How Much Does a Duck Eat Per Day?

Unlike goats or sheep, how much a duck eats doesn't scale with its own bodyweight so much as with whether it's laying — egg production is the dimension that actually moves the number.

About 120g/day resting, 180g/day laying

Published guidance gives a range of 120–200g/day depending on production stage. Our feed cost calculator uses 120g/day for a duck that isn't laying and 180g/day for one that is, letting you toggle stage directly rather than collapsing the range to a single midpoint.

Select your duck's actual stage in the calculator rather than assuming one or the other.

Why stage matters more than weight here

A laying duck needs meaningfully more feed than a resting duck of the same size to sustain egg production, which is why this figure is a stage toggle rather than a weight-based ratio like goat or sheep feed on this site — stage is the dimension the sourced guidance actually varies by for ducks specifically.

This is purchased feed, not the whole diet

The figure above covers purchased feed. Ducks with outdoor access commonly forage for slugs, insects and greens on top of it, and grit is usually offered separately to aid digestion — neither is included in the sourced range, so actual purchased-feed needs may run a little lower for ducks with good foraging access.

Working out your own cost

Enter your duck's stage and headcount into the feed cost calculator along with your local feed price for a daily, weekly and monthly estimate, or use cost of keeping to combine it with a vet allowance and other costs. Water is a separate daily input worth planning for too — see our water guide.

Source: poultry.extension.org, “Feeding Ducks for Egg Production in Small Flocks” (published range 120–200g/day depending on production stage). Sources checked: September 2026.

Common questions

How much does a duck eat per day?

Roughly 120g/day when a duck isn't laying, rising to about 180g/day when it is — a published range of 120-200g/day depending on production stage. Unlike goats or sheep, this scales with laying stage rather than bodyweight.

Why does duck feed depend on laying, not weight?

Because egg production, not bodyweight, is the dimension the sourced guidance actually varies by — a laying duck needs meaningfully more feed to sustain egg output than a resting one of the same size, so a stage toggle reflects reality better than a weight-based ratio would here.

Does this figure include grit or foraged food?

No — this is purchased feed specifically. Ducks with outdoor access commonly forage for slugs, insects and greens on top of it, and grit is usually offered separately to aid digestion, neither of which the sourced figure accounts for.

Is Muscovy feed intake the same as other breeds?

We haven't found a breed-specific breakdown — the sourced range applies to ducks generally rather than naming individual breeds, so it's used as a single figure across breeds the same way the rest of this site's duck guidance does.