How to Feed Fully Grown Ducks

Ducks, whether they are raised as farm animals or pets, are great animals to keep domestically. However, ducks have special nutritional requirements. If you do not feed ducks the right food, they will not grow properly. Poor duck nutrition can also lead to illnesses and even death in your flock of birds. Also, the wrong food can cause the ducks to make more waste, making your clean up efforts more difficult. Before you throw some birdseed to your ducks, here is what you need to know about feeding fully-grown ducks.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Duck feed pellets
• Fresh vegetable trimmings
• Cracked corn
• Worms
• Chopped hard boiled eggs
• Bin feeder
• Duct tape

How to Feed Fully Grown Ducks

1. Start by preparing the bin feeder. Clean and dry the surface of the feeder. Use duct tape to cover any sharp edges, and then hang it in a secure location within the ducks' enclosure.

2. Choose a commercial pellet food that has the right amount of protein. Ducks who are laying eggs need 16 to 18 percent protein in their food. Non-laying adults need 14 to 16 percent protein in their food.

3. Remember that too much protein can cause a condition known as angel wing, which causes the wing feathers to stick up. Not feeding ducks enough protein will cause them serious nutritional problems and will interfere with proper egg laying.

4. Provide your ducks with fresh greens, such as vegetable trimmings. If the ducks are kept outdoors, the ducks may eat weeds and grass in your yard. Whenever you feed your ducks, make sure that vegetables or greens of some sort are part of the meal.

5. Supplement your ducks' diet with chopped up hard boiled eggs, worms, and cracked corn. Avoid using whole corn, as it can be difficult to digest. Feed ducks plenty of cracked corn in the winter especially. Cracked corn has half of the protein that the ducks need.

6. Provide water whenever you feed fully-grown ducks. Ducks will use the water to help them swallow the food and clean their beaks. If you do not provide water, your birds could choke.

7. Keep the food fresh. If you need to change the food in the feeder because the ducks are not eating it quickly enough, do so, because duck food can easily grow bacteria and other microorganisms that can harm your pet ducks.

Tips & Warnings

• When providing supplemental treats, like worms and hard boiled eggs, make sure to limit them to a couple of servings a week. Ducks will overeat on treats, and this can kill them.
• Healthy foods should always be available to your ducks, so keep the bin feeder full.
• Ducks will make their water dirty, so change it every day.
• Never feed ducks seeds, as they can cause digestive problems.
• Never feed ducks people food, like popcorn or bread, as it does not provide them with any nutritional benefit.
• Never give chocolate to your ducks, as it can kill them.

Resources

• LiveDucks.com
• Feeding Ducks
• How to Raise a Duck as a Pet