Do You Feed The Ducks?

[cheshire~rose]

I don't think there can be very many of us that have not at sometime in our childhood been taken down to the canal, river or lake and been handed a bag with some old crusts in to feed the ducks with. A simple pleasure enjoyed by generations of children. Most boaters I know will still think nothing of throwing their stale bread out of the hatch to feed the ducks and many of them will buy bread specially for the purpose.

A couple of years ago someone told me that bread is not good for birds. At the time the conversation was about garden birds but I did a bit of googling and decided that I would only occasionaly put bead out for birds in my garden, maybe in times of sever weather when they need all the food they can get to survive. Although in truth I am still uneasy about whether feeding them bread in hard weather might actually hasten their demise.

Over the last few years I have seen a few wildfowl, often Canada Geese but also other wildfowl, including Mallards which have a wing hanging down at an odd angle and I have presumed the bird had broken it's wing. A few weeks back I saw such a bird and commented on it to a chap on the towpath and he told me it was a deformity of the birds wing caused by eating too much bread when it was young. I have just been reading up on it and it appears it is called "Angel Wing" and is caused by a poor diet fed to young birds, one of the biggest culprits being white bread.

 

I am somewhat surprised that there has not been more publicity about the potential harm being done to our bird population in this way. I know there will always be chidren by the waterside throwing in bread but a lot of people, if they are aware of these things will stop the practice, and I especially think a lot of boaters might think twice about throwing their bread scraps out of the hatch in future.

I usually have some floating duck pellets on board to feed ducks with. They are not cheap and so I tend to use them sparingly but find a great deal of pleasure from throwing a few pellets to the ducks during the harsh winter months when natural food can be harder for them to source. Perhaps if a few more boaters did the same then a few more places would stock the pellets and they would be priced a little more competativley?

 

I just thought I would share this because I suspect there are a lot of people, like me, who were unaware of this condition so by spreading the word it might mean a few less people throw their white bread to the ducks

[Ray T]

I was aware of the effects of white bread, does it apply to brown as well?

[matty40s]

I don't think there can be very many of us that have not at sometime in our childhood been taken down to the canal, river or lake and been handed a bag with some old crusts in to feed the ducks with. A simple pleasure enjoyed by generations of children. Most boaters I know will still think nothing of throwing their stale bread out of the hatch to feed the ducks and many of them will buy bread specially for the purpose.

A couple of years ago someone told me that bread is not good for birds. At the time the conversation was about garden birds but I did a bit of googling and decided that I would only occasionaly put bead out for birds in my garden, maybe in times of sever weather when they need all the food they can get to survive. Although in truth I am still uneasy about whether feeding them bread in hard weather might actually hasten their demise.

Over the last few years I have seen a few wildfowl, often Canada Geese but also other wildfowl, including Mallards which have a wing hanging down at an odd angle and I have presumed the bird had broken it's wing. A few weeks back I saw such a bird and commented on it to a chap on the towpath and he told me it was a deformity of the birds wing caused by eating too much bread when it was young. I have just been reading up on it and it appears it is called "Angel Wing" and is caused by a poor diet fed to young birds, one of the biggest culprits being white bread.

 

I am somewhat surprised that there has not been more publicity about the potential harm being done to our bird population in this way. I know there will always be chidren by the waterside throwing in bread but a lot of people, if they are aware of these things will stop the practice, and I especially think a lot of boaters might think twice about throwing their bread scraps out of the hatch in future.

I usually have some floating duck pellets on board to feed ducks with. They are not cheap and so I tend to use them sparingly but find a great deal of pleasure from throwing a few pellets to the ducks during the harsh winter months when natural food can be harder for them to source. Perhaps if a few more boaters did the same then a few more places would stock the pellets and they would be priced a little more competativley?

 

I just thought I would share this because I suspect there are a lot of people, like me, who were unaware of this condition so by spreading the word it might mean a few less people throw their white bread to the ducks

 

 

 

 

surely real boaters don't eat WHITE bread..........

it must have some husks and grit off the bakery floor and be multi-seeded and be wrapped in an old newspaper and have the ability to absorb oil and diesel after a spill......

