Ahem... Do ducks lay every day? What do I feed ducks? Can i feed them stuff from home or is there special food? Do i need to clip wings? Yes? How? Thanks

-- Steve Hill (ukph@edsamail.com.ph), May 02, 2001

Answers

Response to DUCK

I have Buff ducks. They lay everyday, but seasonal so only from about March until June or July. I feed them cracked corn. Sometimes some of the chicken laying mash. I have them in a pen made out of 4' hog panels. I haven't clipped their wings & have not had any trouble with them getting out. If you do, just clip one side. This makes them lopsided & unable to fly. I use an old pair of scissors to clip the chickens. I cut one side back , but never really short. I do it just short enough to throw them off. Mine also love fresh grass clippings.

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), May 02, 2001.

I feed my ducks pellets from the feed store, fresh corn I cut off the cob, Romaine Lettuce, broccoli I cut in small pieces (usually slicing off the top flowers-shaving actually) and Nekton vitamins from the vet, usually 3 times per week (I sprinkle it on their food). You need something more nutritional than cracked corn! And chicken scratch does not have a good balance for ducks. Also when the ducks are FULL GROWN at about a year old you can give them oyster shells that are pulverized because that is high in calcium and helps laying ducks so that their bones are not depleted giving all of the calcium to the eggs they produce.JoAnn

-- JoAnn Flynn (goonetune@aol.com), May 03, 2001.

We had Mallards for many years, so they may have laid differently from domestic ducks. Ours laid eggs only in the spring, and it was usually daily until they had a clutch. We rarely took the eggs away from them, so I don't know what the ultimate egg production could be.

We used to feed our whole corn, Although I'm sure cracked would be better because it is already broken open and the nutrients more readily available, they just can't pick it up as quickly. We supplemented their diets with all kinds of greens -- lettuce, dandelions, clover, chickweed, and grass. They chased down and ate a lot of bugs, and I would dig up earthworms for them as well. In the spring when the suckers (carp) were running and we'd net them for smoking, we gave them the guts and roe, which they consumed happily. We also threw them eggshells, which they crunched up, they seemed to prefer it to the oyster shell we offered, altho that may have been that the oyster shell was too large for them.

Babies were fed unmedicated starter mash from the feed store, mixed up in warm water to a slurry so they could dabble it up. Mom would help out with this as well, and I'm sure that other ducks would like it too.

We trimmed off only one wing feathers as Wendy mentioned as well. If they tried to fly, they were unbalanced, and would fly in a circle and land back where they started from. One thing that you do have to be careful of while doing this is that the feathers are not actively growing, with blood in them. You don't want to cut a blood feather (they are usually still furled in their waxy sheathes, and a dark, bluish colour), so check before you cut. If you do accidentally cut one, it's not the end of the world, but you should have a pair of pliers handy to yank the feather out of the wing (quick, firm jerk to remove it, straight away from where it emerges from the body so it doesn't break off again. You need the pliers to get a good grip on it, it's very hard to do with fingers) We'd cut off approximately 2/3rds of the length of the feathers, starting from the front edge of the wing (Primaries) and through the secondaries.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), May 03, 2001.

JoAnn, I can not afford to feed mine the 7 course meal you do. My ducks are happy & healthy & not underfed. What works for me might not work for you but I didn't like how you made it sound like I am not properly caring for them. I do not want to start an argument. I just posted what I do. It works for me. I also asked my feed guy & he said that giving the chicken mash would be fine. I will also give garden leftovers whenever I get the darn thing planted. If we don't get any rain, I may not have much to offer. :-(

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), May 03, 2001.

I have rouen ducks, have had them a year now, so I am no expert...but mine are thriving on this: game fowl layer feed, grass, what ever veges from the table or fridge that are a little too limp for family to eat..I hadn't thought about giving them eggshells...should I wash the egg shells before I crush them up to give them? We go through a lot of eggs around here! We give them a bit of feed a day then all the greens and veges they want. Right now the lawn is over grown and they are sure happy!!! I am cutting it down and throwing the clippings in with them. Happy happy ducks!!

Good luck with them, I just think they are the cutest things!

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), May 03, 2001.

Cindy, in response to your question about eggshells, we used to just give them to them pretty fresh, and they'd mash them up with their beaks, even chasing each other for them. We never had a problem with salmonella (luckily?), however, you might think about baking them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes or so before giving them to the ducks if you are worried about salmonella.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), May 04, 2001.

When I can get Muscovy ducklings off of the nest they only get fresh water and chick starter/grower. Really go through both. For my mature Muscovys, all they get is whole kernel corn in the morning. After that they are expected to forage - although I do have a good-sized pond and two spring-runs for them to play/feed in.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), May 04, 2001.

How often they lay depends on the breed, kaki cambels (spelling?) lay like chickens, year round,they will eat any thing, fat domestic birds generaly have trouble getting over 4ft off the ground for a short distance, more trim birds can fly well, I had a kaki hen about 4 or 5 years old that would get air born chasing japanese beetles, about 2 ft in the air for about 30 ft. at a shot. It was cool to watch. One interesting thing about many birds is that if they do not eat something while young, they don't know it'is food when they are grown, wild birds learn to sample every thing, domestic birds will stare at the dish as though the 'new' food might eat them! example; my new birds will not eat apples! {but the puppies and the kitten will!}

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), May 04, 2001.