The grower feed is intended for meat birds that are slaughtered before they are 6 months old. It is not generally a feed for breeding stock that is raised for longevity because rapid growth can cause longterm health issues.
When do ducklings get grower crumbles?
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Ohhh ... thanks for telling me that! Should I just feed them chick starter then, or mix the grower it in or what? I'm sure I'm can find someone who can use the grower if I shouldn't use it. Can I put a little bit of oats in the starter to lower the protein level? Thanks
If you can find a complete feed for ducks, like Purina Flock Raiser, that is what I would suggest. I know people tend to think ducks and chickens are closely related but they are not. You can feed duck food to a chicken but you can't feed chicken food to a duck. It would be like giving dog food to your cat and depriving them of taurine. Dogs can eat food with extra nutrition intended for cats but cats will not get what they need if you feed your dog's food to your cat.
Ducks need more niacin than chickens and their "wild" diets are different than chickens, with a few things in common. Unless you do extensive research it is best to stick with a feed that already has everything they need in the correct amounts.
Ducks need more niacin than chickens and their "wild" diets are different than chickens, with a few things in common. Unless you do extensive research it is best to stick with a feed that already has everything they need in the correct amounts.
"What do ducks eat in the wild?
Wild ducks eat small fish and their eggs, snails, worms, mollusks, small crustaceans, grass, weeds, algae, aquatic plants, aquatic roots, frogs, salamanders, insects, and seeds."
The above is an exerpt published by Field and Stream as an example of the staples of a duck's diet. Our ducks free range so they get plenty of slugs and snails (I have not seen any in our back yard for years but we see them in our front yard) but not every part of the planet is as ideal for ducks as the Pacific Northwest. They eat all our weeds and trim the grass. They eat mosquito larvae and algae from standing water. They also get a healthy supply of worms fed by their own manure. They eat less feed than the chickens and produce more nutritious eggs. They are healthy and hardy on as natural a diet as we can provide with a complete feed to provide key essentials.
As incubator hatched ducklings our birds are more dependent on feed before they get outside and the Flock Raiser gives them everything they need to grow. They get a more natural diet once they are feathered enough to forage but they still get their Flock Raiser. We have only feed Flock Raiser to our flock so I don't know what other duck feeds are available. Dave Holderread is the one who told me that Flock Raiser is the best commercial feed (he mills his own feed) so that is what we feed.
Wild ducks eat small fish and their eggs, snails, worms, mollusks, small crustaceans, grass, weeds, algae, aquatic plants, aquatic roots, frogs, salamanders, insects, and seeds."
The above is an exerpt published by Field and Stream as an example of the staples of a duck's diet. Our ducks free range so they get plenty of slugs and snails (I have not seen any in our back yard for years but we see them in our front yard) but not every part of the planet is as ideal for ducks as the Pacific Northwest. They eat all our weeds and trim the grass. They eat mosquito larvae and algae from standing water. They also get a healthy supply of worms fed by their own manure. They eat less feed than the chickens and produce more nutritious eggs. They are healthy and hardy on as natural a diet as we can provide with a complete feed to provide key essentials.
As incubator hatched ducklings our birds are more dependent on feed before they get outside and the Flock Raiser gives them everything they need to grow. They get a more natural diet once they are feathered enough to forage but they still get their Flock Raiser. We have only feed Flock Raiser to our flock so I don't know what other duck feeds are available. Dave Holderread is the one who told me that Flock Raiser is the best commercial feed (he mills his own feed) so that is what we feed.
bh1duck
In the Brooder
- Nov 4, 2015
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I think you would be surprised to find the ingredients in Flock Raiser and Poulin Turkey Grower are very similar. both are 20% protein
I just looked it up and it is 20% protein. I had it wrong thinking it was a bit lower. I know it has what my flock needs so I don't even have to give any thought to meeting the nutritional needs of my birds, we just keep picking up what was recommended and it works.
I suppose since our ducks free range they don't get the protein overload issues people have from feeding higher percentages of protein than what is recommended. I was thinking we were at 18% rather than 20% though.
I have looked up websites with feeding recommendations for ducks and now I see why there is so much confusion about feeding schedules. We are feeding all ages of ducks all the time and we do it with one complete feed and no extra supplements. We start with wet feed and transition to dry but other than that it is the same feed.
My friend raised her ducks on starter grower and that's what I have been using, Purina Starter/Grower crumbles with 18% protein with niacin sprinkled on top.
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