I prefer giving my ducks natural carbs as well... I give them the scratch as a part of their feed simply because i am one of those insanely nervous nilly duckie mommies who worries about everything they eat. I give them fresh corn/peas/chopped carrots/oats rather than processed carbs or starches... Bread is so horrible for them (it bothers me enough to suggest to people at the park they get healthier treats for the pond animals).
If you fed them natural carbs (esp in foods like fruit, or very finely diced carrots) they'd get some energy, vitamins, and antioxidants that are good for them too... I read someone suggested Niacin... YES!!!! Ducks NEED this. A lack of niacin can cause all sorts of problems, esp around molts. But feeding them nice dark leafy vegatables should take care of that.
Starting with adult ducks is probably the best idea for your diet plans. But, They may be very scared of you and may not take to you fully, but starting with babies could be very difficult. I say try out the diet with the older ducks (maybe start with two females) that had a close relationship with a human onwer. That will help them adjust to you easier. If you get ducks that grew up on a larger farm and/or never receieved a lot of human contact, they might be too skittish for a closer/backyard relationship. I know there are lots of wonderful people on here who can help you out finding ducks that like people. Be forewarned that runners can be VERY skittish, so having as much human contact as possible would be better for your needs. And if the diet goes well and you want more ducks, Or if you want to be brave and start with our own babies, Here's a grains/scratch feeding table for babies and how you could incorporate your diet:
(NOTE: Starter feed is for ducklings and should have a protein content of about 16-19%. Layer Feed is for adult ducks who are laying eggs and should have a protein level of 14-16%, anymore than 16% could cause wing/feathering problems. Scratch is he grains/carbs that usually has stuff like corn/oats/wheat in it)
Here's a good idea of what a feeding schedule with your diet incorporated should look like if you raise babies:
(WEEK 1 to at least 8 you should have food and water available all the time. They eat a lot when they are gorwing their feathers. You can construct a special watering device out of a juice bottle to keep them from playing in the water, i'll post how to do that after this post. After that, you should feed them at certain intervals, my runners eat 2-3 times a day in the morning, sometimes once in the early afternoon if their hungry, and then at night an hour or two before bedtime, NO food during the night. Water is okay, but mine don't need it)
WEEK 1: Just Starter feed no scratch, mixed with some water to soften it.
WEEK 2: (Same as week one, but less water)
WEEK 3: Add a tiny bit of scratch to your feed. No need to soften it any more
WEEK 4: Start adding in Layer feed to the starter feed (maybe a 1:4 Ratio at first) with a little bit more scratch (maybe 1:8 ratio of scratch to both feeds together)
WEEK 5: 1:2 Layer feed to Starter feed. A little more scratch than last week, 1:4 ratio.
WEEK 6: 1:1 layer feed to starter feed. 1:3 Scratch
WEEK 7: (Your duck should almost be fully feathered by this week or next) 2:1 layer feed to starter feed. 1:2 scratch
WEEK 8: 3:1 Layer to starter. 1:1 Scratch
WEEK 9: (this is when they can/will start to molt, they do this through the 12 week) 4:1 Layer to starter, 1:1 Scratch.
WEEK 10: Layer feed Only, no more starter feed. 1:1 Scratch. Incorporate a few new exciting treats for your duckies, like vegatables/fruits (avoid giving them extra protein at this time. Too much protein in a growing feathering duck can cause Angel wing. This is when the quills of the feathers grow faster and bigger than the muscles and tendons of the wing can hold causing the wings grow at 90 degree angles out from the body and is very hard to fix.)
WEEK 11: Same as week 10 (But add more new treats)
WEEK 12: Same as week 11
WEEK 13: (By now your duck should be fully feathered and done with their first molt) Layer feed only (just to be safe throw away the starter feed, your adult ducks can not eat it any more due to the protein levels and the feed will most likely go bad before you raise ducklings again). 1:2 Scratch to Feed, and many more vegatables/fruits/ and now small amounts of new proteins
WEEK 14: Layer feed, 1:3 Scratch, more health friendly foods/proteins. You may also want to get some duck multivitamins from your local fed store, these are generally added to your ducks water in small doses like the one found here: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/quik_chik.html
To help make sure they get what they need. (I give my ducks this once a week just because i'm a worry wort mommy who spoils my duckies. lol. but you may want to incorporate it more often)
WEEK 15: Layer Feed, 1:4 Scratch, healthy foods, more protein choices, multivitamin powder in water.
