What should we feed the ducks? Is bread ok? What would be better? And what should we avoid?

You probably had the pleasurable opportunity once or more to feed birds. Specially if you ever went to the lake you probably met some duck who asked you for some bread.

Have you ever wondered if it’s actually good for them to eat bread?

Well they seem to love it, so why not? just like for us, not everything one loves to eat is necessarily good for him. We love to eat junk food once in a while, it’s not good nor healthy. But once in a while nothing bad will happen. 

Bread for ducks is just like junk food for us.

They love it, it’s tasty, it’s feeling, but it’s not nutritionally dense. And if they are full, like us, they will not put the effort in searching for healthy and nutritious food.  So if once in a while is not so bad what’s the problem in feeding them bread? Well, because for them it’s not once in a while. We have this concept that they eat bread so we ALL feed them bread. All the time. It’s just something we find very pleasurable. Feeding in general.

Therefore, today, I would like to suggest something. Let’s feed them with something which is a actually good for them. That way we get our pleasure and they get the best. It’s a win-win situation.

What do ducks eat?

First of all, you should know that ducks love to forage, and they can eat a lot. They are omnivores, which means they regularly consume different types of food such as plants, animals, worms, crustaceans, snails and other mollusc, small fish, fish eggs, insects, small amphibians such as frogs, salamanders and more, berries, fruits algae, aquatic plants, fungi. Their diet also depends on their habitat.

Absolutely AVOID these following food as they are toxic for them: onions, citrus, nuts, chocolate, popcorn and avocado.

Besides being unhealthy, feeding ducks with too much bread is associated to a wing deformity known as “airplane wing” or “angel wing”. It is a syndrome in which the last joint of the wing is twisted with the wing feathers pointing out laterally, instead of lying against the body.

The syndrome is acquired in young birds. Due to high calorie diet and low in vitamin D and E and manganese.

One or both wrist joints are retarded in their development relative to the rest of the wing. The result is a wrist which is twisted outwards and unable to perform its usual function. In adult birds, the disease is incurable, they cannot fly, and it usually leads to an early death. In young birds the damage can be reversed by wrapping and binding the wing against its body and by feeding him a healthy diet.

This disease can often be observed in waterfowl residing near humans, where they are excessively fed with bread.

So, what should we feed the ducks then?

Sure, we won’t collect insects or snails for them. But we can give them other foods which are safe for them and they will greatly appreciate; lettuce, frozen peas, corn, cabbage, cucumber, beans, tomatoes, pineapple, rice, porridge oats.

It’s always better for the animal to learn how to get its own food. If he’s fed regularly, he will be depended on others and won’t know how to survive. But we suppose they all know how to take care of themselves, we just want to love and spoil them from time to time, nothing wrong with that 😊