HELP! What do I feed new baby Muscovy ducklings?!

[RoosterHuggerLiz]

My neighbor had a mother duck nesting in her bushes and one morning she came out to find the mother duck had been run over, she gave me the eggs knowing that I had chickens and an incubator hoping that they would live so I popped them in about a week ago and they're hatching out right now! I ordered duckling food but it's not going to be here until Wednesday and they're already trying to eat the bedding in there cage! I have a large goldfish pond and I've got plenty of small baby fish and tadpoles, would it be okay if I fed them the tadpoles and baby goldfish or spinach or something???? I've only ever had one duckling before and he ended up huge with angel wing, I don't want to mess up again

 

[Jenbirdee]

do you have a feed store in the area? you can feed them chick starter.
scrambled eggs are good too
they will need 'grit' to digest anything they eat besides the chick or duck feed

they should also have extra niacin in the form of nutritional yeast or brewers yeast add 1 Tbsp to each cup of duck or chick feed
@HeritageFan @New duck mommy 2021 @Miss Lydia @cheezenkwackers

 

[RoosterHuggerLiz]

do you have a feed store in the area? you can feed them chick starter.
scrambled eggs are good too
they will need 'grit' to digest anything they eat besides the chick or duck feed

they should also have extra niacin in the form of nutritional yeast or brewers yeast add 1 Tbsp to each cup of duck or chick feed
@HeritageFan @New duck mommy 2021 @Miss Lydia @cheezenkwackers

Scrambled eggs? And chicken chick starter will work? The only feed store in my area is quite far and I have no mode of transportation other than the bus so I wouldn't be able to get there

 

[RoosterHuggerLiz]

Could I use some quail chick feed?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Since I have a mix flock of chickens ducks and a goose I buy chicken feed and add nutritional yeast for the extra niacin. I start out using chick starter /grower and once they are laying age they all eat Layer. My Muscovy have always done real well on it. Chicken feed doesn't have enough niacin in it so it's important they get that supplemented.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Could I use some quail chick feed?

Yes, to start anyway. You might add mashed, cooked egg yolks to it for added niacin. Ducklings also like to start out with wet food so add water to the quail food to make a mushy mash.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could I use some quail chick feed?

Whats in quail chick feed? might compare it to reg chick starter

 

[RoosterHuggerLiz]

Whats in quail chick feed? might compare it to reg chick starter

Its Quail chick feed

 

[casportpony]

Its Quail chick feed

Crumbles for quail chicks is fine. Can you post a picture of the bag?

 

[Bubblewrap]

In early industrial farming grains and meat scraps where used to feed poultry. You would have to find books written prior to 1920 to find the recipes. Curiously poultry because they are an omnivour where a more expensive meat to produce than the vegetarian ruminants. There high protein feed was more difficult to produce then pasture grass. I would think ducks would happily live on a starch mixed with fish and greans but you would be experimenting with the little guys. Meat scraps are high in naicin and amino acids.

https://cluckin.net/how-and-what-did-they-feed-chickens-in-the-old-days.html