The Complete Guide to Raising Wild Ducks: Detailed Explanation of Breeding Methods and Technical Key Points

The wild duck is a typical representative of waterfowl, a special poultry with strong adaptability, a wide diet, tolerance for coarse feed, and ease of raising. Under good nutrition and feeding management, it grows quickly and has a high feed conversion rate. Below is a carefully compiled guide to wild duck raising methods. Let's take a look.

Wild Duck Raising Methods

I. Production Performance of Wild Ducks

The wild duck was domesticated from the natural wild duck and is a new type of breeding variety. It has strong disease resistance and excellent production performance. At 10 weeks of age, the live weight of commercial ducks is 1150-1300 grams, with a feed-to-meat ratio of 4.5-5:1. At 12 weeks of age, the live weight is 1300-1450 grams, with a feed-to-meat ratio of 5-5.7:1. The survival rate at 12 weeks of age can reach 96-98%.

II. Feeding Management

1. Brooding

(1) Use the net cage flat-rearing brooding method, with the net cage bottom raised on 40-60 cm supports.

(2) Temperature: 33-30°C for the first week, then decrease by 2-3°C each week until heating is no longer needed.

(3) Humidity: maintain at 60%-65%.

(4) Lighting: maintain 24 hours of light from 1-3 days of age, then maintain at 18 hours.

(5) Density: per square meter: 20-30 birds at 1 week of age, 15-20 birds at 2 weeks, 10-15 birds at 3 weeks, 6-10 birds at 4 weeks, and 3-4 birds in the later period.

(6) Feeding: 9 grams at 1 day of age, 13 grams at 2 days, 18 grams at 3 days, 22 grams at 4 days, 24 grams at 5 days, 26 grams at 6 days, 28 grams at 7 days, and 44 grams per bird per day at 2 weeks of age.

2. Feeding Management During the Growing Period

The growing period refers to the time from 15 days to 84 days of age when they are slaughtered and marketed. During this period, commercial ducks consume 7-7.5 kg of feed. In terms of management, they can be transferred to growing houses and raised on ground with litter. The litter must be dry and soft and replaced regularly. The feed must maintain complete nutrition, and an appropriate amount of green hay meal should be added to the feed to ensure the crude fiber content in the feed, promote the development of the ducklings' digestive organs, and maintain proper digestive function.

Mallard wild ducks are in the molting period from 71-84 days of age. If management is poor during this stage, it will lead to stagnation of growth in commercial ducks, affecting the marketing age and carcass quality, so management must not be relaxed. First, ensure that the temperature in the duck house does not fluctuate much, generally controlled at 13-24°C. Second, ensure the protein content in the daily ration, especially the content of sulfur-containing amino acids in the protein. Third, ensure the concentration of metal ions related to feather growth, such as copper, zinc, manganese, and iron.

As the ducks age and complete molting, the wild duck's characteristic of flying and escaping becomes increasingly obvious. Therefore, the duck house and outdoor exercise area should be tightly covered with nylon netting to prevent wild ducks from escaping.

Wild Duck Feeding Management Techniques

(I) Feeding Management of Ducklings. Ducklings refer to young ducks from 1 to 40 days after hatching. Ducklings have sparse down, a relatively weak constitution, poor thermoregulation ability, and are sensitive to external temperature changes, requiring artificial heating. Ducklings have underdeveloped digestive organs and poor digestion, but grow quickly. The birth weight is about 35 grams, reaching 100 grams at 10 days of age, over 200 grams at 20 days, and up to 750 grams at 40 days. In view of their physiological characteristics and combined with the living habits of wild ducks, the following work should be done well in the feeding and management of ducklings.

1. Heating.

Heating is the key to the success or failure of wild duck brooding. Ducklings from 0-14 days of age are particularly sensitive to temperature. Therefore, they need to be placed in a brooding house for heating: 34-33°C at 1-3 days of age, 32-31°C at 4-7 days, 30-29°C at 8-14 days, and 28-27°C at 15-20 days. Prevent drafts. When the weather is colder, the heating period for brooding should be extended by a few days accordingly. Throughout the heating and brooding stage, dedicated personnel should be on duty day and night to prevent temperatures from fluctuating and strictly prevent ducklings from huddling and crushing each other. Because ducklings have the habit of sleeping against each other, they must be dispersed immediately when huddling is found to avoid crushing each other to death.

