It was only last year that I discovered that it wasn’t good to be feeding bread to the ducks. Before then I had been naively taking my little munchkins to the duck pond to feed bread to the ducks.
Feeding our ducks, geese and swans that processed white bread has no real nutritional value. When they fill themselves up with bread they don’t eat other food which would give them the nutrients they need to be healthy. The ducks can get poorly from not getting the right nutrients. If you’re interested in reading more check out this article from IFLScience.
So I’m guessing you’d still like to enjoy a trip to the duck pond and feed them something…but what? They enjoyed theses tasty oats we fed them, they weren’t very impressed with the peas!
Here’s a list of good nutritional food that’s safe for ducks
- Bird Seed – any type of mix.
- Grapes (halved)
- Frozen peas (defrosted)
- Earthworms
- Oats
- Rice
- Chopped veg – trimmings are fine
- Wheat or barley
- Cracked corn
We are still experimenting with what foods they like best. We’ve also fed them apple and banana, which I’m guessing is fine?! We haven’t yet experienced the same crazy desire ducks and geese seem to have for bread.
Have you tried feeding your local ducks some of the food on the list? What have you had most success with?
The Real Lara Shoe 
I think this a really important post. I was also naively taking the kids to feed the duck stale bread. Now we feed them peas and bird seed. #FabFridayPost
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They don’t seem to like our peas! Oats seem to be a hit though!
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I like this idea, it’s great to give a few more examples of food ducks can eat too! We will take them some oats next time we plan to feed the ducks nearby, we haven’t taken bread for a long time. #fabfridaypost
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Oats worked well for our ducks 🙂
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This is so good to know, as so many families do this routinely, while making memories with their kids. #GlutenFreeGeese We are in! TY for hosting and having me for anothe #FabFridayPost
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Totally!!
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My dad has made us up a special ‘duck feed’ mix of seeds and whatnot. The one along are local canal like it, but we went for a day out to Tredegar House recently and their ducks refused to touch it. They are clearly pampered, fast food preferring ducks! lol. x #fabfridaypost
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Nice one dad 🙂 shame those pampered ones didn’t like it!
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I only realised this about year ago! I saw Bill Oddie on telly talking about how bad bread is for ducks – all these years we thought we were being nice, poor little duckies! 🙁 Thanks for the alternative list of duck-friendly treats to try! #FabFridayPost
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Me too! Crazy huh. Have fun feeding the ducks some different treats!
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I always wondered why we take bread? It’s not like they’d eat it in the wild. Great ideas as I’ve always wondered what would be a better alternative. Sarah #FabFridayPost
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That’s so true. There aren’t any bread trees!
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Interesting. I don’t feed animals as a matter of course, because I don’t know what is good for them, but this is interesting to read as I certainly remember feeding nasty white bread to ducks as a child and I’m sure it can’t have been good. And yet we were always led to believe we were dong them some great favour! #FabFridayPost
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They do love that nasty white bread! It’s a good no feeding policy you have 😀
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I remember feeding bread to the ducks as a kid-it was so much fun seeing how close I could get them to come! I had no idea that bread was bad for the ducks but, as a family who doesn’t keep bread in the house, I started wondering ‘why bread?’ Haha. It’s such a random thing, but I’m thinking people started realizing how crazy they go over it!
I’d definitely like to give birdseed a go and see how they react. Thanks for sharing, and protecting our ducks ❤ #FabFridayPost
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I go a bit crazy over a freshly baked white loaf!! Doesn’t last long!
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We tend to take bird seed, but I didn’t think of grapes and peas. Thanks for sharing. I also took bread until recently until someone pointed out that it was bad for ducks. #FabFridayPost
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Bird seed is a great option, also can be kept in bag without going mouldy!
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I feel so bad now! When my sister and i were little we used to feed the ducks bread and since Agent M was little we used to go feed the ducks in the park our end slices of bread too. Wish i had known this. Next time we go to the park i’ll take oats instead. Thanks for sharing this!
#FabFridayPost
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We always fed them bread when I was a kid. I’m really glad I know now. 😀
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I had no idea! We always feed the ducks bread but won’t be any more. Fab post x #fabfridaypost
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That was totally me last year!
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Great information! I had no idea they eat earthworms – I think Ethan will like feeding them that very much. I need to find out where to get that near where we live… a little tricky. Thanks for co-hosting with me. xx
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I’m not sure we will be hunting for earthworms to feed the ducks! Hope Ethan gets an opportunity to, I’d love to hear about it!
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