Warming up ducks' food in winter?

[Eika]

Hi all,

Just a quick question for you lovely people; the past few nights have been absolutely freezing (1-2C which is the coldest it's been since I've lived in NZ, I realise this is pretty warm for some of you

) and I have been feeling sorry for my poor ducks in this cold. When I give them their evening feed I mix crumble with enough cold water to stop it from sticking in their throats, but want to check is it ok to use warm water instead to give them nice warm tummies before bed? I also dissolved a tablespoon of molasses in there too for some extra fuel to burn and keep themselves toasty. Is this ok, or would it be better to continue using cold water and leave out the molasses?

Any help appreciated!

Eika

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

but want to check is it ok to use warm water instead to give them nice warm tummies before bed?

Teeheehee, so cute

It depends on their age... if they are ducklings, it might be a good idea to give them room temp water. But if they are adults, I wouldn't worry too much about the cold water... ducks are tough creatures and can handle the cold pretty well as long as they have a shelter.

A few weeks ago, it was cold and snowing where I live and I felt so bad for my ducks having to tough it out. But then I was driving somewhere that very same day and I saw a wild mallard couple-- the male was standing and the female was sitting, both were in a cold running stream, resting while it snowed on them. If you think about it, birds have to drink cold water throughout the winter and they do just fine. I think you could go either way here, it depends what you are comfortable with. So long as they always have access to water when they have food.

As for the molasses, I've heard that it is a laxative. And further more, I don't think molasses has any nutritional value other than empty calories (and may actually be considered unhealthy) and I feel like it would spoil their appetite for non-sweet food. Instead, I've heard of people increasing the corn in their ducks' diets to increase their fat intake before or during winter. I think they use chicken scratch? I don't know, you could look into this as an option. Otherwise, most feed already has corn in it... and like I said earlier, ducks are pretty hardy in the cold.

What kind of ducks do you have and how many?

 

[Eika]

Thank Tracey

3 of them are ducklings (2 x pekins and a muscovy adoptee) but I feed them all together now. Guess I will leave out the molasses from now on! Planning to start mixing in more kibbled maize into their crumble, although it seems to give my hens diarrhea (anybody else noticed this problem?).
The flock currently consists of 2 x muscovy drakes, 2 x muscovy females, 2 x pekin ducklings, 1 x tiny muscovy duckling (possibly mallard cross, see my other thread) and they reluctantly share with 3 vicious wyandottes and a brown shaver. The chickens will be separated soon, as will one of the drakes once they start breeding again. They are a mottley bunch but get on well enough

 

[Going Quackers]

Nope, given how nasty my winter was and i did nothing even close i will again go with no. Now some grains can be good, like whole corn and/or scratch but how old are the ducklings they maybe to young for that.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

Nope, given how nasty my winter was and i did nothing even close i will again go with no. Now some grains can be good, like whole corn and/or scratch but how old are the ducklings they maybe to young for that.

Yeah, I agree with Going Quackers. Since you have little ones, you probably don't want to add anything to your feed. That would lower the protein percentage in their diet, and ducklings need higher protein.

Thank Tracey

3 of them are ducklings (2 x pekins and a muscovy adoptee) but I feed them all together now. Guess I will leave out the molasses from now on! Planning to start mixing in more kibbled maize into their crumble, although it seems to give my hens diarrhea (anybody else noticed this problem?).
The flock currently consists of 2 x muscovy drakes, 2 x muscovy females, 2 x pekin ducklings, 1 x tiny muscovy duckling (possibly mallard cross, see my other thread) and they reluctantly share with 3 vicious wyandottes and a brown shaver. The chickens will be separated soon, as will one of the drakes once they start breeding again. They are a mottley bunch but get on well enough

Aw that sounds like a lovely little group! How do the older ones treat the ducklings... are they gentle with them or aggressive? I have 4 five-week old ducklings that I want to combine with my 4 four-month old ducks.

I am going to try to find your other thread about your littlest one, it sounds cute.