2. Grouping.

3. During brooding, ducklings of different strengths and sizes should be separated and raised in different groups. This can prevent the strong from bullying the weak and the large from bullying the small, ensure balanced growth of the flock, and facilitate special care for weak ducklings. Brooding should use partitioned small-group rearing, preferably with 50 ducklings per group. As they age, the groups should gradually be merged for large-group rearing, to conform to the wild duck's habit of flocking, thereby reducing the workload of feeding management.

Pay attention to brooding density. The rearing density in the early brooding period should be 20-25 birds per square meter, decreasing to 15-20 birds in the later period, to prevent ducklings from being crushed to death and to overcome uneven growth among individuals within the flock.

3. Feeding.

Generally, the method of drinking water first and then starting feed is used. After hatching, it is very important for ducklings to drink water within 24 hours. Because ducklings lose a lot of water from their bodies during incubation, newly hatched ducklings must be supplemented with water in a timely manner. This not only helps maintain the water balance in the ducklings' bodies but also helps expel meconium. During the brooding stage of wild ducks, clean drinking water should be fully supplied to ensure no interruption. The waterer should not be too large, and its edges should not be too high or too deep, to prevent ducklings from drowning or forming huddles and crushing injuries after their down gets wet. When ducklings show a desire to eat, feeding can begin. Feed cooked rice at 500 grams per 200 birds, and the rice needs to be soaked in water to remove stickiness. On the 2nd day, mix 50 grams of soybean cake into 1 kg of cooked rice. On the 3rd day, still use 1 kg of cooked rice mixed with about 1/3 compound feed, then gradually increase the compound feed to complete the feed transition process. The feeding method is small amounts and more frequent meals, feeding once every 2-3 hours, with each feeding amount being appropriate when it is finished without leftovers and all birds in the flock can eat. After 7 days of age, some green feed and animal feed can be given. As the ducks age, the number of daily feedings decreases, maintaining 4 feedings per day in the late brooding period.

4. Water Release.

Wild ducks have a habit of liking water, so water release should be done in a timely manner. Newly hatched ducklings cannot be released into water, but after their down dries, a fine mist of water can be sprayed on their bodies so the ducklings can preen their own feathers. Mallard ducklings hatched by female ducks can be led into the water to play by the female duck on the 3rd day after hatching; ducklings hatched by domestic hens can be delayed a few days before entering water. Artificially hatched ducklings should be released into water at 10 days of age in a timely manner, so that they have a process of adaptation and exercise.

Water release method: place the ducklings in a small pool or shallow basin in the brooding room to play in the water. Each time in the water should not be too long, generally 3-5 minutes, but the number of water releases can gradually increase from once per day. When ducklings are released into water for the first time, special attention must be paid to supervision to prevent drowning. Starting at 25 days of age, ducklings can be released after 10 a.m. on sunny days to the duck yard and water exercise area for adaptive training. After 30 days of age, let the ducklings move freely in the duck yard and water to meet their wild need for water. After each water release, ducklings must be allowed to dry their feathers before being driven back into the shed, to avoid wetting the litter.

5. Other.

(I) Keeping the duck house clean and dry with fresh air, frequently cleaning manure, and frequently changing litter are necessary measures to ensure the healthy growth of ducklings. At the same time, do a good job in sanitation and epidemic prevention, and always do disinfection work. Utensils and the floor inside the house should be disinfected once about every 10 days with 20% lime water or 2% caustic soda to prevent various diseases. During the rainy season, special attention should be paid to aspergillosis. In addition, strictly prevent animal pests such as weasels, house mice, field mice, and wild cats.

(II) Feeding Management of Growing Wild Ducks. Growing wild ducks refer to ducks from 40-80 days of age. The growing stage of wild ducks mainly involves growing feathers, muscles, and bones. It is the period of fastest growth and development, with the largest average daily weight gain per duck. By 40 days of age, the body feathers have basically finished growing, with only a little down remaining behind the head. Under good nutrition and management, the peak weight gain can be reached at 60 days of age.

