A couple of years ago, my best friend gifted me five pairs of ducks, saying: “I want you to jumpstart your duck-raising career!” I was taken aback, not knowing what food to give those cute ducks. I had a chicken coop then, so I thought: “Maybe I could feed these ducks with chicken feeds.” I did feed them chicken feeds for a while but decided otherwise to search for the best feeds for ducks.
If you were like me back then, winded and confused as to which feeds were best for ducks, you should look for special waterfowl pellets to feed your ducks. Nevertheless, you can also provide them with regular chicken layer feed if they are laying eggs.
However, if you got ducklings, you need to provide them with food rich in niacin. So, you can add brewer’s yeast to the feed with a five percent ratio. Ducklings can grow feverishly, and they would need the niacin to build their bones. So, you need to ensure that the feeds are laced with niacin.
Chickens, however, don’t need much niacin. As such, most chicken feeds don’t have much niacin. Thus, if you intend to feed your ducks with chicken feeds, you must supplement the meal with niacin. Chicken feeds come with a mineral and nutrient mixture that could benefit ducks. But this mixture doesn’t carry the necessary nutritional, and dietary balance ducks need.
Would It Be Good to Feed Ducklings with Chick Starter?
As mentioned above, the chick starter’s mixture of minerals and nutrients gets specifically concocted for chicks. Hence, if you want maximum growth for your ducklings, feeding them with feeds specifically mixed for ducks will be best. Besides, when selecting feeds for your ducklings, you should choose high-quality feeds sans any by-product ingredients.
If your ducklings don’t receive sufficient nutrition, this nutrient insufficiency will manifest in their poor feathering, lack of weight, and reduced production of eggs. So, you must select high-quality feeds from certified and reputable duck feed dealers. This way, you can ensure the optimum growth of your ducklings.
During the first three weeks of your ducklings, you should feed them with waterfowl starter crumbles. If you fail to source crumbles, you can buy pellets. Crumbles, of course, are safe and easy to consume for ducklings.
Nevertheless, if you fail to find pellets, you can feed your ducklings with chick starters. But limit the feeding to the first two weeks of their existence. Then, transition to using grower feed with lower protein until they reach the 18th week.
The Downsides of Feeding Your Duck with Chicken Feeds
Your ducklings will not receive the optimum dietary nutrients and minerals if you stick to feeding them with chicken feeds. The reason is that chickens and ducks do not have the same nutritional requirements for optimum growth. Among the possible dangers concomitant with feeding ducks with chicken feeds are the following:
Too Much Protein
If you’re a meticulous raiser of ducks, you will want to figure out the nutritional contents of chicken feeds. Most chicken feeds carry a mixture of minerals and nutrients and have a high protein level. Of course, protein is essential for chickens’ feverish growth to produce great meat and eggs.
With ducklings, however, too much protein might cause them to exhibit leg and foot problems. These problems can stunt their growth and cause other health issues.
Besides, too much protein can lead to a condition referred to as Angel Wing. Angel wing is a condition that could make them unable to fly and migrate safely during the cold season.
Insufficient Niacin
Ducks necessitate a sufficient amount of niacin (vitamin B3). Niacin is also known as nicotinic acid. Moreover, it is an essential nutrient for waterfowls like ducks. Furthermore, it helps maintain healthy feathering, skin, digestive tract, circulatory, and nervous systems. It also plays a crucial role in developing duckling’s bodies by converting food into usable energy to help build and maintain muscle tone.
Niacin also assists in lowering cholesterol levels while controlling diabetes. Chicken feeds, however, might not contain enough niacin to supply the needs of ducks.
Ducks Have Different Methods of Food Consumption
If you observe chickens and ducks while they feed, you will notice that they have varying methods of consuming their food. Chickens, for example, don’t drink water while pecking on their crumbles or pellets.
On the other hand, ducks sip water while they gobble up a mouthful of food. Thus, if you feed chickens with chicken feeds, they would have an easy way of eating their food without water. Ducks, however, might choke if they don’t have access to water when feeding.
What Should You Feed a Mixed Flock?
If you have a mixed flock, you can feed them with regular chicken layer feed. But since chicken feeds lack niacin, you can supplement the feed with niacin by adding brewer’s yeast to their meal. Brewer’s yeast amounting to 2.5% of the mixture, can provide the necessary niacin needed by ducks to develop their bones well. You can leave the feeds throughout the day for ducks, and chickens will regulate their eating.
If your ducks and chickens are free-ranging, they could eat bugs, weeds, and grasses, furthering their nutrient intakes. Nevertheless, if they are not free-ranging, you can add greens to their water tub to give them added nutrients. You can also supplement their feed with calcium and free-choice grit.
My Suggestions For Feeding Ducklings
You can feed your ducklings with regular chick feed. Nevertheless, you should ensure that the feed you give them is non-medicated. The reason is that chick feed is laced with medication to prevent them from developing coccidiosis during their younger days. Chick feeds usually have Amprolium as medication.
Ducks, however, are not susceptible to this disease. As such, they don’t need medicated feed. Since ducklings don’t need medicated feed, raising ducks and chicks together might not be a good idea. Besides, ducks are fond of water and would inadvertently splash around water, making the place messy and wet.
A wet and muddy place isn’t good for chicks. Furthermore, it will be best if you only feed your ducklings with chick starter feed until the end of the first two weeks. Afterward, you can transition to providing them lower-protein grower feed until they reach their 18th week. Then, switch to feeding them layer feed.
My Final Thought
When feeding ducks, you should set the food in wide tubs. Ensure that the ducks can’t tip over the wide tubs. You can also use stoneware bowls or metal pans for feeding by placing several of them at different spots to let the ducks feed simultaneously. This way, all your ducks can eat simultaneously during feeding time.
If you happen to be raising ducks for the first time and the only feed you have at hand is chicken feed, you can feed it to them for a while until you purchase feeds specifically concocted for ducks. You can supplement this feed with niacin to ensure that the ducks get ample niacin, which is a crucial factor for their growth.
