Hey, So recently a group of ducks have moved in to my town house complex, we don't have a pond or anything of the sort and no one seems to know where they came from and why. There are 3 ducks that will come to my back door to ask for food and I've been feeding them. For the first few days I fed them bread, but figured it can't be good for them so switched to frozen peas (defrosted) for a little while. Today with their peas I gave them cooked hapa (mixed brown and white) rice (that I had put in water afterward and drained so it wasn't sticky) and a little bit of quick oats, they seemed to really enjoy it. What else can I feed them that would be around my house, I don't want to have to go to buy duck feed or anything like that. What sort of vegetables and fruits are good for them? I know they can find food on their own but this isn't exactly a normal duck habitat and they seem to want to be semi domestic (aka want me to feed them) I don't want to make them sick or unhealthy so please help me out here. I also keep a bowl of water on my back step for them to drink Thanks in advance These are two of the ducks if the type matters:
you can feed them bell peppers, lettuce, strawberries, mashed bananas, applesauce, watermelon, diced tomatoes, halved grapes, broccoli & peaches,
I hope this helps, I know if they're laying hens they should have some form of calcium so if you eat eggs maybe break/grind up the egg shells and give it to them with the food. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/242460/the-ultimate-list-of-duck-treats-and-supplements And I'm not sure which specific breed they are but I'm 100% sure those are someones domesticated ducks let loose/escaped/abandoned those aren't wild ducks. If you don't feel you can keep feeding them maybe try catching them and taking them to an animal shelter/rescue?
They look like Mallard ducks to me, could be someones escaped pet. maybe ask around? But I agree with what everyone said about the type of food to feed them
They are Mallard Ducks, the one on the left ( with the curley tail ) is your male and the other is the female, although she doesn't look to much like a Mallard. They will eat anything vegtable wise, I find my Runners LOVE lettuce and absolutely LOVE worms, like they will beat any chicken that I have to a good worm. Just don't feed anything to the ducks that would make you sick. That includes ANY sugary foods, coz technically sugary food make you sick. The only sugar that is allowed are the natural sugars in fruit.
I don't really think they're someones escaped pets as there are about 15 adults and 9 ducklings in my complex unless someone had a farm thing and gave up, its just only 3 come to my door. Also about 2 miles away there are more wild ducks living and I think they may have just wandered over because there aren't really predators save some domestic dogs and extremely lazy cats and a lot of grassy land they can chill on. I don't know much about ducks so I could be entirely wrong, those are just my thoughts. They were very timid when they first arrived but as we've been feeding them they've grown more accustomed to people. Thank you for all the help, I really do appreciate it. They aren't a nuisance and I have A LOT of vegetables so feeding them isn't a problem, I just don't want to make them sick. If they do belong to someone I do hope they find them as I quite like the ducks and If they were mine I would be upset to lose them.
