Hello,
I’m looking for some advice about how much and what to feed ducks please?
I am completely new to keeping poultry and have had two female 12 week old Campbell ducks since they were 2 weeks old.
They have been free ranging in the back garden (approx 20m x30m) all day since 8 weeks only being shut in the coop at night.
They have access to an area of grass and weeds (which currently has seed heads), some tree lined borders (hazel, sycamore, cherry) thick with leaf litter, various bugs and as many snails/slugs as they can eat and I have lots of berries (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry) that they can eat the low hanging fruit off.
They also have a Belfast sink that I fill daily with fresh water and a very generous portion of various greens and bugs from my veg patch (brassicas, lettuce, nasturtiums, dandelions, comfrey, lambs quarters, chard, marigolds, quinoa leaves, cabbage white caterpillars etc), some pond weed that I grow in a water butt and transplant (duckweed, an oxygenating weed and a few pond crittters that hitch a ride) and any veg waste from the kitchen (mostly tomatoes, strawberries, courgettes inc flowers, peas, cooked sweet potato, sweetcorn, melon, peach).
I ‘ve also noticed them eating chives right down to the ground (I thought they couldn’t eat alliums. Do I need to dig these up?)and any fallen rose and wisteria petals (Are these ok for ducks to eat?).
I had been giving them as much crumb at night as they needed but now they are looking more full grown I would like to cut back on feed costs and have them forage for most of their food at least in the summer when there is ample forage available. Although I’ve seen them forage and actively hunt insects they always seem to beg for food at our kitchen door rather than take the initiative to find it themselves. Are they training me as a duck slave or are they actually hungry? Will they overeat? If I just ignore them will they forage for themselves?
I started by just giving them 1 cup of crumb mixed with grit, oats, lentils and barley each at night 2 weeks ago when they are in their coop and since they still appeared to be gaining weight and pooping loads I have now cut that back to 1/2 cup each. They still appear healthy running about like lunatics and pooping everywhere but I am worried that I am under feeding them. I’m struggling with getting the balance right of encouraging them to forage and feeding them enough. Any advice please? Please do also comment if anything i’m feeding them is bad for them. Thanks
I’m looking for some advice about how much and what to feed ducks please?
I am completely new to keeping poultry and have had two female 12 week old Campbell ducks since they were 2 weeks old.
They have been free ranging in the back garden (approx 20m x30m) all day since 8 weeks only being shut in the coop at night.
They have access to an area of grass and weeds (which currently has seed heads), some tree lined borders (hazel, sycamore, cherry) thick with leaf litter, various bugs and as many snails/slugs as they can eat and I have lots of berries (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, raspberry) that they can eat the low hanging fruit off.
They also have a Belfast sink that I fill daily with fresh water and a very generous portion of various greens and bugs from my veg patch (brassicas, lettuce, nasturtiums, dandelions, comfrey, lambs quarters, chard, marigolds, quinoa leaves, cabbage white caterpillars etc), some pond weed that I grow in a water butt and transplant (duckweed, an oxygenating weed and a few pond crittters that hitch a ride) and any veg waste from the kitchen (mostly tomatoes, strawberries, courgettes inc flowers, peas, cooked sweet potato, sweetcorn, melon, peach).
I ‘ve also noticed them eating chives right down to the ground (I thought they couldn’t eat alliums. Do I need to dig these up?)and any fallen rose and wisteria petals (Are these ok for ducks to eat?).
I had been giving them as much crumb at night as they needed but now they are looking more full grown I would like to cut back on feed costs and have them forage for most of their food at least in the summer when there is ample forage available. Although I’ve seen them forage and actively hunt insects they always seem to beg for food at our kitchen door rather than take the initiative to find it themselves. Are they training me as a duck slave or are they actually hungry? Will they overeat? If I just ignore them will they forage for themselves?
I started by just giving them 1 cup of crumb mixed with grit, oats, lentils and barley each at night 2 weeks ago when they are in their coop and since they still appeared to be gaining weight and pooping loads I have now cut that back to 1/2 cup each. They still appear healthy running about like lunatics and pooping everywhere but I am worried that I am under feeding them. I’m struggling with getting the balance right of encouraging them to forage and feeding them enough. Any advice please? Please do also comment if anything i’m feeding them is bad for them. Thanks
