When to change ducklings diet?

[Kaianuanu]

I bought my single duckling 5 days ago and its taken me this long to get to the feed store to get him some chick starter. In the mean time i had been feeding him things like bird seed, crushed dog food, shredded lettuce etc. When i bought him the lady told me he was 2 weeks old so, he is a few days away from being about 3 weeks old. Anyway, I bought 5lb of the chick starter and, it is A LOT for that one little duck so I am wondering, when am I going to have to switch over foods. And what will i be changing to? I don't think my feed store has designated waterfowl diets, but i did notice that they did have game bird feed that was 30% protein and a good selection of chicken feeds and scratches. If there is something specific i need, i can call around but im really just wondering what my next stage is in food for my ducking at at what age will i need to start feeding it.

 

[Kevin565]

I would not give any young ducks Game bird diet because that could lead to angel wing. As for the big switch I usually switch over to layer crumbles around 6 months.

 

[Kaianuanu]

So I am to feed my duckling chick starter until it is 6 months old!!!???

 

[Kevin565]

You may be able to switch at around 16 weeks. Do you have a store that sells Flock raiser? Then you could feed it that all the time

 

[Mum]

No, there is an interim feed: growers.

Crumb for the first couple of weeks, then a mix of crumb and growers until they are used to the texture and then layers once they are fully mature.

5lb of crumb is a lot for just one duckling!

 

[Kaianuanu]

What are growers? How many weeks old do i switch to growers? Are growers a duck specific feed or are they meant for chickens too?

 

[wildpeas]

It really depends on your location.

I cannot find a grower feed where I am at. My choices are chick starter or Flock Raiser. From looking at the feed labels, Purina Start and Grow is 18% and could be fed until laying age if you add niacin until your duck is out foraging a lot. Flock Raiser is supposed to have enough niacin for ducklings and even at 20% should be ok to feed until laying.

I am feeding Flock Raiser to two batches of ducklings and 2 goslings. So far so good. My oldest ones are almost 8 weeks now and I haven't had any problems yet.