feeding ducks

[dogless]

With thanks to kris on thunderboat.

A very interesting read.

Rog

 

http://www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/swan-sanctuary-statement-ban-bread-campaign/

[doratheexplorer]

The article is about swans, not ducks.  A noble swan would be most disturbed to be mistaken for a mucky little duck.

 

Mother's Pride for ducks.  Finest artisan sourdough for swans.

 

Geese, are evil and should be denied sustenance.

[dogless]

Geese are terrific characters. 

Rog

[Mike55]

Geese make excellent guard 'dogs', as they can't be silenced with food - if alarmed they're just noisy.

 

Personally I'd never stopped feeding bread to ducks etc.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

13 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

The article is about swans, not ducks.  A noble swan would be most disturbed to be mistaken for a mucky little duck.

 

Mother's Pride for ducks.  Finest artisan sourdough for swans.

 

Geese, are evil and should be denied sustenance.

You can't always spot the geese at first glance. Saw a Canada goose once swimming with a family of swans pretending to be a gosling. They were hanging about around a canalside pub on the Chesterfield looking for handouts from the pub goers. Every so often one of the adult swans would give the goose a peck to try and make it go away. The goose knew it was on to a good thing.

Picture below with the cat concerned that birds should never be allowed that are that big.

Jen

 

[mrsmelly]

People and their kids have fed bread to ducks for ever. The countryside is not littered with dead ducks and swans. People will continue to feed birdies with bread. Gimmicks come and go. Of course many ducks will be gluten intolerant innitt ?

[rowland al]

38 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

The article is about swans, not ducks.  A noble swan would be most disturbed to be mistaken for a mucky little duck.

 

Mother's Pride for ducks.  Finest artisan sourdough for swans.

 

Geese, are evil and should be denied sustenance.

It was supposed to be about angel wing which can affect all types of birds including ducks. The evidence was always very iffy but it didn’t stop people going out and enjoying the countryside fortunately.

[doratheexplorer]

32 minutes ago, rowland al said:

It was supposed to be about angel wing which can affect all types of birds including ducks. The evidence was always very iffy but it didn’t stop people going out and enjoying the countryside fortunately.

 

[rusty69]

14 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

 

Is that @Dr BobDonald, gone to duck-heaven (his oven)? 

[doratheexplorer]

How can I get angel wing?  It sounds great!

[Cheese]

Around here there are signs on the riverbank asking people not to feed bread to ducks.  Food that is more acceptable includes oats, sweetcorn, peas etc

[doratheexplorer]

Just now, Cheese said:

Around here there are signs on the riverbank asking people not to feed bread to ducks.  Food that is more acceptable includes oats, sweetcorn, peas etc

Oranges?

[Athy]

We read about the deleterious effects of excessive bread on ducks early this year. So, on trips to the boat this spring, we regaled them with theend of our bowl of salad, as the article we had read recommended feeding them lettuce & c.

Well, you should have seen the looks we got. They turned their beaks up at us and some laughed sarcastically. Not a single duck ate any of the salad.

So, we're back to feeding them stale bread, which they evidently have a taste for. To be fair, we usually have the kind of bread which is replete with seeds, grains and the like, which probably has more nutritional value than straight white bread.

[Boater Sam]

Apple peel is ambrosia to ducks and swans. I refuse to feed or tolerate Canada geese, useless noisy dirty birds, wish they would all go home. ( not the only invasive specie we could do without )

'Our '  swans are addicted to Frosties, really.

[Jennifer McM]

It amazes me how many ducks/swans/geese are in places considered to have 'dirtier' water, like around Nuneaton, yet in 'pristine' waters like the Nene, there's not so many. Go round places where a lot of people feed them such as Winsor or Reading and there's hundreds of swans and ducks.

 

I've tried throwing (uncooked) rolled oats at them, which they love, except the oats sink too quick before they can be snapped up.

 

We've seen lots of swan's nests this spring, most of them are in close proximity to where humans live, like at bottom of gardens, or near boats. I guess they must like us.

 

 

 

 

[Athy]

1 minute ago, Jennifer McM said:

.

 

We've seen lots of swan's nests this spring, most of them are in close proximity to where humans live, like at bottom of gardens, or near boats. I guess they must like us.

 

 

 

 

If so, they have a funny way of showing it.

[dor]

We carry sunflower hearts on the boat for the ducks.  It's like quack cocaine to them.  Although the seeds sink, the ducks very quickly go after it.

[pete.i]

What the hell has the last bit got to do with anything. The bit about the "expert angler" who has been been fishing with bread as bait since the romans. This titbit that comes from a person who enjoys ripping the guts or throats out of fish with a bloody great hook. Ah yes it comes from Thundrthighs or whatever it's called I should have realised.

[Athy]

32 minutes ago, pete.i said:

What the hell has the last bit got to do with anything. The bit about the "expert angler" who has been been fishing with bread as bait since the romans. This titbit that comes from a person who enjoys ripping the guts or throats out of fish with a bloody great hook. Ah yes it comes from Thundrthighs or whatever it's called I should have realised.

Quite a bit, I think, as it points out that bread has been fed to fish for hundreds of years and doesn't seem to have done them any harm..

I do not fish, but know a few sad people who do; none of them, as far as I know, enjoys ripping the guts or throats out of fish. You must know some very sadistic anglers.

[Jim Riley]

4 hours ago, Cheese said:

Around here there are signs on the riverbank asking people not to feed bread to ducks.  Food that is more acceptable includes oats, sweetcorn, peas etc

Peas in the cut? That topic has its own thread! 

[rowland al]

2 hours ago, pete.i said:

What the hell has the last bit got to do with anything. The bit about the "expert angler" who has been been fishing with bread as bait since the romans. This titbit that comes from a person who enjoys ripping the guts or throats out of fish with a bloody great hook. Ah yes it comes from Thundrthighs or whatever it's called I should have realised.

I’ve not heard of Thunderthighs. Do you have to pay a subscripton? 

[ditchcrawler]

Why feed them in the first place

[Lily Rose]

I've tried a number of the recommended foods but the only one they seemed to like was oats but, as has a!ready been pointed out, they sink too quickly.

 

I've recently settled on cheap own-brand or "value" whole grain cereal bought especially for feeding the ducks etc.

 

Bran flakes and "weetabix" (broken up) seem to work well. They are cheap, they are reasonably wholesome (more so than white bread anyway), they have a long shelf life and they always get eaten. They do sink but fairly slowly so as long as you don't throw in too much in one go the birds manage to get them before it's too late.

 

[rowland al]

9 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Why feed them in the first place

Aw, come on, have a heart. What about the cute little ducklings.

 

Anyway, where else do you really think crispy duck comes from?

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

Quite a bit, I think, as it points out that bread has been fed to fish for hundreds of years and doesn't seem to have done them any harm..

 

There is no known case of a fish ever getting angel wing, so that proves bread is safe to eat. 

 

Dunno about humans though...