Feeding ducks and geese, step by step
Interactive lesson: water next to feed, starter with niacin for the young, grazing for geese, slugs and duckweed for ducks, fattening, layers and winter.
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The whole lesson as text
1. How ducks and geese eat
Ducks and geese have no teeth and no crop: they swallow food whole and grind it in the gizzard.
- Water with every mouthful — A duck takes a mouthful of dry feed, then goes to the water. Without water it chokes, and meal sticks in the bill and nostrils.
- Feeder 2–3 m from water — Don't put the feeder right next to the water. That way the feed won't float in a puddle and turn sour.
- Grit always available — Small stones grind food in the muscular gizzard. They are essential, especially for geese on grass and birds eating whole grain.
- How much a day — An adult duck or goose eats roughly 150–250 g of grain or feed a day alongside grazing. A goose in summer much less: it eats 1–2 kg of fresh grass a day.
Why: A goose can live almost entirely on grass, and a duck finds half its meal for itself. That makes waterfowl cheap to feed, but only if you know what they need in which month.
- Geese crop grass with their bills like a mower, while ducks filter water and mud.
- Birds drink more on dry feed: 0.5–1 L per bird a day, double in summer.
2. Ducklings and goslings: the first three weeks
The first three weeks decide the whole season.
- Starter 20 % — For the first 3 weeks the young eat a starter with 20 % protein. Always a drinker next to the feed, deep enough for bill and nostrils.
- Niacin from yeast — Add roughly 2 % brewer's yeast: 20 g per 1 kg of feed. Mix thoroughly, enough for 3–4 days. Baker's yeast is no substitute.
- Unmedicated starter — Some coccidiostats in chick starter are not licensed for ducks and geese and can harm them. Choose an unmedicated starter and ask the seller or your vet.
- Damp, green, grit — Damp feed for the first days: give as much as they eat in 1–2 hours and throw the rest away. Finely chopped grass and dandelion from the first days, and 1–2 mm grit in a separate dish.
Why: The young grow very fast and need plenty of protein, vitamins and water. Ducklings and goslings need more niacin than chicks. Without it they get weak, bowed legs and swollen hocks.
- Crumbs or small pellets are better than mash, which sticks in the bill.
- No bread or maize as the main feed: too little protein.
3. Grazing for geese · Locked
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4. Ducks on the run and garden leftovers · Locked
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5. Fattening ducks and geese · Locked
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6. Layers, winter and storage · Locked
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