1. Grouping.

Before wild ducks are transferred from the brooding stage to the growing stage, a selection should be made, grouping them by constitution and body size, and eliminating very few seriously diseased or disabled individuals. Grouping and managing by strength and size can promote balanced growth among individuals within the same group. Otherwise, differences between individuals will gradually increase, causing difficulties in feeding management, wasting feed, and leading to increased production costs and reduced economic benefits.

2. Feeding.

3. At this stage, wild ducks grow quickly and consume a lot of feed, requiring rich nutrition to meet their growth and development needs. Therefore, feed 3 times a day. Powder feed needs to be moistened with water before feeding, and clean drinking water should be provided to prevent them from choking to death while scrambling for feed. The daily feed consumption per wild duck can be determined by using "age in days + 10 = daily feed amount (grams per bird)" as a base number, and adjusted according to specific conditions. At this stage, the appetite and digestive capacity of wild ducks increase significantly, and they tolerate coarse feed. Refined feeds such as grains and animal feed can be reduced, while bran, water plants, and green feed can be appropriately increased to adapt to their wild feeding habits, but minerals and vitamins must not be lacking. Especially from 40-60 days of age, restricted feeding should be implemented, that is, appropriately reducing protein and energy feed and increasing coarse feed such as bran, water plants, and green feed. This can delay and reduce the outbreak of wildness in the ducks, reducing losses caused by this and also saving feed. Otherwise, fat will rapidly accumulate in the wild ducks' bodies, stimulating their wild flying nature, which is what farmers call "pen agitation." The main manifestations of "pen agitation" are that the flock becomes nervous, restless, appears to have no sense of hunger, and feed intake drops sharply, decreasing by about 60%-70% of daily intake, causing weight loss. If stress occurs, it can also trigger "pen agitation."

During the growing stage, feed should be changed multiple times, but this should be done gradually. Never change feed suddenly.

Wild ducks are best fed outdoors consistently to keep the duck house clean and sanitary. Generally, feed 3-4 times a day, and the amount fed must ensure that every duck can eat while leaving no leftovers. If grazing, feed the ducks until half full before grazing each day, extend the grazing time as much as possible, and let them eat more food. After grazing, decide whether to supplement feed and how much to supplement based on feed intake.

3. Fattening.

Wild ducks are generally force-fed for fattening around 65 days of age, which means artificially forcing the wild ducks to swallow large amounts of high-energy feed so that they rapidly gain meat and accumulate fat in a short period. Generally, after about 15 days of force-feeding, around 80 days of age, they can be marketed when the average body weight is over 1 kg. Force-feeding method: use a force-feeding duck feed formula, add an appropriate amount of boiled water to the compound feed and mix it into a dough-like consistency, or roll it into small pills. When force-feeding, gently hold the duck, clamp the lower part of the duck's body between your legs, pinch the upper beak of the wild duck with the left thumb and index finger, press the front part of the tongue with the middle finger, support the lower beak with the remaining 2 fingers, and use the right hand to take feed and put it into the duck's mouth until full. Feed 4 times a day, 2 times during the day and 2 times at night. In the first few days of force-feeding, do not feed too full to prevent feed stagnation. After the wild ducks become accustomed to it, gradually increase the feeding amount day by day. After force-feeding, ensure adequate drinking water. Apart from ensuring half an hour of water bathing time for fattening ducks each day, minimize movement.

4. Management.

The rearing density of wild ducks during the growing period is preferably 10-15 birds per square meter. At this stage, mallard wild ducks are easy to raise, and they are familiar with and docile toward the keeper who regularly enters the house to feed them, often following in search of food. If the flock is large, the house should be kept dry at all times. Growing wild ducks have a relatively large feed intake and produce more manure, so it should be washed away promptly to maintain a clean living environment for the flock. Second, pay attention to sudden changes in weather and temperature. In the early growing period, emergency heating measures should be considered, such as adding plastic woven cloth and laying grass mats on the ground, to prevent wild ducks from catching cold and causing losses. In summer, let the wild ducks bathe fully to cool down, and build shade shelters in the exercise area to prevent heatstroke. In addition, adhere to daily work procedures, carry out manure removal, cleaning, and disinfection work, observe changes in the growth and development, drinking water, and feed intake of wild ducks, as well as the color and shape of feces, and keep various production records.