri feeding routine next week with our delivery and going to add in some kelp hoping to bring back the sebbies feathers quickly.

What's in kelp that helps the feathers? The minerals? My Sebbies need some help in that department, too, after my Black Swedish drake pulled out a bunch of their feathers.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

its part of a self blend mix or a make your own feed recipe to replace commercial feed all together. Since I am still using the mazuri for now will add it in on the side and see how they respond. Comes in 50lb bags, so will store the same way as feed.

 

[ChristineR]

But what, specifically, is it in the kelp that helps feather growth? The only thing I can think of would be the minerals...?