With so many variables when it comes to duck care I don't think there truly is a "best" or one way to do things across the board for every flock. That being said, with having ducks for years I will list below what I have found to be the "best" when it comes to my flock's needs.
Feed: I have tried I think just about every duck feed out there including spending $50+ on a single bag of feed. I check my flock over weekly, in the warmer months I am usually outside for hours every day so I am always watching and I hatch ducklings every spring. I take note on how my ducks respond to different feeds in regards to weight, physical health, physical appearance and egg hatch quality. At the end of the day my ducks have done by far better on Kalmbach's Flock Maker. Their feather quality in particular is by far the best and I seem to have less nutrient deficiencies at hatch (more common for a breed I raise). It also has a higher niacin content than many other duck labeled feeds including Purina and
Manna Pro.
Supplements/Extras: My ducks do not seem to do as well on the rock like oyster shells that you find at
tractor supply and I have noticed a decline in shell quality when using it. However, the gray flaked oyster shells that Scratch and Peck sells they do very very well on. I have no shell quality issues when they have access to it. For vitamin supplements I keep Poultry Cell on hand. I have seen it do wonders for ducks (ducklings in particular who are struggling). I also keep Durvet's electrolytes on hand because it also contains niacin, Durvet's B complex for niacin deficiencies and I am a huge fan of Bene-Bac probiotic paste for gut issues.
Feeders: I currently just use large ceramic dog bowls for my adult flock. I use the extra small cat sized ceramic bowls for ducklings. I like how easy they are to clean out particularly when I wet their feed for mashes and that they are heavy so they don't get tipped.
Waterers: For my adult flock I just use multiple 2 gallon buckets I get from
tractor supply. They also have access to a small pond I had dug out for them. For duckling waterers for the first week I use small ceramic ramekins that are about the size of a sauce cup. After that they are usually big enough to drink out of the gallon jugs I cut holes out in the sides and fill up. I take a cooling rack with a baking sheet and put their waterers on top. This past year k started taking the rubber drawer liners with the larger holes and set that on the cooling rack for extra padding. I have been really liking that set up.
Bedding: In the past I used pine shavings, but for the first week I lay puppy pads over the shavings so they have a more solid surface to get their legs under them. I keep the shavings under the puppy pads because I brood out in a barn that sits on a concrete slap so I like the extra padding. If you are brooding inside you could just throw down puppy pads or towels without anything underneath.
Heat/Brooder Plate: So far my favorite brooder plate is from Premier 1. One thing to note is that many brooder plates heat through contact so the ducklings need to be able to physically touch the plate with their backs. I set my plate at an angle so the back is low enough for them to touch and I set the front up higher so they can adjust how close they need to be to the plate accordingly. Another thing I will add is that the amount of chicks/ducklings per plate size is about as exaggerated as the numbers you can supposedly fit in a pre-fab coop. So for a plate size that says it can fit 10 chicks I would say 6-7 ducklings max.
For first aid that is duck specific (full first aid link provided below):
-Neoprin Duck boots for foot injuries (crazy K farms has good ones)
- 1" wide vet wrap makes it much easier to wrap a ducks foot.
-I really like Tweezer Guru brand tweezers. They have a nice sharp point and good edge which makes it much easier to pull off bumbles. I haven't even used a scalpel for bumbles since switching to the Tweezers Guru tweezers.
-Small dog sized toe nail clippers. Makes it easy to cut ducks toe nails without causinf fractures throughout whole nail.
I think there is a list on here
@HollowOfWisps or
@Miss Lydia may know how to get to it
I can list all I have so far later when I can get down to the cabinet
@BelovedBirds may also know where to find the list
I believe this is the link you were referring to?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/suggestions-for-a-first-aid-kit-updated-8-01-2020.1150128/
