Feed questions.

[Goat_Walker]

Well Im a little confused. So I let my ducks free range - but what type of feed should they get?

Ive been feeding corn and flock raiser/starter to them for my layers. But Im now hearing tha corn gives them liver problems and Im pretty sure that my drakes could be eating somthing better than flock starter.

My flock consists of:

4 laying ducks
3 soon to be laying ducks
2 drakes
3 juveniles (3 girls, 1 boy ... I think)

My flock is both pet and breeders. I plan on incubating their eggs and then selling the ducklings.

So, what should I be feeding them and about how much? My methods of feeding have worked so far but If I can improve the longevity of my flock then all the better.

 

[BaronRenfrew]

If they were force fed corn then I could expect liver problems but wother wise you're doing fine.

Here's more to read if interested.

On feed mixes: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=37984

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=89348

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=52940&p=2

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=142463

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=53334

 

[Goat_Walker]

force fed?! heck my flock practically runs me over everymorning when i let them out to free rangeand shovel out some corn for 'em.

 

[FenDruadin]

Well, it's never going to be perfect when you've got a mixed flock. However, the beauty of free range is that they will pretty much make up for deficiencies by choosing the natural foods that fill in the gaps. So you're probably fine. Having said that, I feed mine a chicken layer pellet, because it's a relatively complete food for my layers, and the rest will just have to deal. If you're breeding, you may want to see if you can find a breeding ration, but I haven't ever seen it in the stores here. And if you plan to incubate the eggs yourself, it may not be as critical anyway.

So, the short answer from me is: Chicken layer ration + free range = happy, healthy duckies & lots of eggs.

 

[Goat_Walker]

GREAT! because i just bought aa 50lb bag of chicken layer feed LOL. And they free range aminimum of three days a week-n I dont like letting them out when no ones home.

 

[Duck Keeper]

What's the problem with corn? ;


My ducks get layer pellets and free range on four acres.
Never had any problems with the drakes being on the layer feed.

...Aaaannnd I forgot what else I was going to say...

OH OH! I was going to tell you to sell the eggs on eBay or Eggbid, because once you exhaust the duckling market in your area, nobody's going to buy more (in my experience). I started selling on eBay, but I think I'll move to Eggbid sometime sooner or later, because of a terrible situation...



If you must know (and I know some people want to) the guy that bought them didn't pay for over a WEEK. Then when he finally did, he got them and said they 'dried up'... UGH. Then he files a case, even though he claimed he was totally new to eBay and was 'just a simple farmer' and then PayPal says they'll refund ALL OF HIS MONEY if he sends them back, YET HE NEVER SENT THEM BACK!!! And now I'm down $20.50. That svcks.
He got seven of my duck eggs for free...

But overall, selling eggs is generally a good business.

I get about twenty bucks for five plus eggs.

 

[Goat_Walker]

REALLY!? How much do you think I could get for mutt hatching eggs??

And i hate it when people dont pay. Which remindsme! I have two orders I need to get out today, lol

 

[Duck Keeper]

You could do a search on eBay for 'duck hatching egg' and all sorts of results will pop up. Although I haven't checked this time of year, so I don't know how many might be on there.

Of course, I'm selling purebred Silver Appleyard (large) duck eggs, so maybe that factors in on the price.

I'm sure you could get a fair price for a whole slew of eggs!

MAKE SURE you put on your auction that you under no circumstances can refund because eggs are perishable, and that the buyer needs to pay withing 24 hours so you can ship them out etc etc...

There's a lot of stuff you have to do, but it's fun.

Read through some other auctions to see how they word their disclaimers.
(It's sad we need to have one in the first place though...

)