can my ducks and chickens eat the same feed?

[chickenjim77]

I have ducks and chickens all living happily together and have been feeding all of them the same feed. They all get daily rations of scratch as well as lay crumbles.I have heard that ducks need a higher level of protein and I should b feeding them turkey and game bird food. Am I'm feeding them the right stuff and can the chickens eat the turkey and game bird food as well and if I switch over to that will it affect egg production????

 

[DemonicFowl]

Some brands sell mult flock feeds. One bag feeds a mix flock of fowl. This might be the choice for you instead of buying duck and chicken feed... nature wise all flock and purina flock raiser come to mind. You'll need to add calcium when your flock goes into laying. Try to make the switch over a week or so. Mixing the remaining feed with the new. Wouldn't hurt to use Sav-a-chick probiotics to help digestion during the time of switching feeds.

 

[Amykins]

Ducks need more niacin in their diet than chickens do. Also, scratch makes a fine treat, but it shouldn't be given as a main part of their daily feed.

 

[chickenjim77]

Thanks for all the info. Does anyone know how many sacks of feed I'm gonna need every month for about 80 chickens and 15 ducks

 

[DemonicFowl]

Pfffff woooooooo! That's a huge flock O-O... rough estimate is 1/4 a pound a day per chicken and 1/2 a pound a day per duck. They eat less food in hot weather and eat more in the colder months. So... 20 lb + 7.5 lb = 27.5 lb of feed a day. 31 × 27.5 = 852.5 lbs a month. try and get the biggest bag size possible. It would be 17 bags, 50 pounds each. So ask if they come in bigger bags to save some cash...

 

[chickenjim77]

Yes it will b one heck of a flock. I currently have 14 hens 1 rooster and 15 ducks.but I have ordered 70 red star Chic's from McMurrays so I will b expecting 20 of them the end of April and 50 more in may. Trying to get sum egg production going plus I luv spending time in the yard with all the girls there so peacefully and hilarious at the same time

 

[StarFox7585]

My goodness you must have a lot of land for all them! I've got six and at times that's too many! Lol. 3 of them are Red Stars. They do so well. Great layers, big brown eggs and they don't stop in the winter even with no artificial light.

 

[DemonicFowl]

Same here. Love spending time with my babies. Just hearing them talk fills me with joy . Wish I could get more but I've got 6 chicken hawks that moved in 3 years ago :/. Would be hard to keep an eye on them all.

 

[chickenjim77]

I only have an acre but I guess that's enough for them

 

[CoolDude]

i once in a while give my hens and roos some duck feed but chicken feed is better for chickens, thats why they have seperate names