Vegan duck food?

March 30, 2007

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the group and I have a question. Does anyone know if they make and

where I

could buy vegan duck food? I know they make vegan dog and cat food, but I

haven't found

any duck food. I have a duck for a pet and I'd like her to be a vegan too

Thanks!

Jess

March 30, 2007

Hi Jess

Welcome to Vegan Chat.

I think ducks find a lot of their own food - I presume it will be

allowed some freedom in the garden.

The following is from a website. I'm not sure that ducks can be

totally vegan. If their diet is not right they will become egg bound

and die a slow painful death.

1) A secure place for your birds, particularly at night. This can be a

shed, a poultry house with a run, or a fenced-in garden with a coop

but I feel the ideal would be an enclosure. This means that the Calls

can stay out 24 hours a day in a vermin-proof pen.

2) Food: this consists of chicken layer pellets and whole wheat. If

you can obtain duck pellets so much the better. BOCM (Mardens), Bibby

(Slimbridge), Allen & Page, and Marriages all produce food for ducks

(UK suppliers). You should also give them access to small quantities

of mixed poultry grit containing limestone chips. This is for grinding

down food in the gizzard, and for extra calcium for the duck in the

laying season. Make sure the particles are small enough for Calls.

Break up the larger pieces if necessary.

3) Water: ducks need water to drink and also to bathe. This does not

mean that you have to have a large pond; a tin bath sunk in the ground

or anything similar will do. Make sure the birds can easily get out–a

duckboard will suffice. Of course if you have a pond it will mean that

you do not have to clean it out and add fresh water so often.

There are many colours of Call Ducks, nine of which have been

standardized. They are as follows: - White, Mallard, Blue Fawn,

Apricot, Silver, Dark Silver, Pied, Bibbed and Magpie. There are also

quite a lot of colours which to date have not been standardized. Some

of these have been around for quite some time such as the Dusky and

Apricot Silver. Some have come from imported birds e.g. the Yellow

Belly and Khaki. So amongst all of the various colours I am sure you

will be able to find some that appeal to you.

Call Ducks become very tame and will be a pleasing addition to your

home and family. Children in particular find that because they are

small enough to handle they become irresistible. Also they are

extremely amusing to watch and will give you hours of pleasure with

their inquisitive behaviour.

A word of warning - your coffee breaks etc. will tend to lengthen if

spent watching the ducks, as they become compulsive entertainment.

Winter and Spring feeding

One of the first things new duck keepers want to know is: what do

ducks eat? There isn't a simple answer. The diet varies depending on

the time of year, and the conditions under which your birds are kept.

If ducks are genuinely free-range they will find most of their own

food. This will include a lot of slugs and worms and insects found in

the grass and stream. It will also include greens such as grass and

duck-weed—rarely seen these days! Birds fed like this will have tight,

glossy feathers and a bright orange beak (in the orange/yellow billed

breeds). This bright colour comes from natural substances found in

greens. However, most of us cannot allow our birds such liberty for

fear of foxes. Also, even free-range birds do like to be offered food

from bags, especially to fill up for a long winter night.

Winter food

The best all-round food is wheat. This is why it is used as a basic

food at such places as Slimbridge. Wheat contains more protein than

maize, and is higher in vitamin B. It is also cheaper. There is no

point in buying `mixed corn' which is basically wheat grains and split

maize. The cut maize is the yellow bits. The only real benefit of

maize is in very cold weather when it provides extra calories and oil

which may help to keep the feathers supple and waterproof in winter.

Protection against wet-feather is best achieved through cleanliness

and a good diet.

Ducks, and especially Call ducks, generally lay few eggs over the

winter period. Cool weather and short days reduce their output. During

this period, the birds like whole wheat in the diet. On rainy days,

when pellets left out in the open are spoiled, ducks can be fed wheat

under water. For Calls, this can be in a shallow bowl on the grass. If

you have a pond or stream, even put the bowl in the water. The bowl of

food stays cleaner (less mud is put in it) and the bowl keeps the

grains of wheat together. Feed pellets dry in a bowl at the end of the

day, or make a permanent canopy for the food bowl to keep the rain off.

