[diamond_lil]

Hi, are there any duck expertrs out there? Or anyone with just a bit of expertise? Or even anyone who knows someone who owns a duck? We have 10 ducks of mixed parentage and one drake. (Called Donald, of course.) We keep them in a coop at night but during the day they are free to roam the farm and enjoy our two ponds. When they come in at night they get mixed corn in water which they love, and we keep them in until about 10 a.m. by which time most of them should have laid. But we aren't getting too many eggs at the moment. Last night, my OH put some chicken layers pellets in with the corn and this morning we had 10 eggs. However, the feed tray was a mushy mess where all the pellets had dissolved into the water.

My question is is there a duck equivalent of layers pellets? If so, where do I get them from?

Thanks for all the wonderful advice on the forum.

[WG.]

Kept Khaki Campbells (best layers) years ago and fed them whole wheat (they wandered all day too).  I'd be amazed if the layers pellets made that much difference as quickly as that.   If it does, feed a little to them dry in a suspended hopper - they will soon go to the water (which is gonna get mushy and dirty no matter what).

[slowef]

I have got ducklings and so new to this but the one thing that is agreed is that you should be careful about chicken food unless its organic as it contains medication (coccidistats are the worst) and this can harm ducks as they are more voracious feeders than chickens.

 I buy the Organic Smallholder range from

http://www.store.allenandpage.co.uk/index.htm
As you can see mine are thriving on it!!



I have the book by Katie Thear and it is very good for information on Ducks.  

hope this helps
Sandra
xx

[WG.]

The chicken looks a bit confused by it all ...  

[slowef]

Poor Scatty hates it when they go in the Henrun and steal the food thats left over but believeme she does rule and if she wanted what they have she would have had it.
S
xx

[diamond_lil]

Thanks for the advice, and the gorgeous pictures. I too have the Katie Thear book. Her advice is always excellent.

We raised our ducklings under a broody hen but took her out after two weeks because she was having a nervous breakdown at the behaviour of the ducklings. All that water throwing! Not what my offspring usually do! I think ducklings grow a lot faster than chicks and need the warmth for less time.

Interesting about the chicken food for ducks. I must admit they do seem to have done well on the mixed corn up till now. 3 of them are 3 years old and the rest 2. I am sure ducks go off lay as they get older, but is 3 old in duck years? I think I shall steer clear of the layers pellets. I would hate to do them any harm.

One of their favourite foods is lamb fattening pellets - not what they are suppose to eat, of course. They have recently broken into a full bag they found in the feed shed. Maybe that is why we suddenly got so many eggs!!

[slowef]

Also I read from another duckowner that Original Chappie is ok for ducks and mine certainly love it, just add a bit of water to make it into a slightly moist consistency, I add a couple of weetabix as well.they have 1/2 a tin (Large size) between them now but it was about a tablespoon per duck  when they were tiny.  It is mostly cereal based and has done mine no harm.
Sandra
xx

[diamond_lil]

Thanks for that slowef. The weetabix might be a bit high in salt but I will look into Original Chappie! They seem to like just about everything going at the moment! In this lovely weather we sit by the pond with our bag of stale bread and they feed out of our hand. The chickens and the guinea fowl come and join us. Heaven!!