A friend of mine just purchased two white ducks to help clear out her pond. She is feeding them cracked corn but is not sure if she needs to feed them in the summer and, if so, how much. Can someone help us on this?

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), May 02, 2001

Answers

We have ducks on our 1/4 acre pond. We have had 2-25 ducks at a time. These are White Pekin and Muscovy. During the winter they are penned and fed scratch feed free choice and occasionally get marked down greens from the market. The rest of the year they roam the pasture and pond. We feed about a pint of grain a day, no matter how many, just to keep them friendly. They also get old bread from the bakery, maybe a loaf a week. They do fine and continue to reproduce. I would suggest Chinese geese or Triploid Carp to clean the pond of weeds. They do a much better job.

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), May 02, 2001.

We feed our 11 ducks (Pekins, Blue Swedes,Cayugas & 1 runner) about 4 cups of waterfowl feed twice a day, and let them run anywhere they want, except in the actual vegetable garden. They snarf about vacuuming up slugs and bugs and greensprouts all day. The 8 females together put out 5-6 eggs a day. I wouldn't feed them cracked corn -- the guy at the feed store said it was just "candy" for chickens, and I suppose it wouldn't have much more nutrition for a duck. This is not how I would feed them if I were fattening them up for meat...this is lean and mean slug machine diet. If your friend keeps them a shade hungry during the day, then they'll probably clean the pond better.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), May 02, 2001.

I have two White Peking as pets, though they are skiddish. I bought them small from an old timer with about three acres of fowl. He said not to feed them cracked corn as the sharp edges would tear their intestines. I thought animals had better sense until I saw a movie about some humans in a plane crash, on an isolated area, and they became carnivors, due to lack of another choice. It supposedly, was a true story, did you see it? My ducks get "Meat Builder", and they love it (I think). On second thought, maybe tomorrow, I will offer them something totally unorthodox.

-- My Story (andiam@sticking.com), May 07, 2001.