Ducklings - What to feed.... Poor things!

[MarinaBay]

At the yard we had 2 little ducklings brought over as they had lost the mummy! The neighbours had kept an eye out all day and when it got to 9pm and was getting dark decided they must belong to us as we have a huge pond so thought mummy duck must be there.

They were put in an empty stable with hay to make a bed, water and long tray filled with water about 2 inches deep and some oats - all YO had.

Question is what to feed them! They are tiny and have survived since the weekend. They are very active and paddle around in the tray but obviously very scared! Decided the hay does not make an exceptable bed so sleep on the paper horse feed bag that was in there.

Any ideas what we can feed them? I am going to go to the animal feed shop tonight. xx

 

[rowan]

Get some chick crumbs from the feed merchants and give them well soaked. Till you can get some soak some bread till it is mushy and they should eat that.

 

[MarinaBay]

Thank you - can I soak the bread in water or milk?

 

[*hic*]

Personally I'd dry bread in the bottom of the oven and then crush it into crumbs for them. Mashed up hard boiled egg yolk is good too.

Chick crumbs are the best - or if you have chickens and have layers' pellets they can be crushed for baby chicks / ducklings.

 

[china]

either chick starter crumbs or your feed store may have duck starter crumbs too, we dont stock it, we order it in for people that want it, but they should be able to advise you to an alternative if needs be

 

[flyawaywish]

Chick crumbs! We had an orphan duckling once!

 

[Tnavas]

You can get duckling crumbs too, mix with water - not milk.

I had two I hatched in an incubator, one died but Horace Pecker survived and grew into a lovely khaki cambel duck.

 

[alsxx]

If you can, get duck crumbs, as chick crumb is treated with something which ducklings actually shouldn't be given. Make sure you either wet the crumb, or provide a bowl of water next to it so they can wet it themselves. Layers pellets crushed isn't ideal really.

Where abouts are you? My mum breeds call ducks so if you are anywhere near her I'm sure she would be happy to give you a small bag of her crumb.

In the meantime try giving them a little cold cooked rice. Please dont give corn or similar as it is much to big for them. Also, dont be tempted to put them under a light or anything, just keep them in draught and damp-free place - ducklings will go off their legs if they get too hot.

 

[alsxx]

I had to go and look it up....chick crumb containts coccidiostats which are designed to protect against coccidia infections in poultry but has not been tested to be safe in ducks. I'm sure its really not the end of the world if they get that over nothing else though....

Also with the water tray I would be inclined to take it away and just give them a shallow bowl next to their food at this stage if they are that young....ducklings dont dry out so well and rely on the oil from their mothers feathers to keep them waterproof. If they dont have a duck mum they can very easily get wet and therefore cold.

 

[MarinaBay]

Thank you for all your replies! I am printing the thread out for info!

Alsxx I am in Bedfordshire!

 

[alsxx]

ah she's in hants....thats a shame....do phone around your feed stores though, i think you can get the stuff in small ish bags.

 

[Rhandir]

Please take the water tray out, ducklings are not waterproof, they get waterproofing from their mother. If they get too wet they will get chilled and die. They obviously need water to drink but not enough to get wet in ..... if you get my drift.