Holly Berries?

[TLWR]

Good, bad, other?

I gave the ducklets half the deck today. Only after they found them did I realize there were green holly berries from the holly tree on the deck. They scarfed them up faster than I could toss peas.
I did a quick search, but not seeing much about holly berries and ducks.

They are having a blast chomping on dried up leaves that fell onto the deck as well.

Do I need to worry about the berries and/or leaves if they eat them?

 

[Denninmi]

Well, they're pretty toxic to humans, but songbirds do eat them in the winter -- not their favorite choice, but they will eat them when other things like crabapples are gone. Probably not going to hurt them, but personally if it were me, I would put some kind of mesh over the bush to keep them out of it.

 

[katharinad]

I would not worry about it at all. Really, if they have not gotten sick yet then it will not happen. I have never heard of ducks getting really sick from any plants they ate. There are also plenty of plants they do avoid. We have noticed some mushrooms in our lawn yesterday. My husband popped them and the ducks were looking at him say please. So he threw a piece to them. One jumped on it, chewed on it, started to make a face and promptly spit it out. Two more tried it with the same result and then they simply walked off. They are doing the same with some of the flowers I have. The meadow has plants growing that are poisonous to human beings, yet they avoid some of them and I do know that they have tried them. Still they eat other plants that are bad for humans. Lupines are a good example. So I would not worry about it at all.

 

[Enigmius]

Do the compounds in the holly berry which are potentially poisonous to humans pass through the duck and into their eggs?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Good question but I have no idea.

 

[Enigmius]

Well, I don’t want to accidentally poison myself, ya know?

 

[CayugaJana]

I have lots of poisonous plants in my backyard where my duck free range during the day. They have about half an acre. And they have ate azaleas which are super poisonous to them. I watched them eat it almost every day. I noticed they were acting sluggish at one point. So I think they figured out what was making them sick so now I don’t see them eat it at all.

 

[Enigmius]

I have lots of poisonous plants in my backyard where my duck free range during the day. They have about half an acre. And they have ate azaleas which are super poisonous to them. I watched them eat it almost every day. I noticed they were acting sluggish at one point. So I think they figured out what was making them sick so now I don’t see them eat it at all.

Interesting. Thank you.