Everyone has seen on the surface of a pond or river a green plant with very small leaves - duckweed, but not everyone knows that it is the main one. duckling food. The benefits of duckweed for ducks are difficult to overestimate - the plant contains all the microelements necessary for proper growth and development - calcium, silicon, iodine and phosphorus. In central Russia you can find three species - small, large and three-row.
How is duckweed useful for ducks?
It contains a lot of proteins, so you can save on artificial food by adding an aquatic plant to the diet of young ducklings.It can be used either independently or as part of a combined feed. The food is not demanding on storage conditions and survives the winter well, so even in the cold season you can provide birds with high-quality food.
With the help of the plant, high increases in live weight are achieved. In terms of nutritional value, duckweed is comparable to representatives of grain crops, but it costs much less and grows twice as fast.
100 grams of food contains up to 1-2 grams of pure protein. The composition includes rare elements - iodine and iron, which are lacking in ordinary plants. With the help of duckweed, a farmer can save up to 30-40% of the total cost of feeding on concentrated feed.
At what age can it be given?
Ducklings receive the first portion of an aquatic plant on the 4-5th day of life. Green pods are placed in the drinking bowl. Young birds are pre-fed, because hungry ducklings can swallow too much green food, which will cause blockage of the crop. Adult ducks feed independently up to any age, but not more than 0.5 kg per day.
If animals are free-range in a pond, it is advisable to supplement the diet daily with concentrated feed, otherwise the birds will not be ready for winter and will not gain the required body weight. Remember that duckweed is bait, not the main food, so you cannot hope that the duck will feel normal without other concentrated food.
How to feed?
You cannot give bait in unlimited quantities. Ducklings receive their first portions on the 4th-5th day of life, amounting to 10-15 grams for each newborn.Portions gradually increase, with the maximum volume being no more than 500 grams per day per duckling. With this feeding, a rapid increase in body weight is achieved.
Unfortunately, you cannot feed duckweed alone. The plant lacks vitamin C, which is necessary for the proper development of ducks.
If you do not add it to the diet, the birds will lay eggs poorly, gain weight, and a serious lack of the mineral will cause an endemic disease - vitamin deficiency or hypovitaminosis.
Duckweed can be obtained for free from any suitable body of water. Most breeders collect the plant with special wide nets and give it to ducks, both dried and fresh. Farmers also grow food on site, in a specially dug pond, and store “hay” for the winter. To do this, plants are laid out in a clean, dry, windless place, for example, under trees. Greens cannot be stored in the sun for a long time; they lose their beneficial properties. Rotten and moldy food should not be fed to ducks. Duckweed poisons are toxic and will lead to mass mortality of livestock.
