[Maria1969]

Hi All
 
I have just found out the chick crumb I bought for my new 2 day old ducklings contains ACS so have removed it asap.
 
I cant get to the shops until 5pm ish (live in the middle of no where) so what can I give them until then, I dont have any prrridge oats I was thinking some scrambled egg maybe?
 
Any help much appreciated
 
M x

[Mel Rice]

Try mixing in bread.

[jaykay]

Scrambled egg with some sort of cereal mixed in. If feeding bread, it's a good idea to toast it first, as otherwise it absorbs water quite a bit when they drink and that can cause severe discomfort or worse.

[BecciBoo24]

I've heard cooked egg yolk mashed up is good! what about adult duck pellets just crushed up a little?

[Mel]

Don't give them bread for crying out loud,it swells in the stomach and it can harm them! you would be better of digging up some worms or bugs,put them in an enclosed area on the grass,they shall eat what they find,this is what they do in the wild

[goosepimple]

On the other hand, we totally feed our ducklings on wholemeal breadcrumbs (tiny) mixed with milk which they go mad for until they are about 2 weeks then start giving them goose and duck crumbs in milk with a bit of the breadcrumbs mixed in.  We have raised almost 100 muscovy ducklings this way and none have had a problem and they love it love it.  If they are just a few days old you'll find they eat next to nothing so don't worry.

[MAK]

We have only had one large clutch of muscovies but they ate chick crumbs for just a few days before tucking in with the adults. They got pecked a few times by our old git of a drake but soon learnt how to get out of his way. We gave up with the chick crumbs after a few days and everyone got the same grub. No deaths or illness and they tasted great.
SO if time or money is tight then maybe try the ducklings on adult food after 4=5 days ratherthan mess around with different foods.

[Brijjy]

My baby mussies with their mum have never had chick crumbs. She hatched them out under a wood pile so I couldn't get them in and feed them. Her and babies are eating mixed corn and whatever they can find as they wander about.

[MAK]

Yes seing them eat snails and every insect known to man ( even massive grasshoppers that they can not swallow in one) makes you appreciate that they are not fussy eaters - even when young. If I dig up grubs or worms I have a pot to put them in then chuck them to the ducks and ducklings. Colecting snails as I do my rounds of a morning is also appreciated by the ducks.

[goosepimple]

Ooh, those feeding regimes sound a lot easier than my messing around with magimixing breadcrumbs - maybe I've been too soft ....

[jaykay]

I put out ACS-free chick crumbs but my free-range call ducklings eat very little of it - they prefer fossicking about in the beck banks for wee beasties 

[MAK]

I tend to think that birds and animals are self regulating in what they would choose to eat in the wild and I am not keen on spending money on factory produced products. I have time so I will use it to collect snails from down the lane ( big edible sods that are sold in the shops) or I will collect chestnuts or acorns for the pigs. The ducks love lettuce leaves, chick weed. apples or anything we chuck at them.

[chrismahon]

I'm amazed you can get chick crumb over there anyway MAK. I heard chicken feedstuffs were expensive and very poor quality. Mashed boiled egg is a good chick starter with adult feed ground up. It's the extra protein they need as their digestive system isn't initially very efficient. However the first Mallard we reared was fed on ground up adult food from day two and thrived, flying off at 10 weeks!
 
Snails are bad news as they contain a lot of intestinal worms. you should avoid giving them to poultry, leave them to the hedgehogs.

[MAK]

Oh - no snails then.
Yes we can get chick crumb in 10 kg bags.