People often wonder if chickens and ducks can share the same food. Your birds may enjoy being in the same yard or barn, but you shouldn’t feed them the same food, especially if you have ducklings. Both chickens and ducks have separate nutritional needs, and specific food blends are created to fulfill them.
Raising ducks and chickens together is common for many backyard poultry owners. It offers benefits like shared coop space and easier caretaking. However, an important question arises: will ducks eat chicken feed?
Ducks can eat chicken feed, but it doesn’t have all the nutrients ducks need, so it shouldn’t be their only food source for a long time. Ducks have different nutritional needs than chickens. To keep ducks healthy, their diet should be modified.
This article provides a complete guide to feeding chicken feed to ducks. It covers:
- Key differences between duck and chicken nutritional needs
- Dangers of feeding straight chicken feed to ducks
- How to modify chicken feed to make it duck-appropriate
- Best practices for feeding ducks through each life stage
Why Ducks and Chickens Need Different Feeds
Chickens and ducks evolved eating different diets, so their nutritional needs vary today. Here are some key differences:
Protein
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Chickens need 23% protein in starter feed, dropping to 16-18% in layer feed.
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Ducks need 20% protein in starter feed, dropping to 15-16% in layer feed. Too much protein can harm ducklings
Niacin:
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Chickens need 15-20 mg niacin per kg of feed.
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Ducks need 40-50 mg niacin per kg of feed, 2-3x more than chickens.
Other Vitamins/Minerals: Ducks need more vitamin E, methionine, and lysine than chickens.
Chicken feed is designed to maximize growth rate, egg production, and meat yield in chickens – not to meet the needs of ducks.
Dangers of Feeding Straight Chicken Feed to Ducks
Feeding ducks a diet solely of chicken feed can cause major health issues:
Excess Protein
Too much protein leads to:
- Twisted leg bones
- Stunted growth
- Angel wing – wing tips twist outward permanently
Niacin Deficiency
Without enough niacin, ducks can develop:
- Poor feathering
- Diarrhea
- Loss of appetite
- Dermatitis
Medications
Some chicken feeds contain medications only approved for chickens. These can harm ducks.
The impacts of an improper diet may not show up right away. But over time, ducks fed only chicken feed will become malnourished and develop deficiencies.
How to Modify Chicken Feed for Ducks
Long-term, ducks shouldn’t eat chicken feed by itself, but you can change it to meet their nutritional needs:
For Ducklings Under 2 Weeks
- Use chick starter feed
- Supplement with brewer’s yeast or liquid niacin daily
For Ducklings Over 2 Weeks
- Use chick grower feed, 18% protein or less
- Supplement with brewer’s yeast or liquid niacin
- Mix in grains like oats to reduce protein content
For Adult Ducks
- Use layer feed
- Verify no medications are present
- Supplement with brewer’s yeast weekly
- Provide greens/insects from foraging
Adding brewer’s yeast or oats offsets the excess protein and lack of niacin in chicken feeds. This makes an imperfect but workable duck diet.
Free-range ducks can also forage to supplement their diet. But ducks that are kept in a run will need more careful food preparation.
Best Practices for Feeding Ducks
Below are some best practices to keep ducks happy and healthy:
Use Duck-Specific Feeds When Possible
Look for duck starter, grower, and layer feeds formulated for waterfowl. This removes the need to modify chicken feed.
Supplement With Brewers Yeast
Add brewer’s yeast to any feed to boost niacin levels for ducks.
Provide Grit
Ducks need small rocks and gravel to properly digest food.
Offer Greens/Insects
Let ducks graze on grass, veggie scraps, and bugs.
Change Foods Gradually
Slowly transition between starter, grower, and layer feeds.
Avoid Medications
Don’t use medicated chicken feed meant to prevent diseases ducks don’t get.
Read Labels Carefully
Verify percentages of protein, vitamins, and minerals meet duck needs.
Following these tips will keep your ducks healthy on any diet, including modified chicken feed if needed. Know that ducks can eat chicken feed, but it’s not ideal nutritionally. With extra care and supplementation, chickens and ducks can be raised together successfully.
Because of their different biology and ancestry, ducks and chickens have different nutritional needs. Can ducks only eat chicken feed? No, because it has too much protein and not enough niacin.
Feeding straight chicken feed to ducks long-term can lead to vitamin deficiencies, bone issues, and other health problems over time. However, with brewer’s yeast supplementation and monitoring of protein levels, chicken feed can be modified into a viable diet for ducks if needed.
Ideally, use duck-specific feeds for each life stage. But in a pinch, chicken feed can work if properly balanced based on the needs of ducks. Following the tips in this guide will allow you to safely feed chicken feed to ducks short-term.
Lack of Niacin Vitamin
Healthy ducklings and ducks require a high level of niacin. Because the body doesn’t store this water-soluble amino acid, ducks need a steady supply in their food to stay healthy. This is particularly important when ducklings are young and in their pivotal development stages. Chickens need lower levels of niacin in their diet, causing chicken feed to contain insufficient amounts for a duckling.
Best Diet for Chickens
The majority of chicken feed is made of carbohydrates, but too high of a carb blend could stunt their growth. You should also pay attention to the crude protein and ash content levels. Crude protein measures the nitrogen content inside the feed, which lets you know if you’re giving your birds the right amount of amino acids with their daily meal. Ash content includes all inorganic minerals.
While chickens love a nice handful of scratch feed — a treat made of various cracked grains — you shouldn’t use it as a substitute for food. Don’t mix it with their regular food, because they might eat too much scratch and not get enough of the nutrients they need from their pellets, mash, or crumble.
Your chicken’s dietary needs shift as the seasons do, and they will likely eat less during the summer when temperatures are high. If so, supplement their feed with protein and vitamins, or choose a different feed concentration. Winter chickens eat more food than usual to stay warm, so adjust feed portions and purchases accordingly.
Feed texture also matters — meat birds thrive on pellets, and layers typically eat a non-pelleted mash. Broilers eat crumble, a milled version of standard pellets. Young and growing chickens need more protein than mature birds.
Your chicken’s diet may also vary if you’re raising them for a specific purpose. You might choose a mix with higher calcium levels if raising layers for optimal egg production, while birds raised for meat need more protein.
The 3 differences when feeding Ducks vs. Chickens
FAQ
Can ducks eat regular chicken feed?
Because chickens don’t need as much niacin in their food, chicken feed doesn’t have enough for a duckling. Feb 15, 2025.
Can ducks eat out of a poultry feeder?
Yes, both ducks and chickens will share the chicken feeder just fine. Can ducks, geese and turkeys use the poultry feeder? Yes, the larger chicken feeder is suitable, although it may be necessary to extend the tread plate out for bigger birds.
Can chickens and ducks eat all stock feed?
Can Chickens Eat All Flock Feed? Mixed flock feed, or all flock feed, is great for species of poultry like ducks, geese, and turkeys. But it is also safe for chickens to eat too!.
What is the best thing to feed ducks with?
Dried out lettuce, banana peels, overripe cucumbers, and most other fruit and vegetable scraps are good for ducks. You can also feed ducks (in moderation) bread, rice, pasta, corn, peas, sweet potato, oats, and more.