Thanks so much for your reply, Mama Gozzard. My ducks love corn, I buy frozen corn for them and defrost it and give them some daily. They run across the yard when they see me with it!  They also love pasta and meat, however I wasnt sure about feeding them meat, so I limit it. I do buy them tinned tuna in springwater every so often.

I have 4 kids so we dont usually have a lot of leftovers, so I have just gotten in the habit of buying them things each week. I want to get them things that arent going to harm them in  the long term. I do add wheat into their diet and they like that. But if I leave them only with pellets and wheat they stand at the window and look at me like they are starving. They have been hand raised from eggs, so they are very imprinted. I never had any ducks prior to getting these ones and I couldnt live without them, they certainly capture your heart. No wonder your group is so sucessful.

Im not sure about worming them, I was told I didnt have to. They share the yard with 2 dogs as well. I'd like to worm them just for peace of mind, but I dont know whats best.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

Allison

I would add scratch (cracked grains) about half and half with the poultry pellets..you might switch to crumble as ducks sometimes like that better.  Ducks rarely get worms as they amount of water they drink flushes their systems out before anything takes hold, and there are several different kinds of worms.  If you think you might have this problem, please don't do anything until you have a lab test done to determine if and what kind they might have.  A little bread is a nice treat, but don't over do it as they will fill up on it and not get the vitamins and minerals they need from their regular food.

 

Nancy

I have heard to limit the amount of bread to give them. One duck in particular loves bread and will eat it all and no thing else. So I give them one piece a day.

 

I noticed yesterday that my youngest duck, given to me as a day old- mallard / appleyard cross, is being chased around by my muscovie drake. I think the mallard/ appleyard is a male as it has the curl in the tail feathers, Im hoping this wont cause any problems having 2 males living together. Both ducks have lovely natures but the newest duck hasnt been accepted, and he is fully grown now. They dont sleep in the same cage because the little one gets harrassed, during the day they rome around sometimes together. The female muscovie also peaks at the mallard cross if he comes near the food.

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Allison

 

I would keep a sharp eye on the Muscovy drake.  They can get extremely aggressive.

 

Nancy

I tired putting the little one in the cage tonight, because he was sitting next to the door when I locked the muscovies up for the night. He again was pecked at by the muscovy drake, I left them for 5 minutes and hid to see what happened. He was chased around a few times so I let him out. I think all I can do is slowly put them together and watch them. I would never leave them unattended locked in, but eventually I would like them all to sleep together, because I only have one cage for them and at the moment I bring the little one inside in a crate every night.

 

Thanks

Allison