WEEK 16: Layer Feed 1:6 scratch, healthy foods, more protein, multivitamin powder in water.
WEEK 17: Layer Feed 1:8 scratch, healthy foods, more protein, multivitamin powder in water.
WEEK 18: Layer Feed only, healthy foods, more protein choices, multivitamin powder in water. After your ducks eat their meal and have a good amount, offer them scratch seperately to see if they want it. If so, let them eat a little, if not, remove it.
WEEK 19: Same as week 18, less Scratch then last week though.
WEEK 20 and on: (By now your ducks will be 5 months old and may start laying if the weather is nice. If it is cold or winter, they may wait until the spring) Layer feed (but they may chose to eat less now if you offer more health foods and plenty of protein choices) No Scratch. Buy OYSTER SHELL from your local feed store and add it to their food. This helps them to produce good eggs, hard enough shells, and avoid egg binding (which can be a very serious problem)
Continue giving them Vitamin water-mix a few times a week. Experiment with how many sugars and carbs you give them. They should probably always have at least some, maybe only in fruit form since fruits have lots of good stuff in them too. The sugar found in the fruits will be quickly turned into energy in the form of running around and will make your ducks happy. Offer Scratch/fruit/carbs maybe once or twice a week to see if they crave it for it's nutrients.
Try the eggs and see if they are good for you! By now they won't be eating anything with glutin/grains in it. For fun you should buy a couple regular duck eggs from a farm or someone on here. Then cook up your eggs and the reg. eggs the same way. without saying whihc egg is which, have a friend taste both and see if they can taste a difference or has a preference!
If there are any problems with the eggs (too small, to soft, oddly shaped, or your duck is having trouble laying) or the ducks seem weak, or if they are not very active (if you get runners, they should be active/alert) having feather problems/ leg problems/ etc... you should revert to a diet that has a half layer feed/ half scratch ratio along with their normal healthy foods. Allow them to choose what to eat and how much. If they leave some scratch/feed behind, give them more healthy foods... Do this until you find a good balance.
I give my ducks special foods (i try to once a day) but all this talk of eating healthier is inspiring me to incorporate it more!
I also think if this whole thing works, you and I should co-write a book on a healthy natural diet for poultry!!!
If you fed them natural carbs (esp in foods like fruit, or very finely diced carrots) they'd get some energy, vitamins, and antioxidants that are good for them too... I read someone suggested Niacin... YES!!!! Ducks NEED this. A lack of niacin can cause all sorts of problems, esp around molts. But feeding them nice dark leafy vegatables should take care of that.
Starting with adult ducks is probably the best idea for your diet plans. But, They may be very scared of you and may not take to you fully, but starting with babies could be very difficult. I say try out the diet with the older ducks (maybe start with two females) that had a close relationship with a human onwer. That will help them adjust to you easier. If you get ducks that grew up on a larger farm and/or never receieved a lot of human contact, they might be too skittish for a closer/backyard relationship. I know there are lots of wonderful people on here who can help you out finding ducks that like people. Be forewarned that runners can be VERY skittish, so having as much human contact as possible would be better for your needs. And if the diet goes well and you want more ducks, Or if you want to be brave and start with our own babies, Here's a grains/scratch feeding table for babies and how you could incorporate your diet:
(NOTE: Starter feed is for ducklings and should have a protein content of about 16-19%. Layer Feed is for adult ducks who are laying eggs and should have a protein level of 14-16%, anymore than 16% could cause wing/feathering problems. Scratch is he grains/carbs that usually has stuff like corn/oats/wheat in it)
Here's a good idea of what a feeding schedule with your diet incorporated should look like if you raise babies:
(WEEK 1 to at least 8 you should have food and water available all the time. They eat a lot when they are gorwing their feathers. You can construct a special watering device out of a juice bottle to keep them from playing in the water, i'll post how to do that after this post. After that, you should feed them at certain intervals, my runners eat 2-3 times a day in the morning, sometimes once in the early afternoon if their hungry, and then at night an hour or two before bedtime, NO food during the night. Water is okay, but mine don't need it)
WEEK 1: Just Starter feed no scratch, mixed with some water to soften it.
WEEK 2: (Same as week one, but less water)
WEEK 3: Add a tiny bit of scratch to your feed. No need to soften it any more
WEEK 4: Start adding in Layer feed to the starter feed (maybe a 1:4 Ratio at first) with a little bit more scratch (maybe 1:8 ratio of scratch to both feeds together)
WEEK 5: 1:2 Layer feed to Starter feed. A little more scratch than last week, 1:4 ratio.
WEEK 6: 1:1 layer feed to starter feed. 1:3 Scratch
WEEK 7: (Your duck should almost be fully feathered by this week or next) 2:1 layer feed to starter feed. 1:2 scratch
WEEK 8: 3:1 Layer to starter. 1:1 Scratch
WEEK 9: (this is when they can/will start to molt, they do this through the 12 week) 4:1 Layer to starter, 1:1 Scratch.
WEEK 10: Layer feed Only, no more starter feed. 1:1 Scratch. Incorporate a few new exciting treats for your duckies, like vegatables/fruits (avoid giving them extra protein at this time. Too much protein in a growing feathering duck can cause Angel wing. This is when the quills of the feathers grow faster and bigger than the muscles and tendons of the wing can hold causing the wings grow at 90 degree angles out from the body and is very hard to fix.)
WEEK 11: Same as week 10 (But add more new treats)
WEEK 12: Same as week 11
WEEK 13: (By now your duck should be fully feathered and done with their first molt) Layer feed only (just to be safe throw away the starter feed, your adult ducks can not eat it any more due to the protein levels and the feed will most likely go bad before you raise ducklings again). 1:2 Scratch to Feed, and many more vegatables/fruits/ and now small amounts of new proteins
WEEK 14: Layer feed, 1:3 Scratch, more health friendly foods/proteins. You may also want to get some duck multivitamins from your local fed store, these are generally added to your ducks water in small doses like the one found here: http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/quik_chik.html
To help make sure they get what they need. (I give my ducks this once a week just because i'm a worry wort mommy who spoils my duckies. lol. but you may want to incorporate it more often)
WEEK 15: Layer Feed, 1:4 Scratch, healthy foods, more protein choices, multivitamin powder in water.
WEEK 16: Layer Feed 1:6 scratch, healthy foods, more protein, multivitamin powder in water.
WEEK 17: Layer Feed 1:8 scratch, healthy foods, more protein, multivitamin powder in water.
WEEK 18: Layer Feed only, healthy foods, more protein choices, multivitamin powder in water. After your ducks eat their meal and have a good amount, offer them scratch seperately to see if they want it. If so, let them eat a little, if not, remove it.
WEEK 19: Same as week 18, less Scratch then last week though.
WEEK 20 and on: (By now your ducks will be 5 months old and may start laying if the weather is nice. If it is cold or winter, they may wait until the spring) Layer feed (but they may chose to eat less now if you offer more health foods and plenty of protein choices) No Scratch. Buy OYSTER SHELL from your local feed store and add it to their food. This helps them to produce good eggs, hard enough shells, and avoid egg binding (which can be a very serious problem)
Continue giving them Vitamin water-mix a few times a week. Experiment with how many sugars and carbs you give them. They should probably always have at least some, maybe only in fruit form since fruits have lots of good stuff in them too. The sugar found in the fruits will be quickly turned into energy in the form of running around and will make your ducks happy. Offer Scratch/fruit/carbs maybe once or twice a week to see if they crave it for it's nutrients.
Try the eggs and see if they are good for you! By now they won't be eating anything with glutin/grains in it. For fun you should buy a couple regular duck eggs from a farm or someone on here. Then cook up your eggs and the reg. eggs the same way. without saying whihc egg is which, have a friend taste both and see if they can taste a difference or has a preference!
If there are any problems with the eggs (too small, to soft, oddly shaped, or your duck is having trouble laying) or the ducks seem weak, or if they are not very active (if you get runners, they should be active/alert) having feather problems/ leg problems/ etc... you should revert to a diet that has a half layer feed/ half scratch ratio along with their normal healthy foods. Allow them to choose what to eat and how much. If they leave some scratch/feed behind, give them more healthy foods... Do this until you find a good balance.
I give my ducks special foods (i try to once a day) but all this talk of eating healthier is inspiring me to incorporate it more!
I also think if this whole thing works, you and I should co-write a book on a healthy natural diet for poultry!!!
Last edited:
