why can't ducks eat medicated chick feed?

[Amiga]

Is that really true? Because I've never dealt with ducks before and I've been feeding them medicated chick starter feed and I would just hate myself forever if they died.

Welcome to the Duck Forum!


I don't think you have to hate yourself even for a moment.

There are two lines of thinking regarding this. One is, the medication is - nowadays - amprolium. Amprolium, according to many resources, is not harmful to ducklings. I have read that it works by preventing thiamine uptake in the coccidia (pathogens the medicine treats).

Then there is the line of thinking that ducklings grow so fast, eat so much more food per day, and why would you want to medicate unnecessarily?

Many members here can only get medicated chick food. And their ducklings seem fine most of the time. When there is a problem, it appears to be more related to the lower levels of niacin (B3) (and personally I am beginning to think other B vitamins) in the chick starter. That is resolved by either sprinkling a tablespoon or two of brewer's yeast on their food daily (more if you have more than six ducklings), or adding 100 mg of plain niacin to each gallon of drinking water for their first eight weeks.

Sound good? That's the best I can do for now.

 

[Speceider]

Amiga, the thought that ducks eat more than chicks is another myth, they eat similar amounts for their body mass. A duck's growth curve has an inflection (using a Richard's curve) of 25.5 days, and a chicken of 47.7 days ( Knizetova et al. 1995. Comparative studies of growth curves in poultry. Genet. Sel. Evol. 27:365-375).

Also, it's not that starter is low in niacin, it's that most of the niacin is in a form ducks can not use.

Clint

 

[Amiga]

Clint, I appreciate your depth of knowledge, and I don't want you to stop providing your unique take on things.

I stand by my layperson's description of the disagreement about medicated chick starter for ducklings.

Did I say I agreed with either?

 

[Speceider]

Clint,  I appreciate your depth of knowledge, and I don't want you to stop providing your unique take on things. 

I stand by my layperson's description of the disagreement about medicated chick starter for ducklings. 

Did I say I agreed with either? 

 

[Speceider]

Was commenting on the myth that ducks eat more than chicks, that you did seem to support.

Clint

 

[Amiga]

 

[cutesqueakersc]

Thanks =], well I got the medicated feed because that's all that they supplied there at TSC and so I grabbed it. So it is okay to give them to my babies?

 

[Speceider]

Thanks =], well I got the medicated feed because that's all that they supplied there at TSC and so I grabbed it. So it is okay to give them to my babies?

Yes, but do supplement with niacin.

Clint

 

[casportpony]

It's a current myth. The old meds were arsenic-based and waterfowl have a lower tolerance for arsenic than gallinaceous birds. Amprolium is a thiamin blocker....minimizes cocci reproduction, but is not toxic to ducks. The internet is a great place for furthering past problems.


Clint

X2. Been feeding amprolium to my ducklings for *years*.


Edited to add:
http://metzerfarms.blogspot.com/2011/11/can-medicated-feed-be-used-for.html

 

[casportpony]

Some good posts here.