gift
The Humble Soapnut - A Guide to the Laundry Detergent that Grows on Trees ebook by Kathryn Ossing
will be released to subscribers in: soon!
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

Train ducks to eat fresh in-shell sunflower seeds

 
Posts: 9
2
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I grew sunflowers for my muscovy and kakhi campbell ducks.
I broke some out of the flower and gave the seeds-in-shells to them.
They try eating a few if I give them my "I have a treat for you" call. But then ignore them.

A few years ago the chickens figured it out and went after them.

Is it reasonably possible to teach them that there is good food inside that shell?
 
steward
Posts: 21553
Location: Pacific Northwest
12040
11
hugelkultur kids cat duck forest garden foraging fiber arts sheep wood heat homestead
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My ducks just aren't as motivated/inspired by food scraps as my chickens. Chickens are more used to scratching and pecking and tearing things apart. Ducks tend to just gobble things whole--they don't process them. So, in general, I don't try throwing food scraps to my ducks--they just don't appreciate them. I give my chickens everything and treat them as composters while my ducks are slug/spider/pest control.
 
pollinator
Posts: 366
113
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
As ducks can be trained to eat acorns, as seen in the following video, I guess they could also be trained to eat in-shell sunflower seeds. Can your chickens teach your ducks to eat the sunflower seeds?
My approach  would be to give the ducks access to the feed from an early age, and to limit the other feeds for some time.
Do they get enough grit? Stones are really important in digesting harder feeds for birds.



My muscovies loved slugs, as I gave them some from an early age. Some sources state that muscovies don't eat slugs.
 
Rusticator
Posts: 8567
Location: Missouri Ozarks
4541
6
personal care gear foraging hunting rabbit chicken cooking food preservation fiber arts medical herbs homestead
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
My experience has been much the same as Nicole's. About the only kitchen scraps or ducks have ever really liked were raw leafy greens, (like the bug-chewed or rusty outer leaves, and such). So, I'll save those for them. The chickens love the other stuff, but the turkeys are kinda picky, too.
 
Posts: 94
Location: Cranbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA
4
forest garden urban chicken
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have seen somewhere that Muscovies are genetically geese, and would therefore be grazers.
 
hans muster
pollinator
Posts: 366
113
  • Likes 4
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The phylogenetic tree of ducks and geese below shows muscovies are more closely related to ducks than geese (geese are in the lower rectangle, muscovies are higher up, Cairina moschata, and the ducks we know are Anas). They can also interbreed with ducks, producing the mulard, which is infertile.



However, I really like the saying: "Muscovies look like ducks, behave like geese, roost like chickens, and have breasts like turkeys"
 
There will be plenty of time to discuss your objections when and if you return. The cargo is this tiny ad:
Christian Community Building Regenerative Village Seeking Members
https://permies.com/t/268531/Christian-Community-Building-Regenerative-Village
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic