- Jul 16, 2009
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Dumb feed store people.
You won't believe what the feed store told me to feed my ducks!
- Thread starter newchickmom09
- Start date
Quote:
OMG! What feed store? This way I can avoid them at all costs too!!! You have way more patience than me, cuz kids or no kids I would have said something. Actually my kids probably would have let him have it! lol
OMG! What feed store? This way I can avoid them at all costs too!!! You have way more patience than me, cuz kids or no kids I would have said something. Actually my kids probably would have let him have it! lol
Quote:
That made more sense before when nearly all the ducks were on farms where they could forage. They got most of their nutrition from the foraging and supplemented with corn. I think a lot of people that support a corn only diet don't realize how much food a duck can gather on its own and how varied that diet truly is.
These days there are a lot of people raising and keeping ducks on much smaller plots of land (or indoors in my case). Once the feed given to the ducks becomes the primary source of nutrition rather than just a supplement, the rules change drastically.
Best analogy I can think of is human children.
The old fashioned farm way of giving just corn is like kids visiting their grandparents. They get most of their nutrition from their parents (foraging) so it's not a big deal that the grandparents feed the kids lots of cookies and ice cream (cracked corn) once in a while.
The more current method where ducks can't forage for their food is like kids with their parents. Parents need to give the kids a well balanced diet as the food they provide makes up the majority of the kids' diet. They could just feed their kids cookies and ice cream (equivalent of just corn) and the kids might survive but suffer from malnutrition. Treats are good once in a while for kids or ducks, but should never be the primary food source.
Pellets and formulated mixed grain feeds were developed in the era of modern farming where space is a valuable commodity so poultry aren't allowed to roam freely. Since birds on modern farms can't get their own food by foraging, farmers and agricultural researchers spent the time to determine what nutrients ducks need and in what percentages. Of course that research was done with the goal maximize feed efficiency and duck growth so they could get their product to market faster... it may not be optimal for a pet's health but I haven't seen any research done on that area.
For anybody that actually believes that a duck can live on only corn, I challenge them to eat nothing but corn for a couple months and see how their health fares. Odds are they'll still be alive but suffering from multiple nutrient deficiencies. In fact I'm 100% positive of that. Niacin deficiency (pellagra) was relatively rare in people prior to the cultivation of corn. So many diets relied heavily on corn are the primary food that pellagra became relatively common. Initially it was believed to be an infectious disease because of the sudden outbreak (over 100,000 cases in the early 1900's in the US).
That made more sense before when nearly all the ducks were on farms where they could forage. They got most of their nutrition from the foraging and supplemented with corn. I think a lot of people that support a corn only diet don't realize how much food a duck can gather on its own and how varied that diet truly is.
These days there are a lot of people raising and keeping ducks on much smaller plots of land (or indoors in my case). Once the feed given to the ducks becomes the primary source of nutrition rather than just a supplement, the rules change drastically.
Best analogy I can think of is human children.
The old fashioned farm way of giving just corn is like kids visiting their grandparents. They get most of their nutrition from their parents (foraging) so it's not a big deal that the grandparents feed the kids lots of cookies and ice cream (cracked corn) once in a while.
The more current method where ducks can't forage for their food is like kids with their parents. Parents need to give the kids a well balanced diet as the food they provide makes up the majority of the kids' diet. They could just feed their kids cookies and ice cream (equivalent of just corn) and the kids might survive but suffer from malnutrition. Treats are good once in a while for kids or ducks, but should never be the primary food source.
Pellets and formulated mixed grain feeds were developed in the era of modern farming where space is a valuable commodity so poultry aren't allowed to roam freely. Since birds on modern farms can't get their own food by foraging, farmers and agricultural researchers spent the time to determine what nutrients ducks need and in what percentages. Of course that research was done with the goal maximize feed efficiency and duck growth so they could get their product to market faster... it may not be optimal for a pet's health but I haven't seen any research done on that area.
For anybody that actually believes that a duck can live on only corn, I challenge them to eat nothing but corn for a couple months and see how their health fares. Odds are they'll still be alive but suffering from multiple nutrient deficiencies. In fact I'm 100% positive of that. Niacin deficiency (pellagra) was relatively rare in people prior to the cultivation of corn. So many diets relied heavily on corn are the primary food that pellagra became relatively common. Initially it was believed to be an infectious disease because of the sudden outbreak (over 100,000 cases in the early 1900's in the US).
