Have you ever come across a video of a duck waddling around on social media that made you want to get one as a pet? Well, you’re not alone, and that’s because ducks are adorable, but you’re unsure about what ducks eat. Keep reading to find out what you can feed ducks in the wild and your pet duck.
Do Ducks Have Teeth?
Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about ducks:
- Ducks can be found all across the world, except in Antarctica, where the cold environment freezes the water bodies, starving the ducks.
- The amount of time daylight they receive determines the number of eggs they produce.
- Their quack does indeed echo.
- The ducks eat rocks sometimes as their rough texture helps break down food.
What Can Ducks Eat?
To begin with the basics, there are broadly two types of wild ducks: divers and dabblers.
Having a well-balanced diet that keeps them healthy. Ducks are omnivores. Worms, insects, tadpoles, grass, weeds, grains, and other seeds provided food for them. A well-balanced diet.
The domesticated ducks are very like the wild ducks. Since ducks are omnivores, they eat almost all food items. They are very self-sufficient and find their food like wild birds.
Divers
The wild ducks, like Mergansers, dive below the water in search of food like tiny plants.
Dabblers
Whereas dabblers sit on the pond or reed margins. These wild birds eat plant roots and food like berries or grains on the ground.
So, What Ducks Eat When Young?
Young ducklings tend to mature and need food that has high protein and calories. For the first three weeks, the diet needs 18 to 20 percent protein.
Keep in mind that the pellets are small for ducklings to eat. Through the 13th week, you can switch to a maintenance diet that includes 14 percent protein.
What To Feed Wild Ducks?
Things wild ducks eat are food that is a part of their nutritious natural diet, and these include:
1. Aquatic Plants
2. Slugs, small crustaceans, and tadpoles
3. Berries
4. Fish eggs and small fish
5. Worms
6. Seeds
7. Earthworms
8. Grass and leafy greens
The exciting thing about these feathered friends is that ducks have bristles instead of teeth, whether these birds live in a local pond or local park. Thus what they eat is essential.
Their natural diet keeps changing according to the seasons. They forage for food all day and night.
We can feed them nutritious duck food like fresh peas. Some small pieces of cooked leftover food, corn, or seeds but avoid feeding them stale bread and rice.
During the winter, they tend to migrate to warmer areas. Areas where the water is not frozen and search for food to survive the winters.
The dabbling ducks stay put in winter. They are well equipped to survive the winter cold as they have enough feathers and body fat.
What Do Domesticated Ducks Eat?
It is necessary to understand that duck species love to search for food and tend to eat frequently.
Like wild ducks, domestic or pet ducks will forage for food. It is important to feed these domestic ducks enough food like:
- Insects: anything from an insect to a bug, they’ll eat it.
- Worms: During the rains, ducks will be the happiest. The reason is that they like feeding on worms like other birds the same way. And worms are easily found on the surface during the rainy season.
- Weeds and grasses: ducks love their greens too.
- Berries: wild blackberries are their absolute favorite.
- Fishes/eggs: In a pond, these ducks will eat the fish as well as their eggs.
In the context of grains, you can try feeding them:
1. Layer Pellets and duck feed pellets is a considerable option to feed domestic ducks.
It contains 16 percent protein and is the same one used to feed chickens too. Try to avoid crumbles as they have a higher risk of choking.
2. Sunflower seeds can be used as treats for feeding the ducks.
3. frozen peas, cracked corn, and frozen corn
4. Whole grains like wheat, rolled oats, and barley. Wheat is a great option, although it has little nutritional value
5. Fresh leafy vegetables like Lettuce in small pieces are nutritious. They are great for duck food.
Try using the lightweight leaves and breaking them into small bite-sized pieces. Besides this, if your ducks do not have any access to dirt, you will need to provide them with poultry grit.
Expert Insights on Pet Duck Care: Key Dietary Tips
Paola Cuevas, a Veterinarian, MVZ, and Behaviorist with Hepper.com, recommends:
“Ducks belong to the bird order known as Ancerifoms. The species of birds in this biological order share the following characteristics:
Aquatic birds that can fly and some of them even have migratory habits.
They build their nests near the water.
They have long necks.
Their feet are webbed, which makes them excellent swimmers.
Their beaks are wide and flat sometimes referred to as spatulate.
Ducks feed mainly from vertebrates, vegetables, and small fish. They use their beak and flexible lower mandible’s ability to open just a tiny bit to let water flow through [this] behavior is called spooning.
Ducks can use the comb-like projections or lamellae in the edge of their beak to strain any edible material from the water or mud.
[Due to] this feeding behavior leads intoxications from ingesting pieces of hunter bullets [are] unfortunately fairly common in wild ducks and other birds in the Anceriforms order.
Some important tips when keeping ducks as pets are:
[Provide] them with water to swim, even a deep enough water dispenser. Ducks that [are] not provided with a chance to swim will develop bumblefoot.
[T]hey can be fed with balanced pellets.
