waterfowl feed

[warcard]

I know this has been gone over ad nauseum, and I have searched past posts, but I just want to check.

I bought some Purina Flockraiser for my swans (born 5/3/08), I thought it wasn't medicated, but it IS! With amprolium.

Can I feed this to them? Or just go find something else and give the flockraiser to the guineas & turkeys.

Any other suggestions besides layer pellets.

 

[dacjohns]

Please don't take this the wrong way but I also have a vested interest in this. I am away from home for a couple of weeks so I can't check the labels.

Is amprolium listed on the label or is your imformation 2nd hand?


This is for Start and Grow but it is about amprolium:
http://www.poultrynutrition.com/ASKTHEEXPERTS/FAQs/ECMD007942.aspx

This mentions medicated Flockraiser (I didn't know it came in medicated, learned something new today):
http://www.poultrynutrition.com/ASKTHEEXPERTS/FAQs/ECMD007762.aspx

It says it is not FDA approved for ducks and geese.

 

[Katy]

I've fed start & grow with amprolium to my ducklings for years. I've never had swans tho, so I don't know what to tell you.

 

[LV426]

I don't feed medicated anything to my ducks. It is not recommended to feed waterfowl medicated feed because they eat so much of it that it can cause an overdose and some waterfowl are sensitive to certain medications. My recommendation is Mazuri Waterfowl. You can get any feedstore to order it but it's well worth it. I would especially use it for swans. I wish I had a swan.

 

[LoveMyBirds]

Quote:
I would think a Swan would be like a duck,, I feed my ducks Pellets and corn that I mix together.. but let them mostly free range and the big pond I have ..

I put them in a duck pen over night to protect from preds..

I wouldn't think that an occassional use of medicated feed would hurt anything, and might actually help..

 

[warcard]

dacjohns - My info is first hand, looked at the label, I will double check tonight. We haven't feed them any yet, and it looks like we won't be feeding it to them ever.

LV426 - I really want to feed them the Mazuri, but I don't know if I can do $35 per bag instead of the $12- $14 for regular feed, although they have slowed down consumption recently

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[dacjohns]

Thanks warcard,

I didn't realize until I saw your post which got me to check the website that Flock Raiser even came in a medicated form. I will be paying more attention now.

dacs

 

[LV426]

Quote:
It is expensive I admit but it's really a great food and I tend to extend it out further by cutting it with whole wheat and whole oats and my ducks free range. All 6 of them probably eat 3 cups of food in a 24 hour period. So I use one scoop of feed, one scoop of oats and one scoop of whole wheat. The oats and wheat are really cheap, like $12-15 for 50lbs. It's a lot healthier for them than the chicken feed which is corn based. Corn makes them gain weight and on heavier waterfowl like pekin ducks, geese, and swans you don't want them to be overweight because it will impair their ability to get around.

As young ones they will eat more but it's critical that they get enough of the needed nutrients to form strong bones and good feathers. Once they get older they taper off and if they free range they really don't eat as much as when they are cooped.

What kind of Swans do you have? Do you have pics? Where did you get them?

I'm jealous, I want swans.

 

[MissPrissy]

I use the unmedicated Flock Raiser for Ducks and Geese. I am not familiar with the feeding habits of swans. Sorry but I am useless on this topic.

 

[warcard]

They are mute swans and we just lucked into them. We were driving home from work one day on an alternate route and saw their parents in someones pond. We just went up to the door to ask where they got them, and they said they sell the babies every year, we were the first to ask this year

We wanted three to up the odds of getting a pair, but she only hatched four so we couldn't just leave the last one all by it's lonesome

We sold two about a month ago after we had DNA sexed everyone. Those two will be living the life on a 3 acre pond. Our two will just have a half-acre

Right now they just have the one end (see pic), but once we get more fencing up they will have the whole pond and about a half-acre of grass.

The pic is about 2 months old, they have really grown.

They have really cut back on the feed, maybe we will try the Mazuri.