Whats the best chick starter/grower to feed my baby ducklings? 1 week old *HELP*

[peeper123]

I've been feeding them Dumor chick starter/grower but ive read its not the best for my babies. Suggestions on good feed? please heelp

 

[Kevin565]

As long as it's not medicated your fine. Make sure to add some Brewer's yeast to it because ducklings require more of it than chicks

 

[peeper123]

Well what feed do you use? I have two mallards that are 1 week old.. I just wanted to know what the best feed is. But thanks for telling me about the yeast! I didn't know about that.

 

[BirdyMe]

I use Purina Flock Raiser.

I'd never heard of the Brewers Yeast thing either...what does that do for ducklings?

 

[Tivona]

Ducklings need more vitamin b3 aka niacin. Brewer's yeast is a great cheap source of it so lots of us use it. Without enough b3 they can develop leg problems.
http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-my-ducklings-leg-problems-due-to.html

 

[peeper123]

How much brewers yeast do you add to their feed?

 

[Tivona]

Most people just sprinkle it on the ducklings feed for the day. Not exactly sure how much that is when they say sprinkle.

I use about 2 tablespoons per day for my older birds (split up between 11 ducks and two geese now) and I used about 1 tsp per day for the ducklings. One reason I used so little is that I let my ducklings (and now older birds) eat waterfowl feed. The waterfowl feed already has a higher amount of the niacin in it. I was fortunate to find 2 different waterfowl feeds at my feed store. The nice thing about the brewer's yeast is that it has a lot of different nutrients and as long as your not using crazy amounts of it then it is hard to overdose them on it, making it safer then using crushed pills of pure vitamins. However if your using chick feed it will have less niacin then the waterfowl feed and you may want to use more then I did.

Not sure if that really helps you know how much to use or not but I will say that I didn't do it for my first batch and I noticed a difference in all my ducks as soon as I started using it. They seem better on it. My third batch I added it to their feed from the start and I will say they did look better. Standing straighter and running better.

You could try asking it the duck forum. Perhaps other can give a better answer on how much...

 

[monkeemakr]

We use non-medicated turkey starter for ours. It has the extra protein for their muscle and bone development. It's usually a couple dollars more than chick starter.

 

[peeper123]

Thanks for the help! I'm thinking im going to buy the purina flock raiser and brewers yeast for now and see how i like it.

 

[BirdyMe]

Ducklings need more vitamin b3 aka niacin. Brewer's yeast is a great cheap source of it so lots of us use it. Without enough b3 they can develop leg problems.
http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-my-ducklings-leg-problems-due-to.html

Very helpful link!!