How to feed ducklings from the first days of life at home: what they eat

The productivity of ducks depends on the nutritional value and balance of the diet. The first complementary foods and nutrition in the first week affect the subsequent work of digestion. For the formation of strong immunity, monthly ducklings should receive vitamins A, B, D and E. The basis of their diet is wet mixtures. What components must be included in them and what should not be fed to ducklings, it will be useful for beginner poultry farmers to find out.

Types of feed for ducklings

The main diet of ducks consists of plants, cereals, animal and fish components, as well as fermented milk products. Additionally, the birds are given cake, boiled vegetables, yeast, beans. The diet of ducklings of different ages includes the same components that are combined into four groups.

Cereals

Crushed grains are classified as cereals:

• barley;
• wheat;
• oats;
• corn.

Whole grains are given only to adult birds. Feeding ducklings begins with wheat or corn grits, and gradually introduce chopped into the diet. Grains provide plant-based protein needed for weight gain.

Juicy food

The group includes fresh herbs and vegetables:

• scalded nettle leaves;
• dandelion leaves;
• knotweed;
• yarrow;
• duckweed;
• potato;
• pumpkin;
• rutabaga;
• carrot.

Ducklings are given kelp and soybean meal. From greens and vegetables, chicks get the following nutrients:

• vitamins B, PP, E, C, A;
• amino acids;
• potassium;
• magnesium;
• iron.

The nutritional value of duckweed is equal to cereals. River grass, like sea kelp, contains iodine, phosphorus, calcium and B vitamins.

Animal products

Besides vegetable protein, ducks need animal protein. Its need is met by adding flour from beef and fish bones to the diet. The following animal products are also given to ducklings:

• meat scrap - made from carcasses of cattle that have recovered from non-communicable diseases, added to cereals for young animals in crushed form, but not more than fifteen percent of the total diet;
• meat meal - made from scraps of meat, embryos, intestines, added to the feed of ten-day-old ducklings;
• fishmeal - consists of fish waste, used in the preparation of broth for wet mash;
• graxa - a product of melting cod liver oil, fresh is useful for ducklings from the 10th day of life, comes in the form of flour.

The group also includes skimmed milk and cottage cheese.Ducklings get protein, sphorus, vitamin B, fat and calcium from animal products.

Mineral and vitamin supplements

Natural calcium supplements include:

• chalk - necessary for the normal development of the skeleton;
• shells - help digestion.

Ducklings get vitamins from greens and vegetables. But also premixes are added to the feed:

• "Sunshine" - a vitamin concentrate containing all the necessary trace elements, from the 10th day ducklings are given 4 grams of the supplement;
• "Rich" - designed for chicks from the first days of life, in addition to vitamins, contains antioxidants;
• "Siberian Compound" - mineral concentrate is added to the feed for young animals, no more than one percent of the total portion weight.

Chalk and shells are constantly present in the diet of ducks. Vitamin premixes are added to prevent seasonal beriberi or indigestion in ducklings. They also use supplements that stimulate weight gain, for example, "Ivan Ivanovich" with selenium, folic acid and a high proportion of iodine.

Basic feeding rules

Principles of feeding ducklings:

• for the normal development of birds, use the components of all groups;
• pour chalk and shells into a separate bowl;
• grind fresh grass leaves and vegetables;
• pre-boil root crops;
• Minimum share of succulent feed is 20 percent of the total diet, and cereals - 50 percent;
• feed the chicks 6 times a day in the first week of life and gradually switch to 3 meals a day;
• during the first month of life, give a liquid mash, from the second - a dry grain mixture;
• spread dry and wet food in different dishes.

Ducklings need drinking water around the clock. Chicks drink three times as much as they eat. Water should be boiled, room temperature. Newborn ducklings do not distinguish between stationary objects. In order for the chicks to see the food, it is poured in front of them or on their backs.

Meeting plan

The nutrition of ducklings is different in that from the first days the components are introduced one by one. Their share is gradually increased. Compound feed is also added to the diet of fattening birds, which promotes weight gain and serves as a vitamin supplement.

For newborn ducklings

Hatched chicks are given water - through a pipette or dipped in a drinking bowl with their beaks. After two hours, you can give the first food - finely chopped boiled eggs of any poultry. Immediately after hatching, they do not experience hunger, but in the first 24 hours they need to be fed frequently - every 2 hours.

From the first days of life, ducklings are given animal products - low-fat cottage cheese or milk, to which eggs are added. For newborn ducklings, the first food is laid out on the bedding, and then placed in the feeders.