Winter pellets should preferably be a waterfowl maintenance ration

such as that made by Slimbridge. BOCM-Pauls division Marsdens also

make a game maintenance ration which can be feds to ducks. Hen layers

can be used as 50% of the diet (the other half should be wheat).

However, hen layers do contain additives such as egg-yolk colour, and

the calcium content is too high for non-laying birds. That is why the

rations should be split with 50% wheat if layers pellets have to be

used i.e. to reduce the calcium when birds are not in-lay.

Spring arrives

When birds are due to lay, the duck looks rounder and fuller in the

abdomen. A duck-breeder pellet ration should be offered from the

beginning of February. This is more expensive, but will contain more

vitamin A, D and E than maintenance and layer rations. The trace

element content also differs. If you want ducks to breed, they must

have the correct diet for healthy embryos. It pays to give them the

best food—and this includes free-range food if they can get it safely.

Calcium and phosphorus

Egg shells need calcium and phosphorus for their formation. That it is

why it is important to feed a quality breeder ration in the spring

where these two minerals are available in the correct ratio. Anderson

Brown (The Incubation Book) cites the correct ratio in most breeder

rations as 3% calcium to 0.6% available phosphorus.

Help the ducks get enough calcium–especially Call ducks—by liming

the ground if the soil is acid. This may be needed in high rainfall

areas in the west of the UK. Calcified sea-weed is probably best

because it contains trace elements too. Also make mixed poultry grit

available. This can be bought loose from pet shops, or in bags for

about £4.00 from poultry feed stockists. The pieces are quite large

for Calls, and may need breaking with a hammer occasionally. The birds

love to select the grade of chipping they require from underwater. If

you have a small stream, just leave the poultry grit loose in the

water, or contain it in a heavy, broad-based clay plant pot in the

water itself. This will keep the chippings clean. There is no need to

worry about the Calls getting too much calcium from the environment.

If the ducks do not need the extra calcium, they will not pick up the

lime-rich grit.

Quite often, Calls lay thin-shelled eggs. They may also lay eggs

with no shell, the contents only being contained by the membrane.

Quite frequently, this situation cannot be remedied by diet and such a

bird is not a breeder. However, it is important to make sure that you

are providing enough calcium, in the ways suggested above, to give the

birds the best conditions possible.

Insufficient calcium may also be a contributory factor in the ducks

having difficulty in passing eggs and becoming egg-bound. More on this

in the next newsletter. So do make sure that your Calls have breeder

rations in the spring. If you cannot get these, then ordinary hen

layers will have the correct calcium—but not the correct vitamins and

trace elements for breeding healthy ducklings.

Duck food Suppliers in the UK

The Yellow Pages UK will list local distributors under Animal

Feedstuffs.

Information about distributors can also be obtained from:

Allen & Page 01362 822900 See www.smallholderfeed.co.uk for a list of

suppliers

BOCM-Pauls Ltd—Marsdens rations. PO Box 2, Olympia Mills, Barlby Road,

Selby Yorks, YO8 5AF. Tel 01757 244000 or 08457 165103

Marriage's Feeds. Tel 01245 612000 www.marriagefeeds.co.uk

Slimbridge Wildfowl feeds—contact Bibbys Animal feeds.

Also, Cornish Calcified Seaweed to add minerals to your ground 01484

652098; also ask at agricultural stores.

, " Jess Nagel " <jessie3641 wrote:

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> I'm new to the group and I have a question. Does anyone know if they

make and where I

> could buy vegan duck food? I know they make vegan dog and cat food,

but I haven't found

> any duck food. I have a duck for a pet and I'd like her to be a

vegan too Thanks!

>

> Jess

>

March 30, 2007

Hi Jess

Welcome to the group.

Excuse the daft question... but isn't the natural diet of a duck tending

towards vegan anyway?

BB