Can Chicks & Ducklings Eat the Same Food?

Even if you live in farm country, it might not be as easy to locate feed for ducklings as it is for chicks. If you don't have access to duckling feed, you can feed your baby ducks food formulated for chicks, with some exceptions. If you're raising chicks and ducklings at the same time, try to keep them separated for their own health and safety.

  1. Hatchlings

    • If you're keeping newborn chicks and ducklings in a brooder, you can feed them both chick starter feeds if duckling feed isn't available, although not necessarily the same kind. Both species should always have food available. Because ducklings -- and ducks -- tend to waste a lot of food, you'll have to feed them more than chicks. Ducklings take a bite of food and then sip water, so you'll have to change and clean the waterer more frequently.

    Medicated Feeds

    • Many chick starter feeds are medicated, since chicks are so vulnerable to various poultry diseases. Ducklings are a lot tougher, but they can't tolerate medicated feed. Giving medicated feed to ducklings or other waterfowl can kill them. If you're raising both chicks and ducklings, feed the chicks the medicated feed for their own benefit, but make sure the ducklings can't access it.

    Pellets

    • If you don't have duckling feed available, feed ducklings a pelleted form of chick feed, rather than the powdered variety. The latter is made up of fine particles, which are too difficulty for the duckling to pick up with his beak. If you don't want to purchase two different forms of feed, the crumbles are a good compromise. They are small enough for chicks to consume, but large enough so that ducklings can eat them with ease.

    Adjustments

    • Chick feeds don't contain the niacin required by ducklings. If you're feeding your ducklings a chick feed, you must supplement with niacin, or you'll end up with ducklings with bone issues. You can place the niacin supplements in the feed or the waterer. Once your ducklings are 2 weeks old, give them chick feed with a 16 to 18 percent protein level. Since that's still high for ducklings, add rolled oats to the feed to give them additional food without the protein. Never feed chicken feeds designed for grown poultry to ducklings. The calcium content is far too high. Such feeds can kill ducklings if given for an extended period.