Duck Feed alternative?

[Swamp Roo]

Okay I've been thinking about getting some 'scovies. Of course I may not have a choice, I've got half a dozen flying in every day that get a little bit of whole wheat bread and scratch most days. I may need to pen them up before the local predators get them (coons, possums, coyotes, panthers, shotguns, etc.). I suspect they were recently "removed" from elsewhere by a neighbor who is a wildlife removal specialist. So as to not just jump in feet first I priced out feed locally and was shocked to see $30+ is the going rate. That's too rich for my blood. I know lots of people "just feed them anything" plus corn/scratch grains/grain. I'm not looking for the fastest growth, just some eggs and a few for the dinner table every year. But I do want healthy animals, and a life expectancy of more than a few months. What are my options, like I said $30 a bag is just not happening. Anything else I should know? Thanks.

Swamp

 

[spectrumranch]

Quote:
Is that $30 for a 50 lb bag of duck grower? what brand? that sounds about like what we pay for Mazuri duck feed for some of our rarer ducks.

We feed our muscovies cracked corn. $8 for 100 pounds. I know some will say they need more than just corn- but we kept about 40 adults for breeding last year and hatched hunderds. So I don't think there diet is to bad with those results. This year we are keeping 25 hens and 10 drakes of various colors. Of course I still have about 35 extra, but a customer is coming to get 15 hopefully this weekend.

 

[nettie]

You can feed them chicken layer pellets! It's cheap and easy. Most bags are less than 8 bucks. Unless they are free ranging and can forage for most of their own food, cracked corn is not a sufficient protein/vitamin source for them. You can however mixed cracked corn in with their feed to make it last longer...

 

[PlumTuckered]

We feed chicken layer mixed with cracked corn, our ducks free range all day long. I also give them a big bin of chopped up greens (mustard greens,cabbage,romaine lettuce,frozen green beans and frozen peas) once a day. We have very happy healthy ducks

Michelle

 

[Amiga]

I think variety helps nutrition for ducks, and us, too! So, yes, I would look into boughten feed that is affordable with the widest variety of nutrients, and be sure to give them fresh vegetables and a little fruit - like berries if they are available. Maybe even plant some stuff that would be good for them in your garden that you can harvest and feed to them.

Oats as ten to fifteen percent of their diet is recommended in Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks. If there is an inexpensive source for oats you might look into that.

 

[rainplace]

Quote:
Is that $30 for a 50 lb bag of duck grower? what brand? that sounds about like what we pay for Mazuri duck feed for some of our rarer ducks.

We feed our muscovies cracked corn. $8 for 100 pounds. I know some will say they need more than just corn- but we kept about 40 adults for breeding last year and hatched hunderds. So I don't think there diet is to bad with those results. This year we are keeping 25 hens and 10 drakes of various colors. Of course I still have about 35 extra, but a customer is coming to get 15 hopefully this weekend.

Do they free range?

 

[spectrumranch]

Do they free range?

Yes our domestic muscovies have free run of the farm and can go to the creek also.

We feed our young ducks & geese, duck starter, then duck grower, then grower/cracked corn and when they are almost grown are then on straight corn. They can also pickup oats that the cattle or buffalo drop from the feeders but they seem to prefer corn.​

 

[Duck_feeder]

Quote:
People say ducks need more than just corn because they do. That claim is based on basic biological principles and nutritional science. Since your ducks are still alive and breeding, I can only assume they free range.

Corn lacks many of the essentials nutrients a duck needs. In particular it is a poor source for some essential amino acids. Without additional food in the ducks' diet that a relatively high in these essential amino acids, ducks would need to eat an extremely large amount of corn to meet their amino acid requirements.

Corn is also deficient in niacin. While niacin does exist in corn it is in a form that is not readily bio-available. Ducks lack the capability to extract this form of niacin.

There are other key nutrients corn lacks but those are the main ones.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
If you have a Purina dealer available, it should be considerably cheaper. Duck Grower is $16.00/bag here. I think farm stores may have a more generic feed for them too, depending on who you have. I have fed Kent Game Bird pellets and they were okay.

 

[spectrumranch]

large amount of corn

LOL we offer corn to alot of our birds during the winter, currently we go thru about 1500 pounds of corn a week for birds.​