Indian Runner Ducks

[CarmenNebe]

I have two Indian Runner Ducks and they love parsley but I read some information saying parsley is poison to ducks. I appreciate any help with this.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Oh dear...If you google "ducks" and "parsley" most of what come up is recipes

I had never heard of an issue with Parsley specificalyy before- so wanted to take a look for myself.

I did find these though.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03079458808436437#preview

http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page2.htm

If they are eating it from a garden bed it may be a wise idea to fence it off, just to be on the safe side.

 

[CarmenNebe]

Thank you and I agree, that happened to me too when I googled it.... they all tell you how to cook ducks but not how to feed. I love my two ducks they are only 3 months old and besides of being a bit messy with the water, they have now discovered their little pond. After refusing going in the water at first they now adore it.......

Nevertheless the problem remains, the more you read about a topic the more confusing it gets. With parsley much the same as "should you feed treated chicken starter to ducks". I am doing it because I was first tod to when I bought my chickens together with the ducks but I want them all to have a good health and I believe in herbs to treat. From day one I put crushed garlic in their drinking water, they don't seem to mind, it is a soucrce of vitamins and meant to keep the flees away. Havn't seen any so far.

I also read that Indian Runners are not meant to be a particular good pet, they do not socialise, I am working on proofing that wrong.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
Just wanted to say thanks to ducky for the info and

CarmenNebe

 

[Amiga]

Hi, CarmenNebe,

I have nine runners, and they are the sweetest! I have a few shy girls, but a number of them are very friendly. Each has her own personality. I spend quite a bit of time with them to socialize them, but it has paid off. They like me, they like people in general, they are not high strung.

They are energetic, like border collies! But they usually settle down as long as they get enough fresh air and exercise.

I find it difficult, too, to find out about plants and ducks - those recipes pop up... yikes.

I worried when I saw Zwei eat a tiny piece of garlic last year. But she seemed to have no problems with it. It's one of those plants that I have heard conflicting information about. I don't feed it to them, but if they find a small stray clove in the garden I don't get too worried.

I did fence off the rhubarb, as it seems the trouble I had with calcium deficiency began after the rhubarb leafed out, and it was in their garden area, and I know at least one duck nibbled a leaf once.

 

[CarmenNebe]

Thank you, for all the replies, I am very new to this, I live in beautiful QLD, Australia half an hour north of Brisbane and have not yet found my way around BYC but I already feel very welcome here. I named my ducks Daisy, she is white and has beautiful gold sprinkles and a golden head and neck and Molly, she is black and brown and of course also very beautiful but who would not say this about their ducks. I also have two silkies and three chickens. I got them all at a very young age, the silkies were two weeks, the chickens 3-4 and the ducks 4 wks old.
By dhe way, I read somewhere that strawberries are a special tread for ducks and tried it just before. They just love it but the cheaky chickens are very fast in getting in first.

 

[Amiga]

I don't know what I did wrong raising them, but my runners don't like to eat red things.

strawberries
red lily leaf beetles
watermelon
cabbage

They like green things.

peas
lettuce

And brown things.

slugs
worms
beetles

 

[Tivona]

Hmmm, I had not known about parsley being bad for ducks. Thanks for starting this post and mentioning it. And this is one reason why I love BYC, always new stuff to learn and helpful posts to read. I have my parsley fenced off to protect it from the ducks (who dig it up looking for worms) and the geese (who love eating most of the roots of my various plants). Mostly my garden netting for planting boxes works but I think I may double check the parsley bed netting tomorrow after reading this post. My ducks don't care for my strawberries. That is a garden bed I let them in without worrying. All they look for there is slugs. Of coarse my ducks also don't like peas either...and they are supposed to think that those are great, so my ducks might be crazy. Then again they love slugs so maybe not.

 

[duckluck]

For what it's worth, I have never heard anything about parsley being bad for ducks.

 

[CarmenNebe]

My two Indian Runner ducks, Daisy (white) and Molly (black) are now 5 months old and have not yet started laying eggs. I had them from 4 wks old and they are so much fun to watch. I also hand feed them with treats such as strawberries and herbs. For their bath I am using a plastic childrens outdoor-bath and change the water daily. I am using rainwater and at the end of the day I empty the pond and use it to water the garden. My ducks live together with chickens but do not bother much. They all are getting along fine.
Just recently I noticed something a bit disturbing. The ducks were having their bath filled and as usual can't wait to get in. They are splashing and diving like children do and suddently one duck climbed on the back of the other and held him down under water, now is that play or reason to be worried. I would prefer it to be a sign of "having fun" not agression. Or coud it be possible that my Mrs Daisy is a Mr Daisy??? Greatful for any suggestions.... thank you