What do i feed my ducklings through life?

[Liam81]

Hi,
In early to mid may i'm going to hopefully getting my first ducklings and i'm really excited. I'm getting all drakes as from what I've heard they tend to be quieter and since i'm in a decently close relation to my neighbors that should help with noise.(I hear that if raised up together there won't be fighting if only a little bit when finding a pecking order but let me know if i'm wrong). The one thing I can't get an answer for is what I feed them through their life stages. I see that some say i should be feeding them duckling or chick starter with 20% protein for 2-4 weeks. Others say 22% for 2 weeks and so on and so forth if you get what i mean. I also don't know what i should be giving them past that 3-4 week mark when they start to really feather out and what i should feed adult drakes. I'm aware that if I use chick starter i supplement niacin but that's about the only thing that is the same with what I've seen. I just want to know what i should be feeding them through the stages of their life as i'm pretty new to ducks. If anyone could let me know about what food they used/use, what sites are good for ordering small online and if you think an all drake flock would work out, plus anything you think could be helpful to me. Thanks so much

 

[Ratchnick]

Probably best to find a feed store near you. For a drake flock you could feed an all flock feed or chicken broiler. Just dont feed layer. Anything with about 16 to 18% protein should be fine.

 

[DiYMama540]

A lot of us feed our mixed flocks an "all flock" feed or "flock raiser". Each of those can be fed through their whole life.

If you have only ducks, they do make a duck pellet food, specially formulated with all the nutrients ducks need.

 

[Isaac 0]

Hi,
In early to mid may i'm going to hopefully getting my first ducklings and i'm really excited. I'm getting all drakes as from what I've heard they tend to be quieter and since i'm in a decently close relation to my neighbors that should help with noise.(I hear that if raised up together there won't be fighting if only a little bit when finding a pecking order but let me know if i'm wrong). The one thing I can't get an answer for is what I feed them through their life stages. I see that some say i should be feeding them duckling or chick starter with 20% protein for 2-4 weeks. Others say 22% for 2 weeks and so on and so forth if you get what i mean. I also don't know what i should be giving them past that 3-4 week mark when they start to really feather out and what i should feed adult drakes. I'm aware that if I use chick starter i supplement niacin but that's about the only thing that is the same with what I've seen. I just want to know what i should be feeding them through the stages of their life as i'm pretty new to ducks. If anyone could let me know about what food they used/use, what sites are good for ordering small online and if you think an all drake flock would work out, plus anything you think could be helpful to me. Thanks so much

Yes, you're right drakes make little to no noise, they sound like a bad smoker, Whether the males will fight or not depends on your setup and each birds individual personality, In my experience, fighting decreases substantially when birds are provided with plenty of space as well as many activities to do.


For the first eight weeks I feed mine 20% chick starter, I add brewers yeast to the feed for added Niacin, Then i switch to either All flock or Purina Raiser feed, which can be fed for the rest of there lives. I like to stay away from pellet feeds for ducklings as sometimes the ducklings have a hard time getting it down, of course the feed can be wet down and made into a powder, but just seems like a extra step for me, so that's why i go crumble until they are bigger and can readily eat the pellets without a problem.


Anymore questions you have we'd be glad to answer! Also, We're glad you joined this wonderful community!

 

[DuckyDonna]

Purina duck pellets are supposedly for ducks from birth to adult. I supplement with nutritional yeast. I think that I'd grind up the pellets when they are tiny but that doesn't last for very long. @Runner duck mom did that with her 2 new ones and is very happy with it.

 

[lomine]

I feed Purina Flock Raiser for life. It technically meets their dietary need for niacin. For ducklings, I'll just give the feed and if I see any signs of deficiency I'll start adding brewers yeast. I've found that the large breed ones (in my case Saxony) are usually the ones that seem to need just a little bit more.

 

[Liam81]

I feed Purina Flock Raiser for life. It technically meets their dietary need for niacin. For ducklings, I'll just give the feed and if I see any signs of deficiency I'll start adding brewers yeast. I've found that the large breed ones (in my case Saxony) are usually the ones that seem to need just a little bit more.

Thanks so I appreciate it so much. How much Niacin do you give them extra? A Saxony or two will hopefully be apart of my flock.

 

[Liam81]

Purina duck pellets are supposedly for ducks from birth to adult. I supplement with nutritional yeast. I think that I'd grind up the pellets when they are tiny but that doesn't last for very long. @Runner duck mom did that with her 2 new ones and is very happy with it.
View attachment 2073578

Thanks so much, il look into it.

 

[Liam81]

Yes, you're right drakes make little to no noise, they sound like a bad smoker, Whether the males will fight or not depends on your setup and each birds individual personality, In my experience, fighting decreases substantially when birds are provided with plenty of space as well as many activities to do.


For the first eight weeks I feed mine 20% chick starter, I add brewers yeast to the feed for added Niacin, Then i switch to either All flock or Purina Raiser feed, which can be fed for the rest of there lives. I like to stay away from pellet feeds for ducklings as sometimes the ducklings have a hard time getting it down, of course the feed can be wet down and made into a powder, but just seems like a extra step for me, so that's why i go crumble until they are bigger and can readily eat the pellets without a problem.


Anymore questions you have we'd be glad to answer! Also, We're glad you joined this wonderful community!

Thanks so much this really cleared up a lot of my questions. How much Niacin do you usually supplement and do you keep supplementing their entire life?

 

[Liam81]

Probably best to find a feed store near you. For a drake flock you could feed an all flock feed or chicken broiler. Just dont feed layer. Anything with about 16 to 18% protein should be fine.

Thanks, I'm going to look for one later today.