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Among domestic poultry ducks are considered unpretentious and very independent pets, but it is impossible to achieve good productivity only with food extracted on the ground. How to feed ducks, so that they showed their best sides as quickly as possible, grew up healthy and enduring?
In nature, waterfowl consume juicy plant food, do not disdain insects, small fish, roots and grasses. The menu necessarily includes crushed seashells, sand and pebbles. The diet of ducks should also be as varied as in the home. In this case, the poultry breeder needs to take into account that the goal of growing is fattening of well-fed livestock, achieving high egg production and obtaining viable strong ducklings. Therefore, the feeding of ducks in an economy is abundant, balanced in nutritional and energy value, and more satisfying.
How to feed a domestic duck: cereals
The basic rate at drawing up of a ration of ducks on a private farmstead is done on cereals. The grains of different cultures contain:
- many carbohydrates that provide sufficient energy for the bird;
- proteins, which are the basis of the structure of muscle mass;
- cellulose;
- vitamins and mineral salts.
On feeds with a predominance of cereals, ducks quickly gain weight and grow, and the properly selected grain is easily digested and is liked by both young and adult birds.
Of the variety of cereals, experienced poultry breeders prefer corn, which contains a little fiber, but which easily replenishes the needs of ducks in energy and containing carotene. The composition of mixed fodder for ducks can include up to 50% of the grains of this crop. If the mixtures are prepared for the young, the maize content is reduced by approximately 10%.
In wheat, the second most popular and valuable culture, there are more proteins and lots of B vitamins. When fattening ducks, a poultry farmer can take about a third of the volume of food eaten by the birds.
In the course is not only the crushed grain of wheat, but also the flour of coarse grinding. It is better to add it to wet mashrooms.
At least wheat is valuable barley, but the shell of grains of this culture is extremely poorly digested and can cause unhealthy ducks. Therefore, ducklings are recommended to give crushed and peeled cereals, and in the diet of ducks it is more useful to include sprouted grains whose usefulness and nutritional value is significantly higher.
In the diet for ducks, you can add oats. This culture is the leader in the content of grain fat, a lot of it and vitamins, amino acids of proteins. But in order to benefit from such food, the poultry farmer must take care of cleaning the grain from practically unrecoverable shells.
Legumes are famous for their high protein content, which, for example, in peas is about 20%. However, ducks are relatively indifferent to such food, so in the menu it is introduced in crushed form and not more than a tenth of the total portion volume.
How to feed ducks at home? What, apart from grain, will the livestock benefit?
Do not forget about the meal and the cake. They contain a lot of remaining after the processing of seeds of oil, potassium and phosphorus, as well as the necessary for the growth of protein ducks. in the poultry menu, these products from a variety of oilseeds can account for up to 10% of the volume of given cereals.
From the age of three weeks, ducklings can be given a carbohydrate-rich beet pulp. Cheap and useful bran. This product contains many proteins, but since the basis of bran is a rough fiber, it is important not to overdo it. Its excess in the diet of ducks leads to problems with digestion.
From the age of 10 days, ducklings are added to the ducklings. They, like dried and then bread soaked in water, are a wonderful source of B vitamins.
Juicy forages for ducks
Green feed for ducks - a favorite is always a desired kind of food. In nature and on summer walks the bird eagerly eats juicy water vegetation containing a mass of trace elements, proteins and vitamins. What to feed the ducks if they do not have access to a natural pond?
Feathery offer pre-collected duckweed and other crops, and do not forget about the benefits of herbs, which is always on almost every site. It:
- nettle, which before feeding the domestic ducks should be burned with boiling water;
- peas, alfalfa and other forage legumes;
- clover.
Ducks are happy to eat juicy vegetable crops, for example, carotene-rich pumpkin and carrots, as well as almost all kinds of cabbage, lettuce and green onions.
Melons and root crops must be crushed when feeding ducks. If the menu includes potatoes and sugar beets, they are pre-cooked.
Feed for ducks of animal origin
At home, feeding ducks is impossible without the addition of products of animal origin. It is an excellent source of protein, calcium and others, irreplaceable for the proper development of bird elements. Waterfowl is well perceived inclusion in the diet of fish and meat-and-bone meal. You can add minced meat from the frozen fish, chopped and thermally processed meat waste.
Already from the first days of life, ducklings are given low-fat cottage cheese, then other dairy products are included in the food. They provide the body with chicks calcium and easily digestible protein.
Mineral additives in the diet of ducks
Calcium is vital for all kinds of poultry. This is not only a building material for the bone system, but also an element that is consumed in large numbers by layers to form a solid shell. How to feed a domestic duck to make up for these expenses?
The bird is offered:
- crushed egg shell;
- shell, carefully crushed and added to the bunches;
- a piece of chalk;
- bone meal.
If salted foods are not included in the diet of ducks, the salt, which is a source of sodium and chlorine, is given separately.
In addition, as an indispensable mineral supplement necessarily offer poultry large, washed sand or small gravel. These inedible, seemingly menu components are extremely important for ducks, as they provide fast digestion of coarse fodder and grain.
Minerals are not mixed with fodder for ducks, but are poured into separate containers, for filling which must be constantly monitored.
Feeding of domestic ducks depending on the season
From the middle of spring, throughout the summer and most of the autumn, the feeding of a domestic duck is as varied as possible. If the bird has access to the reservoir, it independently extracts to the required daily amount of feed.
However, this does not relieve the responsibility of the poultry farmer. Docking is still necessary. What to feed the ducks returning home from grazing?
The ducks contained in the pens feed four times a day. Two feedings are wet forages in combination with greens, and two more meals are cereal mixtures and feed for ducks. The bird, which extracts part of the food itself, must receive cereals and protein components of the diet.
The peculiarity of summer feeding of ducks is strict tracking of food rationing. Portions are calculated so that after one approach the feeding troughs are emptied, otherwise souring remains will cause serious infections among the livestock.
With the onset of the cold season, the list of "dishes" in the menu of domestic ducks is significantly reduced. What do ducks eat at this difficult time? To the bird does not lack a vitamin and mineral salts, it offers silage of herbs and crushed vegetables, as well as herbal flour and steamed hay. In the diet of ducks necessarily include animal feed, boiled potatoes and nutritious grain mixtures.
In the cold, the feeding of domestic ducks is calculated in such a way that food covers the energy expenditure of the body not only on growth, but also on warming.
Rationing for laying hens and fattening ducks
Domestic ducks of meat direction are early-maturing and for the most productive fattening require a special diet almost from birth.
The faster the bird collects the lethal mass, the more tender the meat will be. Therefore, the menu for fattening ducks should be as balanced and diverse as possible, including both proteins for building muscle mass, and carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins.
Nesushki need their "diet which the birds are transported 20 days before the beginning of laying. In the diet of this category, birds are injected with more concentrates and protein-rich feeds. Particular attention is paid to the replenishment of the body with calcium, provides the growing needs of ducks in moisture, and the proportion of green, coarse and juicy products is reduced.
In the layering menu include sprouted grain and containing many amino acids and active substances yeast.
