what will happen if i feed ducks just corn?

[Ratchnick]

they won’t get too much. they’ll be fed right before bed (after they’ve foraged all day). usually they don’t each much feed anyways and prefer to eat bugs and whatever they can find down by the pond. what are good treats for them, the older ducks are weird and refuse to eat peas and won’t eat live fish (only frozen)

Do you feed them fish? I think whole is better, i have never seen whole corn come out the back end of a duck so i think they can digest it fine. Cracking the granules causes the germ to oxidize and loose nutrition faster. (Or something like that)

 

[quackiemama]

What would happen if you were fed corn your whole life? You'd probably be malnourished, corn does not have all the nutrients a duckling needs. Angel Wing, Wet Feather, B3 Deficiency and overall poor health would be likely if a bird was fed a Corn diet. It can be fed as a occasional treat, although layer feed already has enough of it so its not really needed. You can feed whole corn just provide grit.

I've seen birds fed a whole corn diet,they look pathetic. Please don't consider feeding them a whole corn diet just because its cheaper.

 

[Knighstar679]

they won’t get too much. they’ll be fed right before bed (after they’ve foraged all day). usually they don’t each much feed anyways and prefer to eat bugs and whatever they can find down by the pond. what are good treats for them, the older ducks are weird and refuse to eat peas and won’t eat live fish (only frozen)

maybe try unsalted sunflower seeds, mine like cat food too. Meal worms, I would also usually suggest corn or oats but if your going to feed that that removes that.

Also consider what your going to do when winter comes again or bad weather when they can’t free range 15 hours and the bugs aren’t out.

 

[NatJ]

the ducklings still have normal duck food, but the adults will just get corn (they free range like 15+ hours of the day so also get lots of bugs and stuff) also i give them mealworms

they won’t get too much. they’ll be fed right before bed (after they’ve foraged all day). usually they don’t each much feed anyways and prefer to eat bugs and whatever they can find down by the pond. what are good treats for them, the older ducks are weird and refuse to eat peas and won’t eat live fish (only frozen)

Why do you want to feed just corn? Cheaper? Healthier?

If the adult ducks really do not eat much, just offer them the same feed the ducklings get--it will make your life easier to deal with only one kind of feed, and will be fine for the adult ducks.

If you want to save money, skip the mealworms, and just offer duck food. (Unless you're raising your own mealworms; but they are quite expensive to buy, if you look at the per-pound cost.)

If you want the ducks to be healthier, I also recommend duck food.

If you're treating it as an experiment and just want to know what happens--go ahead. You've got several people already predicting the results, and you can find out if they're right. Or you could do a different experiment by offering duck food AND corn, and see if they're clever enough to eat appropriate amounts of each.

About whole vs. cracked corn, as long as they have enough grit in their gizzards they should be fine either way. Cracked corn supposedly loses more nutrients in storage, so I'd use whole corn. (Except that I recommend duck feed.)

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Why do you want to feed just corn? Cheaper? Healthier?

If the adult ducks really do not eat much, just offer them the same feed the ducklings get--it will make your life easier to deal with only one kind of feed, and will be fine for the adult ducks.

If you want to save money, skip the mealworms, and just offer duck food. (Unless you're raising your own mealworms; but they are quite expensive to buy, if you look at the per-pound cost.)

If you want the ducks to be healthier, I also recommend duck food.

If you're treating it as an experiment and just want to know what happens--go ahead. You've got several people already predicting the results, and you can find out if they're right. Or you could do a different experiment by offering duck food AND corn, and see if they're clever enough to eat appropriate amounts of each.

About whole vs. cracked corn, as long as they have enough grit in their gizzards they should be fine either way. Cracked corn supposedly loses more nutrients in storage, so I'd use whole corn. (Except that I recommend duck feed.)

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Do you feed them fish? I think whole is better, i have never seen whole corn come out the back end of a duck so i think they can digest it fine. Cracking the granules causes the germ to oxidize and loose nutrition faster. (Or something like that)

we feed them freeze dried minnows. we bought 50 live minnows last year expecting them to like them but they wouldn’t eat them

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

maybe try unsalted sunflower seeds, mine like cat food too. Meal worms, I would also usually suggest corn or oats but if your going to feed that that removes that.

Also consider what your going to do when winter comes again or bad weather when they can’t free range 15 hours and the bugs aren’t out.

winter they’ll get a lot of treats that can replace bugs (minnows, mealworms, crickets, etc)

 

[Ratchnick]

Sounds like you feed much more then corn.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Sounds like you feed much more then corn.

i mean corn as the main thing. of course they’d still be getting treats

 

[Beaglegal]

they won’t get too much. they’ll be fed right before bed (after they’ve foraged all day). usually they don’t each much feed anyways and prefer to eat bugs and whatever they can find down by the pond. what are good treats for them, the older ducks are weird and refuse to eat peas and won’t eat live fish (only frozen)

My ducks forage a lot and sometimes don’t eat much duck food, but days when pickings are slim, they eat a bit. Mine have over an acre to forage including a season frog breeding ground