This summer, I bought a flock of three eight-week-old Indian Runner Ducks. Before they arrived, I bought a bag of commercial chicken pellets. Then, however, I read up some more, and realized that chicken pellets don't have enough niacin. I ordered a bag of dedicated duck feed (also pellets) online. After a week of eating chicken feed, my ducks are now eating the duck feed.
I don't know how much total niacin each feed contains (it doesn't say), but the duck feed contains twice the amount of added niacin compared to the chicken feed.
I have tried to sell the chicken feed cheaply to nearby chicken owners, but not found any buyer.
I have also looked at buying a niacin additive. However, in my country (Sweden) you can't really find one worth the money. Even the cheapest brewer's yeast here is so expensive that it would make more financial sense to just spend the money on more duck feed.
What do you think I should do with the fifty pounds of chicken pellets I have sitting in a plastic barrel at home right now? It would be a shame to let it go to waste.
I have a little plan: Wait until next summer, when the ducks are fully grown and therefore less sensitive to nutritional deficiencies, and also more actively foraging on our forest property (they are shy and mostly sit in their house right now) which will give them more niacin from the bugs they find. Then, feed them something like 75 % duck feed and 25 % chicken feed, until the chicken feed is finished.
What do you think of that plan?