When to feed and what?

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zooweemama

zooweemama

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I feel like a forum hog sorry!

I have my 3 week olders going out tonight in their coop (first night away from me wahhhhh). right now I have them on Waterfowl Starter. Should I be migrating their feed to something else and if so, what? I can get a hold of some really good chick feeds here in town- but duck food? fuggedaboudit. I don't mind supplementing a chick feed with grains, or vitamins etc to make it more complete.

Also I'd like to begin feeding them some more fresh food- weekly I have loads of organic produce scraps that I am just dying to give them (leftover salad, carrot, peas, beets....and tons more. a huge produce eater are we!) Some of it is raw, some cooked (steamed usually) Can they eat all of that and is it best cooked or raw? I don't mind grating it if needed.

Oyster shell, or grit or sand...when do I start offering that? Which is best and where do I hide it? IN their food I assume? Or a separate bowl.

I'm so sorry for the 5489573489 questions! TY in advance!
 
zooweemama said:
I feel like a forum hog sorry!

I have my 3 week olders going out tonight in their coop (first night away from me wahhhhh). right now I have them on Waterfowl Starter. Should I be migrating their feed to something else and if so, what? I can get a hold of some really good chick feeds here in town- but duck food? fuggedaboudit. I don't mind supplementing a chick feed with grains, or vitamins etc to make it more complete.

Also I'd like to begin feeding them some more fresh food- weekly I have loads of organic produce scraps that I am just dying to give them (leftover salad, carrot, peas, beets....and tons more. a huge produce eater are we!) Some of it is raw, some cooked (steamed usually) Can they eat all of that and is it best cooked or raw? I don't mind grating it if needed.

Oyster shell, or grit or sand...when do I start offering that? Which is best and where do I hide it? IN their food I assume? Or a separate bowl.

I'm so sorry for the 5489573489 questions! TY in advance!
Click to expand...

Ok reading my Metzers print out it says at 3-9 weeks feed a grower. So if I get a chick grower- what would I need to supplement to make it more complete? I did pick up some Niacin (not time release, not flush free- just plain old pill). Anything else? More protein, less protein?
 
5489573489!
gig.gif


In no particular order . . . .

I started giving chick grit on day two, just a teaspoon or so sprinkled on top of their feed once a day.

Oyster shell was offered, free choice, after my girls started playing hop on top at about 12 weeks. They are runners, so they reach maturity a little sooner than larger breeds. Sure enough, the first egg was laid (by Vier, I think) at 16 weeks, so it was just right timing (a month before laying).

At about two or three weeks, I started mixing in duck grower feed with crumbles. Over a week or two, I slowly changed the ratio of starter to grower, partly to use the starter, but partly to make the shift gradual. In your case, I would sprinkle some brewer's yeast lightly on the feed since it's chicken feed.

My feeling is that fresh is best, but it may be that a little cooked veg may not be problematic. I would love to hear from someone if that is not the case. I chopped veggies quite finely until my runners were full grown. I am an overprotective duck mamma (Mutterente).

P.S. I found out they don't like red food. But that's just my runners.


eta . . . if you already have the niacin, you can use that. Storey's Guide indicates that for ducklings with apparent niacin deficiency, 100 to 150 mg per gallon of water for ten weeks.
 
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My ducks will eat tomatoes and strawberries. 9 love peas and 1 hates them. I suggest you just try all kinds of treats to see which ones your ducks take a liking to!
 
You didn't specify whether or not you have chicks or ducklings.....but either way, they need to be on their chick/duck starter until they're about 16 weeks old. And I'm sure they would love some vegetables- steamed or raw! As for the grit: I've always done oyster shell, because it's what's most readily available here, and I usually put it in a separate bowl. :)
 
I tend to overthink things so I am trying really hard to keep my ducklings and goslings diet simple. They are on Purina Flock Raiser until 16 weeks and then I am planning on transitioning them over to Purina Layena pellets. They all get leaf lettuce daily in addition to forage outside. The older group gets peas and dried mealworms also. As soon as I started giving greens and they started going outside in the day I added a bowl of grit to their brooders. I was chopping the lettuce in the food processor but after watching the younger ones outside eating grass and weeds I stopped doing it. Now I just give them full leaves of lettuce and let them go to town (I watch them of course in case someone bites off more than they can swallow). They really seem to enjoy flinging the lettuce around. The goslings can throw lettuce a really long way.
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Right now I am keeping the treats very basic. Other than lettuce and peas and mealworms I have tried strawberries (didn't like it) and yogurt (made a HUGE mess and required baths afterward).

Group one is 6 weeks, group two is 2/3 weeks.
 

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