Feeding Ducks - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

04/15/2007 03:50:21 PM · #2

Twinkies� ?

obsaysditto

Nikon D50

04/15/2007 03:57:37 PM · #3

alka seltzer covered in peanut butter

o wait, thats for sea gulls

TechnoShroom

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

04/15/2007 03:58:16 PM · #4

I was thinking of something perhaps more healthy for them. Besides, Twinkies are gross.

SteveJ

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

04/15/2007 04:18:28 PM · #5

Oranges! Duck a la Orange is pretty good :)

BeeCee

Nikon D40

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

04/15/2007 04:21:25 PM · #6

We go to the feed store and buy 50lb bags of barley for $8. For swans and geese, which prefer to feed in the water, you can buy flatted barley, which floats. I think it's more, but I'm not sure how much.

Another advantage of this is that the gulls don't like it so they don't crowd out the other waterfowl.

eta... Duck a l'orange? ;)

Message edited by author 2007-04-15 16:22:44.

SteveJ

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

04/15/2007 04:25:42 PM · #7

All the ducks are swimming in the water,
Faldadaadaa,
All the ducks are swimming in the water.
Faldadaadaa.

(All The Ducks, by Lemon Jelly)

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

04/15/2007 04:28:14 PM · #8

Originally posted by TechnoShroom:

I had the same thing happen to me yesterday - was trying to take pictures of ducks and some kid would wait until they got just to the edge of the water where I was, then come running over, yelling and waving his hands. The kid's dad thought it was hilarious.

A lady came by a bit later and the adult ducks walked right up to her as soon as they saw her. Apparently she feeds them regularly - they eat out of her hand.

04/15/2007 04:33:00 PM · #9

I'm not sure why wonderbread would be bad for a duck. It's fortified with vitamins and minerals. Sure, it doesn't have the fiber of wheat bread, but I'm quite sure a duck isn't lacking in fiber.

I bet in the limited amounts they get it's great food for 'em.

KarenNfld

04/15/2007 04:40:06 PM · #10

Oh my goodness you should never feed bread to ducks!!! All the ponds and parks around here have signs up telling you not to feed the ducks or swans bread. It's just filler....they will eat it but there's basically no nutrition in bread and they won't get the nutrition they need if they are full on bread. Buy some cracked corn or bird seed, even unpopped popcorn is good for them.

Jason I'm surprised that you would think bread is good for them, you are a doctor after all! And how do you know they get it in limited amounts? If every person who went to the lake brought bread to feed the ducks they would never eat anything else because they would be full of bread.

Please don't feed bread to ducks or any other wildlife.

SteveJ

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

04/15/2007 04:44:59 PM · #11

When any bird eats bread, it lies and when it comes into contact with water, the bread swells and can kill a bird.

Ducks don't eat bread, they eat greenery that is in the water. Geese don't eat bread, they eat greenery in the water or grass and stubble regrowth. Swans eat greenery in the water.

Seed eating birds eat seeds, not bread...

Do I need to go on? A joke is a joke, but wildlife should not be fed, full stop, unless you use wild bird food.

04/15/2007 10:20:57 PM · #12

Let me think....greenery...plants...bread...grain...plants. It's all carbohydrate.

I'm not so worried about it. The signs are there not to feed the ducks so we don't have our parks run over by waterfowl who are just looking for a handout (and making a mess).

Sure, ducks cannot live by bread alone. I'm highly skeptical it is bad for them in limited quantities.

Someone is welcome to point me to a site which goes beyond "feeding ducks is bad" to straighten me out. Until then, I'm not convinced.

EDIT: here's a snipped from a typical "don't feed the ducks" site..."While ducks seem to love bread, it is not that nutritious and generally just fills them up." There's nothing behind this. How nutritious is duckweed? The calories in bread and the duckweed are both coming from carbohydrates. In fact the bread likely had protein while the duckweed doesn't. The bread is likely also fortified with vitamins and minerals (albeit with humans in mind).

I just don't quite get people who love to go around and sound like they know something nobody else knows but it's based purely on something they were told by someone else, who was told by someone else, and so on.

Message edited by author 2007-04-15 22:27:22.

drydoc

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/15/2007 10:31:45 PM · #13

//www.liveducks.com/care.html

04/15/2007 10:37:20 PM · #14

Originally posted by drydoc:

//www.liveducks.com/care.html

yer going to have to go past the very first site that pops up on google. Don't you think I already saw that...

drydoc

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/15/2007 10:39:19 PM · #15

This was actually what I was looking for:

Food attracts more than just ducks

1.) Feeding ducks attracts rats, pests and predators that kill ducks and endanger humans.
2.) Rotting food pollutes the water and breeds deadly diseases and parasites...
� A single outbreak of Duck Virus Enteritis (caused by artificial feeding)
kills all of the ducks.
� Uneaten food quickly forms a deadly mold called Aspergillus;
fatal to ducks without early diagnosis and expensive treatment.
� Avian Botulism (caused by artificial feeding)
kills entire waterfowl populations and hospitalizes people.
� Artificially fed ducks emit a parasite causing a condition
in humans called Swimmer's Itch.
3.) Ducks defacate at the site of scattered food or bread, bacteria in feces creates much higher risks for illness or disease.
4.) Most waterfowl die-offs in the past 10 years have been attributed to artificial feeding.
5.) Food waste bobbing on the water's edge is ugly.
6.) Ducks that are overfed create dangerous amounts of waste that harms fish and other animals living in ponds.

7.) Some foods like corn may be OK as a snack for ducks, but fish can't digest it and die. Seeds cause severe cramping pain in ducks.

Please don't feed the ducks

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

04/15/2007 10:51:23 PM · #16

Don't worry. I haven't fed the ducks in a long time. However, I doubt I'm going to deny my kids the time honored tradition of getting really freaked out by a hissing goose...

LoudDog

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

04/15/2007 10:54:32 PM · #17

I'm in the don't feed the ducks at all crowd. They are wild animals and need to fend for themselves. Messing with their diet and getting them use to not having to look for food on their own is a bad thing. The less we mess with mother nature the better.

Sure it's a lot of fun to feed them, and sure they really seem to like it, but fun for you isn't always fun for all involved.

sabphoto

Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

04/15/2007 11:18:33 PM · #18

not sure if this is an option but what about that feed most zoo's hand out or sell for feeding the birds and fish. I see it all over here...they actually have little vending machines that give you a box of it. I would imagine if the zoo is using it it would be pretty safe. Maybe you can at least get a name of it from them or as suggested from someone else, check with an actual feed store.

Message edited by author 2007-04-15 23:19:04.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/15/2007 11:29:27 PM · #19

Originally posted by sabphoto:

Those are zoo ducks. They have been genetically engineered to eat the pellets that come out of the vending machine. ;)

OK, I'm just having fun now. I realize other people's opinions here are just as valid as mine. I'll bow out before we wind up as the first thread in Rant about feeding ducks.

thegrandwazoo

Nikon D750

04/15/2007 11:57:52 PM · #20

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D