[Jerra]

Angel Wing isn't as far as I know a clear cut condition. Some researchers believe it to be genetic and others (notably one from the Wildlife Trust believe it ti be the result of TOO much food not necessarily the wrong type e.g. bread.

 

After all bread is mainly grain which is a natural food for wildfowl.

 

Having said that if you are going to feed garden birds with bread it is best if it is wholemeal (according to the experts) and most definitely not mouldy.

[cheshire~rose]

I was aware of the effects of white bread, does it apply to brown as well?

That is something I would like to know too. I have also wondered about using some breakfast cereals to feed them with, obviously nothing sweetened etc but rice krispies float well!

 

Slightly off topic - I have a garden which has a thriving sparrow colony. so much so that I hardly ever see other birds in my garden and yet lose count of how many sparrows I can see at any given time after about 22 as they all move and I lose count. They eat their way through so much seed I can't afford to keep using it but I have always had peanuts out in case I could encorage a few ither types of bird to come and feed. The sparrows have developed a taste for nuts! I have 2 nut feeders in place and in two weeks they have eaten their way through 90% of the nuts in their favourite feeder while making their way through around half of the other two as well as emptying an extra large seed feeder in a week. I really had not got a clue that Sparrows enjoyed nuts so much!

Edited September 23, 2012 by cheshire~rose

[luctor et emergo]

Signs in a park I visited recently implied that the biggest problem of bread is, that it swells up, and in that way fill the ducks, or swans etc, without giving them any required nutrients. Most parks that I go to, that have something like a refreshment stall, sell bags of seed based food, to feed the ducks.

 

Personnally, I think we should leave them alone. Apart from when water is frozen, in winter.

[RLWP]

Angel Wing isn't as far as I know a clear cut condition. Some researchers believe it to be genetic and others (notably one from the Wildlife Trust believe it ti be the result of TOO much food not necessarily the wrong type e.g. bread.

 

After all bread is mainly grain which is a natural food for wildfowl.

 

Having said that if you are going to feed garden birds with bread it is best if it is wholemeal (according to the experts) and most definitely not mouldy.

 

The Wikipedia entry confirms that:

 

There are currently two basic theories concerning the cause of Angel Wing:

The first involves too much protein and the second involves too many sugars[citation needed]. Angel Wing is not generally observed in waterfowl not residing near humans, and the disease can often be observed in areas where geese or ducks are excessively fed bread[citation needed]. To prevent Angel Wing, waterfowl should not be fed bread, popcorn or other human foodstuffs[citation needed]. Duck seed is an alternative for duck feeders.

 

The second theory is that the cause could be genetic, as the same breeding pair can produce several Angel Wing chicks or cygnets over many broods.

 

Richard

[Arthur Brown]

In hard times birds may survive in bread and other given food and without it they may not, BUT too much food is as bad for them as it is for us!

 

Moderation in feeding the birds is probably a good plan.

[RLWP]

 

Most parks that I go to, that have something like a refreshment stall, sell bags of seed based food, to feed the ducks.

 

 

All cinemas have stalls selling seed based food for humans. It has a huge mark-up and is a big source of income

 

Compare and contrast

 

Richard

[matty40s]

when out in the countryside as I often am.......I find that the wilder ducks and other birds generally stick their beaks up at white bread. I think the chlorinated content and lack of nutrients probably stand out a mile where the food they eat is needed rather than consumed because it is there.....(ditto humans)

[Keeping Up]

Bread swells up and they feel full so that is a very bad thing because they don't eat their greens. Is it 5 a day for them too?

 

Too much of anything else makes them feel full so again that is a bad thing.