Quote:
I was browsing Craigslist last fall and stumbled onto someone selling Pekin ducks that had "been raised on nothing but cracked corn". I'm serious. The pictures were blurry, so I couldn't really tell how healthy/unhealthy they looked, but I do hope they had a LOT of room to forage!
My feed store is pretty oblivious too - but the old guy who runs it is so sweet, and always tries to to helpful. If he doesn't know what to recommend, then he shrugs his shoulders and tells me so.
I was browsing Craigslist last fall and stumbled onto someone selling Pekin ducks that had "been raised on nothing but cracked corn". I'm serious. The pictures were blurry, so I couldn't really tell how healthy/unhealthy they looked, but I do hope they had a LOT of room to forage!
My feed store is pretty oblivious too - but the old guy who runs it is so sweet, and always tries to to helpful. If he doesn't know what to recommend, then he shrugs his shoulders and tells me so.
This makes me want to go around to a few feed stores around my house and ask some questions on duck feeding and care and then report it back here!
Ya took the words right out of my mouth, Duck_feeder! That may have been the way they used to do things, but we have a lot of expensive research on our side now. They used to feed plow horses whole corn too, and now we know that not only is such feed not good for horses but it does serious damage to their teeth. People are also trying to raise standard bred poultry, and some of these species are delicate enough to raise without the added complication of bad diets just because "well, that's how my grandfather did it". People back then were more driven for a food market and not an exhibition one, where we can market to the world now in the blink of an eye and not just to the local area.
1lpoock, I'd love to see what the roving reporter could turn up on this! You go!
1lpoock, I'd love to see what the roving reporter could turn up on this! You go!
geez!!!! goons!!
hey where in AZ are you, so I know NOT to go to that store!
hey where in AZ are you, so I know NOT to go to that store!
I am so glad the owners of my local feed store are smart. they are farmers...
- Thread starter
- #20
These people just aren't the smartest. Just like duck_feeder said: back when more people kept ducks on farms they would forage everywhere so they didn't need feed. These people are just uneducated and that is it. I am a dog food junkie (reseached dog food like crazy) I can tell you what is good and what is bad for your dog. I go in there and they try to sell me junk when they have high quality food also. I have already got into it with there dog and cat food.
Before we had the chickens that we do someone gave us four chicks. They were about 3 weeks old when they were given to us because the people didn't want to take care of them. Well, after there bag of chick feed was gone the chicks were around 7 weeks old, I went in there and they gave me a bag of layer. I didn't know any better at the time so we fed this to our chicks. At about 12 weeks old our first hen just died then our second hen died about a week later. The other two chickens ended up being roos. We rehomed them once they started to crow after the hens died. Now that I have done a lot of research and read and read about how to raise poultry I think it was the layer feed that killed them. So this time when we ordered our chickens I used to get there chick feed there. Once they got 8 weeks old and needed the grower they sold my hubby a bag of layer. He came home and I read the bag and called them and told them they gave my hubby the wrong bag. The man then said no that is what you feed them next. The next day I brought that bag back to them and told them that if they didn't carry grower and that is what someone asked for then they should have said NO they don't carry it and not send them home with something else.
I then told them about our other chickens that died from eating layer to soon and how they recommended it to me and sold it to me. If they did it again then I was going to give them the bill for ordering new chicks.
If they could keep any good help at there store maybe then they could eduate some of there employees, but it is the owner who just is a yaa hoo.
Before we had the chickens that we do someone gave us four chicks. They were about 3 weeks old when they were given to us because the people didn't want to take care of them. Well, after there bag of chick feed was gone the chicks were around 7 weeks old, I went in there and they gave me a bag of layer. I didn't know any better at the time so we fed this to our chicks. At about 12 weeks old our first hen just died then our second hen died about a week later. The other two chickens ended up being roos. We rehomed them once they started to crow after the hens died. Now that I have done a lot of research and read and read about how to raise poultry I think it was the layer feed that killed them. So this time when we ordered our chickens I used to get there chick feed there. Once they got 8 weeks old and needed the grower they sold my hubby a bag of layer. He came home and I read the bag and called them and told them they gave my hubby the wrong bag. The man then said no that is what you feed them next. The next day I brought that bag back to them and told them that if they didn't carry grower and that is what someone asked for then they should have said NO they don't carry it and not send them home with something else.
If they could keep any good help at there store maybe then they could eduate some of there employees, but it is the owner who just is a yaa hoo.
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