Compound feeds are ready-made mixtures intended for feeding farm animals and poultry. The composition is selected in such a way that it fully satisfies the animal’s body’s need for nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Let's look at the types and composition of feed for ducks, consumption rates and feeding rules, and how to make mixtures with your own hands for feeding domestic ducks.
Main cast
Feed for ducks includes finely crushed grain of various types - cereals and legumes, bran, cake, fish meal, milk powder. Salt and chalk, amino acids and mineral additives, shells, enzymes, and yeast are added to the grain mixture. Mixed feed can be given to adult ducks dry, while to young ducklings it can be moistened and added to the mash.
Types of feed for ducks
Mixtures are divided into 3 types - for small ducklings, for grown-up ducks and for adults. Due to the fact that different stages of growth require different effects on the body of nutrients, the composition of the feed is not identical. It includes various products.
Full
The duck mixture contains components that provide the duck body with a whole range of nutrients and active substances. When feeding birds with this type of feed, there is no need to give anything else. The mixture is well absorbed and has a pleasant smell.
Compound feed concentrate
Concentrated duck mixtures are added to the main diet. They compensate for the deficiency of protein, fat, amino acids, mineral elements or vitamins. The concentrate can be used in poultry farms or for feeding ducks in private backyards.
Protein and vitamin supplements
The mixture consists of protein concentrates, mineral elements and antibiotics. Additives are included in complete feed. Separately used as an additive, but not as a feed substitute.
Premix
This is a combination of vitamins, enzymes, mineral elements, amino acids.Like BVD, they are used as an additive to the main diet.
Consumption standards
The dosage, as well as the composition, is divided by age. Small ducklings 1-3 weeks old are given 20 g per head. Every day you need to increase the norm by 2 g. The starting feed is completely absorbed, giving the duckling a daily weight gain of 20-25 g. By the age of 3 weeks, ducks gain 550 g of weight.
Rostova food for ducklings and mulards Designed for rapid weight gain and increased growth. Contains compounds that provide weight gain of 40 g per day. The mixture is fed to birds from 3 weeks of age. Can be mixed with chopped grass and herbs. Green food increases the digestibility and absorption of food. Each head is given 80 g per day, increasing by 2-3 g every day. On this feed, ducks grow up to weigh 2.5 kg.
Then they switch to feeding with complete feed. It allows you to prepare young birds for transition to the category of adult birds. Ducks are fed this mixture from 9 to 26 weeks of life. Every day they give 160-170 g per head, the dosage is not increased. Feed wet. Broilers can be fed complete feed; they grow quickly on it.
The best manufacturers
Feed for ducklings is produced by different companies. These are mixtures for starting, feeding young and grown birds. Among Russian manufacturers we can name:
- TPK "AgroPortal", Barnaul;
- "Koltsovsky Feed Mill", Yekaterinburg;
- "AgroEcoProm", Taganrog;
- "New Agrosnab", Yaroslavl;
- "Altai Feed Mill", Barnaul;
- “Spasskaya Nov”, Kursk;
- "Biysk Feed Mill", Biysk;
- "AgMa", Kazan;
- “Kromsky Feed Mill”, Kromy;
- "Agroline", Kazan;
- "Prommash", Stary Oskol;
- “Korma Plus”, Krasnodar.
In addition to the products of these well-known factories, you can buy mixtures from other manufacturers.
How to make feed yourself at home
You can buy ready-made feed for ducks, but you can also make it yourself. It should include finely ground grains of wheat, corn, barley, peas, and soybeans. You also need to add meal, cake, fish and meat and bone meal, fat, salt, yeast, chalk. In this case, grain should make up 60% of the mixture.
You need to choose the proportions and achieve such a consistency of the finished mixture that it is not dry, but not wet. Dry ducks eat poorly and drink a lot of water, the wet water becomes sticky and clogs the bird’s esophagus.
The approximate period for ducklings to start consuming feed is 10-30 days. At this age, chicks grow most rapidly, so they should receive as many useful nutrients as possible. For 3 weeks, the ducklings are given food consisting of corn and wheat (50%), sunflower cake (20%), yeast (5%), dry skim milk and greens (3% each), fish meal (9%). Additives – chalk and ground shell.
After the ducklings reach the age of 1 month, they are transferred to a mixture that consists of nutritional components that promote accelerated weight gain. They feed it until slaughter. The homemade mixture consists of corn (45%), barley (8%), cake (17%), wheat (13%). Additionally, they include 4% fish meal, 5% yeast, 3% meat and bone meal, 1% grass and chalk. Thanks to its balanced protein and carbohydrate composition, the mixture allows ducks to gain weight without storing fat. To enhance the effect, feeding with compound feed should be combined with walking on a pond. Walking improves the quality of meat.
The ingredients must be mixed until smooth, poured into moisture-proof containers and stored in a dry place. If the mash gets damp, it will spoil. This is the main disadvantage of homemade feed. But in good conditions, the shelf life is practically no different from production. If it is not possible to store duck feed in a dry place, you need to prepare it for one time.
Feeding rules
If you feed ducks complete formulas, the ducks no longer need anything other than water. This is convenient, you do not need to prepare mash for each feeding, the granules do not deteriorate over a long period of time. If you store them in a dry place, they do not lose quality for the period specified by the manufacturer. The packaging does not take up much space; the bags can be stacked on top of each other, which will further reduce the footprint.
It must be remembered that the feed is dry, there is almost no moisture in it, so the ducks need to have water in their drinking bowls. The liquid must remain in the house at all times.
When using additives, add them only when preparing the mixture. Remove any leftovers that the ducks have not eaten from the feeders. Water, as in the previous case, must be present in the duckling at all times.
Is it possible to feed ducklings with pork or chicken feed?
It is clear that only in duck food the ingredients are selected in such a way that they meet the needs of this bird. But what to do if, for example, it is not on sale, but you need to feed the ducklings. Chicken and even pork mixture can be used as a substitute, but only in certain cases.
Pig pellets can be fed to Muscovy ducks and those raised for meat. They are filling and promote accelerated weight gain. For 1 head per day you need 150 g.Pellets for pigs are not suitable for feeding egg-laying birds; it causes them to become fat and stop laying eggs.
Chicken pellets differ in composition from duck pellets, but, if necessary, they can be used. For broilers, mixtures for meat chickens are suitable; ducks that lay eggs are fed with a composition for laying hens.
Combined feeds for ducks, especially commercially produced ones, are easy to use. They don't spoil, they're easy to use, you just need to pour a portion into the feeder and that's it. Ducks, as voracious and omnivorous creatures, do not refuse feed and eat it with pleasure. Properly prepared, it promotes body growth and weight gain. Moreover, if you buy the mixture at a reasonable price, the purchase costs are justified by obtaining high-quality meat and egg products.