After three or four meals, little ducklings are fed a pale solution of manganese to prevent indigestion and stomach infections. When growing ducklings for fattening from the first day, feed is added to the curd-egg mixture for growth.

For per diems

In the diet of ducklings from two days of age include:

• herbs or soybean meal;
• corn grits;
• meat and fish waste flour;
• chalk;
• shells.

The components are kneaded in broth or yogurt. When feeding ducklings at home, it is important to immediately remove half-eaten mash. Fermentation begins in milk mixtures, which is harmful to digestion.

For weekly

On the seventh day, the ducklings are ready to graze and can forage on their own.

Composition of the diet of 10-day-old chicks:

Number

Name	of the total weight (Percent)
Corn	50
Sunflower cake	20
Crushed wheat	13
Fish Meal	7
Fodder yeast	5
Chalk	0.5

The feed intake for one duckling is 80 grams per day with a weight of 500 grams. During the growth period, fish oil is used as a vitamin supplement to replenish the need for omega-3 fatty acids. Ducklings need to be carefully looked after: once a week, drink potassium permanganate, protect from drafts and overheating.

Two-weeks

2 weeks after hatching, ducklings stop giving eggs. Boiled vegetables are introduced into the diet. They are added to wet mixes along with crushed corn, bone meal and plants. Chicks begin to swim during this period, so they need special care.On the walk or indoors, they put basins of water for bathing. In nature, ducklings follow the ducks to the pond, learn to catch fry and insects. In improvised reservoirs, you can also launch small fish, bloodworms. The ideal option is an artificial pond in the garden.

Three-weeks

The diet for the 3rd week does not change significantly. Ducklings eat wet mash with greens, grain husks, vegetables and corn. When grazing, grasses are not added to feed. Preference should be given to walking on a plot with alfalfa, clover.

Monthly

Growing up chicks are fed 3-4 times a day. Their diet approaches that of adult ducks:

Daily Value Wheat20-30Corn Cleaned millet Meat and bone meal Fish oil Fishmeal Chalk, shells Yeast

Name	for one individual (in grams)
Barley	15-50
40-70
8-19
5-6
0.1-1
9-12
1-5
4-6

In addition to chalk and shells, fine gravel, which is also served in a separate bowl, contributes to good digestion.

After a month

Older ducklings are fed like adult birds - 3 times a day. 60 percent of the diet is cereals, 30 percent is succulent food. Corn, crushed barley and wheat are not added to the mash, but are given in separate feeders. Wet food consists of dairy products, vegetables, bran.

Seasonal features

Ducklings eat at different times of the year with different food options and costs.

Summertime

The feed is enriched with field forbs, seeds and larvae, which the chicks themselves get on the pasture. Indoor birds also have the opportunity to give grass, fresh vegetables, and add duckweed to the baths.

Winter period

The birds are fed in the morning and in the evening. In the first half of the day they give wet food, in the second half - dry. Greens are replaced with silage, alfalfa hay, clover.

Features of feeding birds for meat

For quick weight gain in the diet, increase the proportion of vegetable protein. Birds are given more barley, as well as various grain waste - cake, bran, meal.

From birth, chicks are accustomed to compound feed and gradually transferred to feeding with full-ration concentrates. When self-preparing mixtures, premixes are added that stimulate weight gain.

What not to feed ducks

Forbidden foods:

• full milk;
• raw pieces of meat, fish;
• bread, grain with mold;
• spices;
• sugar;
• s alted, pickled vegetables;
• fresh grain of rye.

In the fields there are herbs poisonous to ducks: celandine, henbane, buttercup, euphorbia, night blindness. Maple leaves also contain toxins.

Consequences of poor feeding

An unbalanced diet and feeding forbidden foods lead to deviations in the development of ducks:

• stunting;
• lack of appetite;
• feather falling out;
• cannibalism;
• uncontrolled eating of inedible objects;
• avitaminosis;
• low immunity.

Excess of fine flour turns the mash into a sticky mass that sticks together the beak and clogs the nostrils. Fresh fat milk and cottage cheese cause diarrhea in day old chicks, so they can only be fed back. Mold in food causes the development of a fungal disease of the respiratory tract - aspergillosis. From a lack of vitamin D in the diet, rickets develops, and in conditions of a closed room and with a lack of vitamin A - ammonia blindness.

Ducks should not be fed with feed for cattle or pigs. Birds die from too high a concentration of stimulants and vitamins. The same effect can be obtained from feeding expired or low-quality duck feed.

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