What to feed my new ducklings?

[Harley8181]

I'm getting 2 ducklings on Wed. I know they eat poultry food but what else should I give them?

 

[sbolerjack]

I'm getting 2 ducklings on Wed. I know they eat poultry food but what else should I give them?

I purchased 22% protein duck feed at Tractor Supply. I also supplemented with extra niacin.

 

[Harley8181]

I live on an island and our feed store doesn't carry duck food. I'll try Amazon. Thank you.

 

[sbolerjack]

I live on an island and our feed store doesn't carry duck food. I'll try Amazon. Thank you.

My ducks did very well on this feed.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I can’t get duck feed where I am either
I use starter chicken feed ( non medicated ) for first 3 weeks then switch to grower feed
I add nutritional yeast 1 tbs ti 1 cup feed for first 10-12 weeks to help with niacin
I don’t give any treats till 2-3 weeks when I can also provide grit so they can digest the foods
I’m not able to get the chick grit here and it’s why I wait a few weeks till they can handle the little bigger grit size

 

[Lauraduck]

I would spend the money and get duckling starter if you can find it- Purina makes duckling crumbles that you can order online. I used it with my ducklings the first few weeks and didn't have any issues. It's important to get feed for ducklings as they need plenty of niacin.

 

[La granja grande]

I'm getting 2 ducklings on Wed. I know they eat poultry food but what else should I give them?

I have raised many ducks and geese, and it’s really not too complicated, just get some non-medicated chick starter,(that’s important because Ducklings-will overdose themselves) make sure it’s about 20 to 22% protein, for the first several weeks, then slowly lower it by going to 18 then to 16, Make sure not to go to 16 until they are at least three or four months old. Very similar to chickens. also make sure that you Add about teaspoon Ish of Brewers Yeast per Cup of feed, for the first four or five weeks or more, it’s important because they grow so fast that they need it for bone growth. I get it on Amazon. Also make sure that you don’t get an all life stages duck food food, as adults and ducklings have very different nutritional requirements. hope this helps!

 

[Kimmyh51]

If you live in the usa i believe there are brands of complete duck and duckling food available? Living in NZ where there are not, after a few years rescuing hundreds maybe thousands of ducklings I have found canned cat food to be the best, most bullet proof feed for ducklings.

Its top ingredient here is meat, which means it has the niacin they need for their legs. But it has an overall protein of around 9% so there are no issues with angel wing or ducklings growing too fast like you get with the ‘gamebird crumble’ - that is the only feed marketed for ducks here - but is actually super high protein and clearly marketed towards the fast growth of meat birds (with no consideration for their quality of life or health), with no more niacin than chicken feeds, qnd the mqin diffeence between the gamebird crumble and chick starter is just there is no coccidiostat medication (most of which are fine for ducklings but in much lower proportions than are in chick starter.

brewers yeast i have found to be hit and miss in terms of preventing niacin deficiency leg problems, it seems some works some doesnt. Have raised hundreds of ducklings on canned food and never had a single case of niacin leg issues or angel wing.
I just get the cheap brands here, in meaty non fishy flavours like beef, lamb, turkey, chicken (yes, birds. Friends with chickens tell me their chickens actually prefer the chicken flavour! though i have to qdmit there was no canned food here ith duck in it till recently, there is one now and i wont buy it or feed it to my ducks, chicken is ok to feed the ducklings, but duck is my line in the sand lol)

if you look at the feed it should list the ingredients and they are listed from the highest oercentage to leas, so here when i look qt canned food the ingredients list always has meat and meat byproducts first, then maybe some grains, but the meat is tops. It costs more to feed canned food (here anyway, like a clutch of 12 2 week old ducklings will eat 3-4 cans a day at $3-$4 a can per day) so sometimes i will mix up to 50% pullet grow (15% protein) with the canned food. If a bird shows signs of niacin leg issues i increase the canned food and the leg issues disappear. if any more than 50% of the feed is chicken (grower) pellets then i add in multi b vitamins. I dont use game bird crumble adter the first 2-3 weeks except as a very small overall percentage, because the protein here for that type of feed is 20-22% and too high for ducklings over 2-3 weeks of age. I dont feed layer pellets to ducklings (except for a day in a pinch ie if i run out or get wn unexpected out of season rescue duckling, till i can get to the supermarket, or the closest feed store which is a 40 min drive, for proper feed) because they contain far too much calcium for ducklings (but ironically for some laying ducks, not enough, and so i give my laying ducks additional grit as well as layer feed.

anyway if you have a small number of ducklings or canned food is cheaper than it is here, and the top ingredient in the list is “meat or meat byproducts “ give them that. its grown up hundreds of healthy happy ducklings and rescued ducklings for me. They grow at a normal rate with literally not a single one of hundreds or thousands (Ive not stopped to count) of ducklings ever having niacin leg problems, or later on, angel wing. And they just LOVE the stuff. When they are q couple of weeks or so, i also will give them a fee green peas as treats (we all know green peas = crack for ducks, lol) but only a small amount. Also other treats include some grass chopped into very small (like half a centimetre long) pieces in their water. And other vegies like carrots, beetroot, lettuce, kale, dandelion also chopped into very small pieces are great treats they love to have in their water.

 

[fatty and friends]

you can get mazuri waterfowl starter shipped from chewy. it's a little more pricey then other brands but is 100% the best food for ducks. i feed my adult ducks the waterfowl maintenance and they love it.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I'm getting 2 ducklings on Wed. I know they eat poultry food but what else should I give them?

Look for duckling starter feed, if you cant get any, I suggest non medicated chick crumbs, and to every 1 cup add 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast. Its a good idea to wet their food slightly as a mash consistency. They should always have access to food and drinking water as babies.
Once theyre, say, 3 weeks old, thats a good age to introduce treats, during which time they will need grit to digest those treats.
Treats such as finely chopped bananas, wet oats, or finely chopped grapes do well!