Can ducks and chicken eat the same food ? This is a question you may have if you raise both chickens and duck that share living twenty-five percent . The little resolution is yes , eternal sleep assured that they can eat the same feed . Although commercial water bird feedisavailable in some surface area , it can be hard to find , and if you let your chicken and ducks roam freely together , furnish unlike provender for each wo n’t work , as both will happily rust anything you put in thefeeders .
Beware Of Too Much Protein
There are feeds on the market labeled for interracial flocks , but most are formulated for marrow raspberry . These pattern are high in protein and encourage degraded growth — on the nose what you do n’t want when you’reraising ducksas pets or level . duck that grow too fast can develop leg and foot problem , so be sure to read the label and steer absolved of anything labeled for broilers or meat ducks if you’reraising a flockfor eggs .
Too much protein can also conduct to a condition in ducks called angel extension in which their wings get to curve aside from their bodies render them ineffective to pilot . While it ’s merely a enhancive issue in domestic duck that ca n’t fly anyway , in wild duck the condition can mean a death time because they ’re ineffectual to transmigrate or escape predator . ( Adding some naked as a jaybird oats to the provender can help lower the protein levels and prevent this condition . )
What To Feed A Mixed Flock?
A assorted slew can be fed unconstipated volaille layer feed . Ducksdo require slightly higher levels of niacin than chickens , so adding some beer maker ’s barm is a salutary mind . Brewer ’s yeast ( up to a 2.5 per centum ) can help oneself duck ’ bones grow right and is good to chickens , as well . Ducks will self - regulate their eating just like chickens , so provender can be left out all day for them to exhaust as much or as little as they want .
If your flockfree - ranges , your ducks will exhaust all kinds of hemipteron , skunk and weeds to help supplement their diet , which can lead in a lower feed placard . Ifyour flockis write up , a few handful of jet in their piddle bath is a corking way to amuse ducks and give them some added nutritive - rich treats . duck also need free - choice gritstone and calcium just like chickens do .
Can Ducks and Chickens Eat the Same Food: A Caution About Feeding Ducklings
Ducklings can be fertilise steady chick feed , but it should not be medicate . Because they are n’t as susceptible tococcidiosisas babe chicks , they do n’t need the Amprolium that ’s in the medicated provender . However , brooding ducklings with baby chicks is n’t a practiced idea . Not only do duckling grow much quicker than chicks , they splash around and make a huge water mess , which can lead to sozzled , cool chicks .
to boot , duckling should only be on chick starter provender for the first two weeks ( in contrast to eight hebdomad for chick ) , and then switched to the low - protein grower provender until they are about 18 weeks old . At 18 weeks , they can switch to the layer feed and be integrated into a tidy sum of adult ducks or chickens .
