Spruce Tree?

[Brahmb]

My ducks were nibbling on the big old spruce tree in our back yard. Is this going to make them sick?

 

[Jpat]

i had a 4 foot spruce tree in my run with 4 ducks and they chewed it right down it looks like a stick in the ground now, Their fine

 

[CrystaBub]

Spruce won't hurt them. My ducks nibble on Spruce, Holly and other evergreens. I think YEWS are extremely toxic though - so keep them away from those. Also Nandina berries, if eaten in large quantities, are deadly (contain cyanide) - but they do have to eat a lot of them to die... I think Juniper berries are toxic too. Sorry for too much info - i know you only asked about the Spruce lol.

 

[LlamaGirl4]

Spruce won’t hurt. My ducks and chickens eat it all the time

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

View attachment 1595029 My ducks were nibbling on the big old spruce tree in our back yard. Is this going to make them sick?

Beautiful Duckies! - Are those Rouens?

I can't even remember what plants my Duckies have chewed down to the ground.
Marigold - yummy, ate all of it
Chives - used as an edible nest.
Hazelnut shrubs - all the leaves eaten.
Anything that flowers - swallowed and turned into poo.
A broken off branch from a pine tree - nibbled off all needles.
Tomato plants - eaten alive, including green tomatoes, flowers and the roots (!)
Lichens, growing on old wood - carefully nibbled off.

I think ducks know very well what they can eat and what they should not eat.
My ducks for example never ate mushrooms growing on their pasture, they just trampled them.

 

[Fishkeeper]

The longer an animal has been domesticated, the less likely it is to have an instinctive understanding of what to avoid eating. Cats, for example, will nibble all sorts of plants that could possibly kill them. Daylilies cause organ failure in cats, even tiny amounts, so have to be kept out of a house with cats to keep the cats safe.

 

[aliciaFarmer]

I think YEWS are extremely toxic though - so keep them away from those.

Yews are extremely toxic to humans but surprisingly, not to birds. I don't know about ducks specifically and would certainly never feed them Yew berries intentionally but we have a gorgeous old moss covered Yew tree that I see wild birds nibbling on all the time. I was surprised.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yews are extremely toxic to humans but surprisingly, not to birds. I don't know about ducks specifically and would certainly never feed them Yew berries intentionally but we have a gorgeous old moss covered Yew tree that I see wild birds nibbling on all the time. I was surprised.

According to Wikipedia the berries are not toxic, but the seed within.
-> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata#Toxicity
We have no yews growing here, but i would not dare to feed those berries to my greedy ducks. They could easily swallow needles or the seeds too, and who knows weather it is not a poison to a domesticated bird…

 

[aliciaFarmer]

According to Wikipedia the berries are not toxic, but the seed within.
-> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxus_baccata#Toxicity
We have no yews growing here, but i would not dare to feed those berries to my greedy ducks. They could easily swallow needles or the seeds too, and who knows weather it is not a poison to a domesticated bird…

Yes, it's the seed that's poisonous to humans. I've never seen a bird remove a seed though. I wouldn't feed them to my birds either, as mentioned -- I was just surprised to see swarms of birds eating them having thought they were poisonous to all creatures.

 

[Brahmb]

Beautiful Duckies! - Are those Rouens?

No. They are mallards, much to my chagrin. I thought they were Rouens. They fly.

Thanks to all for the replies. This is easily a 40 foot spruce, so I don’t think they will chew it down any time soon.