Raising ducks in rice paddies achieves fat ducks and strong rice, a good approach to ecological farming

Paddy ducks have a wide range of activity and eat a lot of mixed food, giving them glossy feathers and strong bodies, so they sell well on the market. They also eat harmful insects, reducing pest damage to the rice, lowering pesticide costs, and producing pollution-free rice and duck meat. The duck manure they produce fertilizes the fields and promotes rice growth.

Brooding stage: Farmers must pay close attention to temperature and humidity control, complete the full immunization program, and feed a full-price compound feed to raise the duckling survival rate. After 1 month of age, mainly raise them by releasing them into the rice paddies, with appropriate supplemental feeding of concentrated feed at night.

Advance preparation: After the rice is transplanted, enclose the rice paddy on all sides to prevent weasels, cats, dogs, and others from entering, and build a simple shelter for the ducks in one corner of the paddy to protect them from strong light and heavy rain.

Duck breed selection: To avoid ducks eating or crushing the seedlings, generally choose smaller-sized ducks for paddy farming. If conditions permit, hybrid breeds of wild ducks and domestic ducks can be chosen, giving better farming results.

Release time: 1 to 2 weeks after transplanting, once the seedlings have taken root, ducklings 1 to 2 weeks old can be released into the rice paddy. Whether day or night, the ducks stay in the paddy the whole time. In addition, because ducks like to eat rice ears, they should be taken back from the paddy in time when the rice heads out.

Stocking density: In the early stage, release 6 to 7 ducklings per mu of rice paddy; in the later stage, generally release 7 to 13 per mu.

Water depth: The water depth in the paddy should be such that the ducks' feet just touch the soil, so that the ducks fully tread on the soil during their activity. As the ducks grow, the water in the paddy is gradually deepened.

Supplemental feeding: To provide ducks with supplementary nutrition and speed up their growth, generally feed them supplemental feed once a day, mainly using broken rice, rice bran, and wheat, or a mixed feed of corn plus fishmeal, and duck compound feed can also be used.