When they are [less] than three weeks old, [their] starter crumbles should be 18-20% protein.
Ducklings between 3-20 agen need about 15% protein in their pellets.
After 20 weeks of age, a mix of pellets and grains works great. [T]hey should be provided with shelled grit to ensure they get enough calcium supplementation to support egg posture.
Besides pellets, [ducks] can be fed:
Grains and seeds, including oats, maize, and wheat.
Vegetables except onion, garlic, avocado or citrus
Some fish such as those of the family Cheirodontinae or insects
Please ensure your duck has access to clean water.
Avoid feeding them bread please [this] is not a natural diet for ducks and can hurt their digestive and overall health.”
Occasional Treat for Cheat Days
Like any other species, Ducks also like treating themselves to good food. But the treats need to be given in small quantities.
Although many ducks enjoy treats like corn, carrots, and greens. These foods do not fulfill the ducks’ nutritional values required in their diet.
These treats should not compromise more than five to 10 percent of the diet. Allow the duck to graze around in the pesticide-free yard. Let’s look at what ducks eat on their cheat days.
1. Cucumbers, raw potatoes, spinach, and avocados. as well as fruits like watermelon rinds and apple cores.
2. Eggs baked in the oven and cooked hard-boiled eggs are a great source of protein.
3. Store-bought feeds like chicken feed or worms.
4. Frozen Peas or sweetcorn, but make sure to defrost them thoroughly.
How to Feed the Ducks?
Let’s see how to feed them; ducks eat a lot and tend to drink a lot of water. So, the first thing is to keep a lot of freshwaters available at all times.
It is essential for them because it helps them swallow natural foods. clean the nostrils, which may get clogged with dust or mud while foraging.
Balancing Duck Nutrition: An Intersection of Commercial Feed and Natural Foraging
Michael Thompson, Founder and Leading Veterinarian at Pets Food Safety, provides valuable insights on balancing commercial and natural food for ducks:
“Ducks benefit a lot from natural foraging, as a diverse diet not only meets their nutritional needs but also enriches their environment, making them happier, healthier, and more well-adjusted.
However, it’s crucial to complement this with commercial feed to ensure that all nutritional needs [are] met.
For instance, commercial feed often contains much-needed minerals like calcium, which may not [be] easily found in a foraging environment. Additionally, feed formulations like expandable granules can promote better digestion in ducks.
Even from an ecological perspective, having a mix of commercial feed and natural foraging can contribute to sustainable practices, giving ducks access to untreated, natural food sources while relieving pressure off the ecosystem.”
What To Avoid Feeding Ducks?
To keep your duck healthy and safe, the keeper must know what they should not be feeding ducks and what to feed them. It is an essential part to focus on. Here is the list of edibles you should not feed ducks.
1. Citrus fruits: Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit. should be avoided as they may interfere with the shell hardness of their eggs.
2. Medicated chicken feed: Ducks have more appetite than chickens. Chicken can lead to overdose.
3. Human junk food: Junks like cake, fries, white rice, and potato chips are harmful to humans. So anything of that sort is a big no for feeding ducks.
4. Too many treats: It is terrible to feed ducks in excess quantities. even though ducks eat and have different eating habits. extra protein or other nutrition can lead to abnormalities like an angel wing.
5. Bread: Everyone remembers going to a park and feeding bread to ducks. We have seen ducks eat bread. But the truth is that the thick white bread chunks are not suitable for their digestive system. so try to avoid them.
6. Raw or dried beans: Raw or dried beans are toxic to ducks. So, if you want to feed them beans, they should be sprouted.
7. For Other leftover foods such as mangoes, nuts, tomatoes, and popcorn, avoid medicated feeds designed for other species. They could be toxic to ducks.
Anything moldy should not be given to ducks to eat as they may have allergic reactions to these duck geese. This should be kept in mind before feeding ducks.
8. Oyster Shells: These are not required if the laying ducks have an excellent quality-laying ratio.
Suppose you notice that your ducks are laying pitted or thin-shelled eggs despite being on a good diet. Then, you need to choose a different supplement for them. It should not be fed to non-laying ducks as it can result in kidney failure.
Conclusion
We can say that they eat pretty much everything except a few foods, which can be harmful to their health and should be avoided. And it is advised to keep tons of freshwater for their hydration during the time of feeding.
Ducks need to get plenty of fresh feed every day. The extra meal needs to be discarded daily, especially in wet and humid weather. Most ducks love to dip their pellets in the water while eating and should have a bowl of fresh water with every meal.
Flock feeds are suitable for feeding ducks, geese, and turkeys. Although ducks love to eat bread, feeding grains or greens is a much better option for them. It will cause a less stressful environment and crowding for the ducks and swans in the local lakes.
By now, you are all set with the knowledge of what ducks eat. So, if you are even planning on getting a duck for yourself to pet, you do not have to worry about feeding it.
Guest Author: Saket Kumar
Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology
