- Nov 7, 2013
- 33
- 3
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Hi all, bear with me as I'm sure I'll over-explain myself here.
I'm relatively new to raising ducks and have a single rescued mallard drake who just turned 2. I was finally able to order a female Cayuga duckling through a local feed store and will be picking her up in the end of July.
My mallard, Remington, eats mazuri waterfowl maintenance feed. He loves it and it has worked great for us. Once the Cayuga is a little bigger/older, and has been gradually introduced to Remington, they will be living together outside. As far as I can tell from my research, she will be fine eating the mazuri he eats now, until she starts laying eggs. I know that laying hens require a higher protein and calcium content in their feed than the mazuri has. Mazuri waterfowl maintenance has approx 14% protein and 1.1% calcium.
I know mazuri also makes a breeder feed that has 17% protein and 2.7% calcium, which would be better for the Cayuga.
My question is, are the protein and calcium levels in the breeder feed too high for my mallard drake? Is there a different type of food that I can give both ducks that will meet all their needs, without being too much protein or calcium for a male duck?
Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Due to the fact that I've only had a male duck so far, all my research has been to make sure I meet his needs, so I'm not too educated when it comes to raising female ducks or making sure that their nutritional needs are met to ensure they don't become egg bound or have any issues.
Thanks!
I'm relatively new to raising ducks and have a single rescued mallard drake who just turned 2. I was finally able to order a female Cayuga duckling through a local feed store and will be picking her up in the end of July.
My mallard, Remington, eats mazuri waterfowl maintenance feed. He loves it and it has worked great for us. Once the Cayuga is a little bigger/older, and has been gradually introduced to Remington, they will be living together outside. As far as I can tell from my research, she will be fine eating the mazuri he eats now, until she starts laying eggs. I know that laying hens require a higher protein and calcium content in their feed than the mazuri has. Mazuri waterfowl maintenance has approx 14% protein and 1.1% calcium.
I know mazuri also makes a breeder feed that has 17% protein and 2.7% calcium, which would be better for the Cayuga.
My question is, are the protein and calcium levels in the breeder feed too high for my mallard drake? Is there a different type of food that I can give both ducks that will meet all their needs, without being too much protein or calcium for a male duck?
Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Due to the fact that I've only had a male duck so far, all my research has been to make sure I meet his needs, so I'm not too educated when it comes to raising female ducks or making sure that their nutritional needs are met to ensure they don't become egg bound or have any issues.
Thanks!
I, too, am a nervous duck mom so I definitely feel your pain. haha you eased a lot of my concerns about the feeding situation though, so I definitely appreciate it! Having a female duck will be a whole new world to me and I know I'm probably over thinking everything, just like I did when I first got my drake, but I still can't help it. Just wanna be the best duck mom I can be. That's a great idea about the vitamin/electrolyte supplement, also. It's been really hot here as well so I'm going to try to pick some of that up. Thanks again for your help! 
