Is jewelweed okay for ducks to eat?

[Amiga]

We have quite a bit growing around here, and I have read that it "attracts ducks." But is Impatiens capensis - also called jewelweed or touch-me-not, okay for them to eat?

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Hmmm, I'd like to know also. We have tons of it here. It killed back our blackberry thicket and the sap works great if you get poison ivy. Hummingbirds choice of necter in late summer early fall.

 

[emys]

Yes, it is in fact edible to humans as well.

(some people have reactions to it - so I don't know that you should try eating it. Leave it to the animals! Although Euell Gibbons used to eat it regularly. He also ate poison ivy.)

 

[Amiga]

Thanks, fellow duck-lovers!

We have probably a few hundred square feet of it. I make a tincture with witch hazel and jewelweed for soothing skin irritations, and just use it straight when I get exposed to poison ivy.

We are pulling it out of some garden areas that we aren't ready for the ducks to work yet, and it would be a shame to compost the greens if they are okay for the ducks to eat.

I think tomorrow we will offer a little bit, and then see how it goes. That is what I do when I try a new wild food. Take a nibble, wait a day. Soon I hope to be trying Apios americana , hopniss, a native tuber. Word has it that some are allergic to it, but I am hoping I am not - the thought of a native potato-like food with high nutrient value appeals to me. I am such a weed-eater! (pardon the off-topic ramble . . . .)

 

[SunshineGirl72]

Jewelweed is a beautiful astringent similar to witch hazel that takes care of poison ivy and similar irritations, including bug bites- I am so happy to hear that I can also share it with my ducks!

 

[Miss Lydia]

My flock loves it!