How much to feed the ducks?

[Millymollymandy]

My new ducks are complete pigs and hoover up food like there is no tomorrow! I'm giving them duck food and some wheat and they eat the wheat in seconds.

There would be no need to force feed these ducks if I wanted to fatten up their livers for pate.

The thing is I don't know how much food I should actually be giving them as there is no guideline on the sacks of duck feed. Anyone advise?

[farmerdrea]

Hiya -- I've always fed ducks, chooks and turkeys (which are all free-ranging) as much food as it takes them 10 minutes to consume. They get full crops, the wild birds don't have a chance to get a look in, and the poultry go away happy. Usually. Though they would have any visitor think they are fed on prison rations....!

If they're penned up, feed them the same amount, but also give them piles of branches, twigs, weeds, grass clippings, etc to fossick around in, to keep them from boredom (during the breeding season, we pen the pure breeds to keep them that way).

Hope this helps!

Andrea
NZ

[Millymollymandy]

10 mins! I rather think they would eat a whole 10kg bag in 10 minutes! They are free ranging now that they have started to venture a bit further from their shed and have finally discovered the pond is a fun place to play!

[Boots]

Hi M3!

Oooh Yeah! Ducks are heaps different to other poultry, and they will eat all you can give them and still some!

You can't leave grain in a feeder for ducks, like you can chooks if you go away. They will just polish it all off as soon as they get it and then roll around like balloons while your gone.

If they are free ranging, they will draw the bulk of their food from the environment (which is my preferred way) and you can just compliment their food with anything that might be lacking, or create a routine when you want them back in the pen by shaking a bucket with not much in it (coupla cups).

I'm not sure how many you have? If they are just living on grain, they would need at least a cup each, but if they are free ranging then you dont need to encourage over-reliance on grain. If there isn't much in the way of protein (bugs, mice, dark greens) you'll notice their yolks pale. That would be when you would compliment with a protein high grain mix. I think I remember seeing a pic of your pond... if it is the one that is comign to mind, it was rich in natural feed.

An overfed duck is very unhealthy, and you can't actually see just how unhealthy until you process them... It really does them no favours to load them up by hand feeding.

A small group of mine keep heading over the hill each arvo, which is kinda cute to watch. They have found an ant hill, and keep sneaking off for arvo tea! They must be whispering among themselves because each arvo the group gets a bit bigger!

[Millymollymandy]

Hi Boots

I have been talking about them on this thread:

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/forum/ ... 3396#53396

I bought 4 ducks 2 weeks ago.

I noticed that yesterday they ate much fewer duck pellets than the previous days as they took themselves off to the pond when I let them out, and now they are munching more vegetation and dabbling at the edge of the pond for grub. Same thing this morning.

Thanks for the advice!

[ohareward]

Hi 3M, In my book it says that if the ducks are getting plenty of food outside, then cut down on pellets, and if they are not getting enough outside then up the amount. You should always give them some pellets as it contains stuff they might not get in the rough.

Robin

[Millymollymandy]

Trouble is, they aren't doing anything much. Are ducks naturally lazy? All mine want to do all day is lie around their washing up bowl of water. They are not interested in the pond!

[Millymollymandy]

I still have no idea how much I should be feeding them. When I have finished this 25kg sack I'll work out how much they've eaten each in x amount of weeks then ask the question again.

[fenwoman]

My new ducks are complete pigs and hoover up food like there is no tomorrow! I'm giving them duck food and some wheat and they eat the wheat in seconds.

There would be no need to force feed these ducks if I wanted to fatten up their livers for pate.

The thing is I don't know how much food I should actually be giving them as there is no guideline on the sacks of duck feed. Anyone advise?

free feed them. Let them have whatever they want.Make sure you don't leave any laying about overnight to encourage rats though. I used a large cat litter tray into which I tipped the wheat along with a splosh of water since they like to dibble for their food.

[Millymollymandy]

I think they would eat until they exploded if I gave them as much as they liked!

[fenwoman]

I think they would eat until they exploded if I gave them as much as they liked!

Not true and impossible. They eat until their crops are full, then stop eating.

[Millymollymandy]

Well, I was joking, Fenwoman!

However as the advice on this thread ranges from 'don't give them too much as they are free range' to 'give them as much as they like' I think I will just follow my own instinct now. It will be cheaper for me if they find the majority of their food out there in the wild than from a sack anyway!

[fenwoman]

Well, I was joking, Fenwoman!

However as the advice on this thread ranges from 'don't give them too much as they are free range' to 'give them as much as they like' I think I will just follow my own instinct now. It will be cheaper for me if they find the majority of their food out there in the wild than from a sack anyway!

Sorry I didn't realise you were joking. Honestly I hear so many daft things when people ask my advice that I thought you were serious lol.