How to feed mulards at home for rapid growth: diet from the first days

Mulards are hybrids of Muscovy and Peking ducks, as well as a number of other representatives of domestic waterfowl. The resulting individuals are distinguished by good he alth and excellent characteristics, due to which they are actively bred on farms and in households. To get the most out of it, you need to know what to feed your mulard ducks at home for rapid growth and effective mass gain.

What can you feed the mulards

Moulards are sterile hybrids, but they are exceptionally fast growing, therefore extremely beneficial for raising females for meat, and males for foie gras production.Mularda ducks are gradually replacing geese fed for fatty liver, but for rapid weight gain and liver enlargement, proper, balanced nutrition is necessary.

From the early days

In the first 24 hours after hatching, mulard ducklings are left in the nest to dry out and get stronger. Day old chicks need to be fed every two hours. This regime will be maintained for the first five days. First, they give a hard-boiled egg, finely chopped, as well as crumbly millet porridge. It is best to feed little mulard ducks against a dark background, scattering food in small portions - the chicks react to movement, and at first their reactions are weak, they may not notice the food at first.

It is just as important to teach the mulards to drink water. To begin with, a pale pink solution of potassium permanganate is given to prevent gastrointestinal disorders. Toddlers may not realize that there is a drinker in front of them, so they gradually bury the liquid in their beak or dip it into the drinker.

Mulard ducklings have a well-developed herd instinct and the desire to copy, so they will quickly figure out what to do based on the behavior of their smarter counterparts. Already on the third day, the chicks are able to eat fresh greens, so they are given in chopped form or they are released to graze on the grass. Mulard ducks need to be monitored by placing them in an aviary or fence - babies can be dragged away by weasels, wild cats or even birds of prey - crows, hawks, owls. At night they should be placed in a warm, dry place.

From one week

Week-old mulard ducks are fed with wet mash of crushed grain: 2 parts of corn plus 1 part of wheat. Add fish or meat and bone meal to the mixture. Chicks should always have clean drinking water, it needs to be changed regularly. And the feed is given as much as the mulard ducklings are able to eat at a time, because they will stain or trample the excess, and this provokes diseases.

Two week old ducklings

At this age, the chicks eat everything, and they can already be released with adult birds to the pond - natural or artificial. The basis of their diet is a mash based on crushed cereals, mainly corn, but other cereals are also included in it.

It is important that the diet is balanced and contains enough vitamins and minerals. To do this, mulard ducks are given chalk, crushed shell and shell rock, as well as green food. It can be grass, chopped dill, tops, vegetables.

Feeding an adult bird for rapid growth

Three-week-old mulard ducks can be fed three times a day by adding grass in large quantities to their food.

Cottage cheese and dairy waste are gradually introduced into the diet, and monthly chicks are fed compound feed with the addition of greens, food and garden leftovers, skim milk, and so on, not forgetting about minerals and vitamins, introducing sand and bone, fish meal.

Adult mularda ducks actively graze, but plant food alone will not be enough for rapid weight gain. Feeding poultry must be supplied with grain, not necessarily whole. It is good to tear, bran, cake and other grain waste.

Features of the diet by seasons

In winter and spring, before the start of active grass growth, it is difficult for mulard chicks to provide fresh greens, so the basis of the diet at this time of the year is grain-based mash, compound feed and preparations made in the summer. It is necessary to ensure that the food is not just plentiful, but balanced.

Although mulards do not tend to accumulate fat in the early period, excessive calorie content in the absence of grass and other plant foods can still cause obesity, which will spoil duck meat, reduce its quality and cost.

In summer, mulard ducks should receive as much greenery as possible. Like all waterfowl, they are passionately fond of algae and duckweed, therefore, if possible, they should be released into the pond or collected this he althy food. It is essential for rapid weight gain, as are other fresh herbs, calcium, mineral supplements and vitamins.

How to feed properly?

In order for mulard ducks to grow quickly, they need competent care and a complete, balanced diet. But it is not enough just to know what kind of food should be given to mulards. There are rules that must be followed strictly:

1. Baby ducklings need to be fed with wet mash.
2. The food is removed after eating so that the bird does not litter it.
3. The feeder is needed so that the mulards do not interfere with each other.
4. Mineral additives - chalk, shells, limestone, crushed egg shells - must be placed in a separate container and changed regularly.
5. Water should be constantly, but it also needs to be replaced with fresh water often, as mulards make it very dirty.
6. Ducks need grass and greens, so they are not only added to feed, but they are also required to let the birds out for a walk.
7. In addition to grains and grass, vegetables and leftovers from the table, mulards are fed protein products: cottage cheese, dairy and boiled meat waste, meat and bone and fish meal.
8. Duckweed is a favorite food of mulards and other ducks, but you can gain weight only if you use high-quality compound feed.

For fattening mulard ducks, you can use specialized feed or reduce the cost of food if you create mixtures yourself, according to existing recipes, or follow the advice of experienced poultry farmers.

What should not be given to mulards

If ducks are unpretentious in eating, mulards should not eat the following foods:

1. Poisonous plants, such as celandine or henbane. When free range, you need to keep an eye on what grows in the area.
2. Maple leaves are toxic to ducks.
3. Fresh rye. Grain can only be fed when mature.
4. Raw nettle (adult plants) can burn the esophagus of mulards, so the grass is pre-scalded with boiling water and crushed.
5. Fresh whole milk sours quickly and can cause poisoning in ducklings and adult ducks.
6. Flour and grain grinding "to dust". Such products turn into dough that clogs the nostrils of moulards and beak.
7. Stale, moldy, sour or fermented food.
8. Human food with s alt, sugar, seasonings and spices.

Beginning poultry breeders are often interested in whether it is possible to give green onions to mulard ducks. It is necessary, it is useful for chicks and adult birds. Onions are chopped and given as part of the mash, and small ducklings are added to a chopped egg. This strengthens the immune system and prevents the development of a number of diseases.

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