[mentalmilly]

Has anyone fed layers mash to ducklings, have read today that it is not good for them, they love the stuff and pitch in with the chucks.

[taz08]

i think as long as its not medicated its ok ,,  but some1 will be along soon to say for sure

[Beeducked]

No expert but from what I understand the extra calcium can be a problem for growing bones. The protein content is usually a bit higher than growers too which can predispose them to angel and slipped wing although it is less than chick crumb so probably not so much of a problem. Would have thought if it is not their main food source it will not be a problem.

[Bodger]

I think that you'll find that these days no poultry food is routinely medicated.

[graham-j]

Hi,you should only feed layers pellets or mash to birds that are in lay.All the extra calcium in the layers feeds can damage the kidneys of young birds that are not in lay.

You should feed them non medicated chick crumb for the first 3 to 4 weeks and then growers pellets or mash up to when they start to lay.Don't keep them on chick crumb to long as they are very high protein and its this that can lead to angel wing in ducks.

Lots of pellets are still routinely medicated so be careful to ask for non medicated.
Duffields pellets for instance are all medicated unless you ask for otherwise.

Graham.

[HesterF]

How old are they? My understanding is that mash is not great for ducks because it gets stuck under their tongue - pellets are better - but that's the theory. If yours are coping OK, then it should be fine (and given the state of their food once they've mixed it all up with water anyway, it's pretty much duck-made mash).

Then it's the growers/layers debate. It's all about protein/calcium etc. but it's hard if you've got them all in together. I've got chicks (not tiny ones but a few weeks old), adult chickens, a duckling (nearly three months old), adult ducks and geese in together. In theory some should be having layers, some waterfowl growers (my goose breeders put them back onto growers/finishers when they'd finished laying) and some chick crumb/growers. At the moment I'm putting layers into the hen feeder which is harder for the ducks and geese to get their bills into, growers (mixture) into an open bowl and a few chick crumbs into a small bowl in a run within the run that only the chicks seem to go into (never seen any waterfowl in there). Then I just have to hope they find their own balance - the chicks prefer the smaller pellets and crumbs anyway so that works, the ducks prefer the open bowl although that means the laying ducks might not be getting enough calcium and the hens just pick at everything.They all  have lots of space for free ranging so I hope they balance their own nutritional requirements to some extent - just as nature intended.

H

[mentalmilly]

The adult ducks, no problem, layers mash and a handful of mixed corn when they ask for it.  The babies well, at 5 weeks old will eat anything including my wellies.  Been giving them boiled potatoes with layers mash, not too much mash, and they love it.  Also mix chopped pasta with the mash.  I don't feed a lot of mash with the mix so l assume they will be OK.  No problems so far. Glad l don't have your problem Hester because by the time the ducklings have fed there won't be anything left for anyone else. Given up on chick crumb at 2 weeks, they hate the stuff.  Have pellets for ducks and geese now with whatever they can steel from the adults.  Thanks everyone for the input.

[HesterF]

They might need a bit more protein than they'll get from the layers (or pasta or potatoes). Can you get hold of any growers for them?

H

[mentalmilly]

They have growers as well and now mixed corn.  Can't stop them eating, if l stood still long enough they would eat me.  Never seen anything so little eat so much.

[HesterF]

If they're anything like mine, they're also growing ferociously quickly. I weighed mine at three weeks and they'd increased their hatch weight ten fold - something it takes a human baby up to ten years to do. Mine are now five weeks as well and I have to refill their food and water several times a day (and they have big bowls of both). Incredible!

H