 

We feed them small amounts of breakfast cereal, and they seem to love it. From a position of total ignorance we have convinced ourselves that this is better than bread and is therefore OK. We could be completely wrong, but would rather close our minds to any scientific counter-arguments and continue to feel good by shaking a small quantity of corn flakes out of the side hatch in the mornings because it obviously makes the ducks happy.

[luctor et emergo]

All cinemas have stalls selling seed based food for humans. It has a huge mark-up and is a big source of income

 

Compare and contrast

 

Richard

 

A bag of popcorn in thecinema is typically what? £4 £5?

A bag of duck food tends to be around a quid.

Given the choice, between paying £7.00 per ticket (average) and £4 or £5 on top of that, I opt for the duck food.

 

( my daugther will happily lament that I am a cheapskate....)

[steven wilkinson]

 

"real birds don't eat bread"

[Wanted]

A bag of popcorn in thecinema is typically what? £4 £5?

A bag of duck food tends to be around a quid.

Given the choice, between paying £7.00 per ticket (average) and £4 or £5 on top of that, I opt for the duck food.

 

( my daugther will happily lament that I am a cheapskate....)

 

 

Ahem, cheep cheepskate surely?

[bizzard]

Some say people used to throw bread to the Concords at airports but its beak couldn't dip low enough to snatch it up.

[PaulJ]

I feed my resident ducks with a bowl of porridge soaked in water every morning. Tesco value-only about a quid for 1.5kg.

[cheshire~rose]

I feed my resident ducks with a bowl of porridge soaked in water every morning. Tesco value-only about a quid for 1.5kg.

 

If I threw that out of the side hatch it would sink like a stone!

[PaulJ]

If I threw that out of the side hatch it would sink like a stone!

Probably best served on the bankside.. :-)

[Marky_Mark]

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £7-8 for a 20kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

 

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £8-9 for a 15kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

[Little Else]

I've never given them bread and try not to feed them in the summer ( although i do find it very difficult to resist )but I do give them poultry feed in the winter and maize flakes. Did ask the vet about his and she said it was fine.

[Marky_Mark]

edited to change bag size and price ( just looked online )

[cheshire~rose]

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £7-8 for a 20kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

 

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £8-9 for a 15kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

 

Where do you get them from? I have only found fairly small bags (from memory maybe 3-4 kg and they cost around £4

[Marky_Mark]

Google ' Charnwood floating pellets' most farm shop/poultry shop/ horsey type places can get it

[George94]

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £7-8 for a 20kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

 

i get sacks of floating duck food, About £8-9 for a 15kg bag, lasts ages at least 6 months

 

How long it lasts depends on how much you give to the birds each day.

 

The swans around here would consume a 20kg bag in a couple of days - if you gave them half a chance.

 

I use floating duck food or the same wholemeal bread that I eat myself.

[Grace and Favour]

That is something I would like to know too. I have also wondered about using some breakfast cereals to feed them with, obviously nothing sweetened etc but rice krispies float well!

 

Slightly off topic - I have a garden which has a thriving sparrow colony. so much so that I hardly ever see other birds in my garden and yet lose count of how many sparrows I can see at any given time after about 22 as they all move and I lose count. They eat their way through so much seed I can't afford to keep using it but I have always had peanuts out in case I could encorage a few ither types of bird to come and feed. The sparrows have developed a taste for nuts! I have 2 nut feeders in place and in two weeks they have eaten their way through 90% of the nuts in their favourite feeder while making their way through around half of the other two as well as emptying an extra large seed feeder in a week. I really had not got a clue that Sparrows enjoyed nuts so much!

 

After much experimenting over the years, I have discovered that one of the favourite food for Blackbirds, thrushes, Redwing and Fieldfare is dried fruit.

 

My local Tesco was selling me between two and three kilos per day in the coldest months. Nuts are favoured by the tit species, as is niger seed, and I regularly made fat balls reinforced with suet, oats, sunflower & pumpkin seeds.

 

I always bout the peanuts & sunflower seed in 25 Kilo sacks

 

 

 

(Jays and woodpeckers preferred peanuts in shell)