A lot of people who raised chickens are now turning to raising ducks. The main reason for this being that duck meat and eggs are growing in demand. Consumers enjoy eating duck meat and eggs because they taste a lot better then chicken. Its now estimated that the United States raises over 19 million ducks in a single year.
Ducklings require a lot of proteins to mature. When they are about 3 weeks old they should be feed starter feeds with 22% of proteins. Once they are over 5 weeks you can then decrease the amount of protein intake. Its very important that you follow this procedure so your ducks grow healthy and strong.
Other farmers prefer raising ducks for meat because they cost less then those of eggs. Its estimated that egg ducks consume 75% more laying feed when compared to egg chickens. Duck eggs are usually hatched to be sold later.
Make sure that your ducks have some kind of shelter. Duck shelters are not that expensive because they can be made of wood and bamboo. Just make sure the shelter has good roofing so that rain doesn’t come in. If the shelter gets wet bacteria can begin to form thus causing diseases. For your ducks to be comfortable you can put hulls and corn cobs on the floor. This will also give warmth to your ducks.
Your ducks should be fed multivitamins to keep them healthy. They also should receive pesticide spray at list once a year so they can be resistant to mites and worms. You can also have a veterinarian come check your ducks to make sure they are disease free and are getting the right amount of nutrients.