What should they be eating now?

[Stanui]

My Mallards are 4 weeks old now. They are about 75% feathered (just their heads and part of their backs are down). I let them free range on our lawn during the day and in the evening I put them in a pen outside. When they are in their pen I give them what I have left of their chick starter mixed with a little bit of grit (probably a 10:1 ratio of feed to grit).

During the day I have just been letting them eat whatever they find. I also give them a few treats like chopped up broccoli or lettuce. They seem to be thriving at this time on that diet. Do you think they are getting what they need?

We live in very sandy soil. I'm not sure if they get enough grit naturally on that. Do you think I need to provide them more grit with their feed, or are they getting enough when they peck at the ground?

When I run out of their chick starter (in about a week), do I need to buy them cracked corn or will they start finding enough on their own?

Thanks!

 

[streemers]

they will prob. do fine on there own but it wouldnt hurt to leave out a bowl of duck food that they can snack on as needed. i wouldnt worry to much they are really good at finding there own food.

 

[Stanui]

Do you think they are getting enough grit in our grass?

 

[Duck Keeper]

You have to be careful on sand, because they can ingest too much and become impacted. So yes, they're getting enough grit from that.

Maybe make their grit free choice instead of putting it in their feed?



I live on sand too, so it's fun to be constantly worrying!

And you probably should feed them grower/finisher because they'll get way too skinny if you're allowing them to feed on forage alone. My ducks need fattening up.

I'll probably keep them in the pen for a while, til they put some pounds on. They weren't eating enough just wandering around the property.

 

[Stanui]

Thanks for the advice! Today I noticed that their poop is a little runny. Any suggestions for diet?

 

[streemers]

sometimes my ducks do a few runny ones and other times they are better formed.