stupid question..

[lovesduckies]

can ducks eat cottage cheese?

 

[Amiga]

Wow, I like the question. Sorry to say, I am not sure.

Dave Holderread suggests a little milk in their diet is okay, though. And some give their ducks watered down yogurt from time to time for the probiotics.

But if I recall correctly, Duck_feeder says ducks are lactose intolerant. Hmmmmm.

Does that help?

 

[newchickmom09]

Here is a link to feeding ducks it includes a huge list of just about everything you could think of.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=242460

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Mine did! You should have seen them tear into Lasagna. First the meat sauce then the cheese filling, two of them would team up on the pasta and the cheese topping to tear it into bite sized bits.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

hmmmmm, I can't seem to make good lasagna. Even the family won't eat it.......

 

[Duck_feeder]

Quote:
All birds are lactose intolerant. Lactose is a compound sugar that is unique to mammals. Only mammals and some bacteria can produce lactase, the enzyme necessary to break lactose down into glucose and galactose (simple sugars that nearly all life can digest). Normally as mammals ween off milk, their genes that are responsible for making lactase are turned off as they aren't supposed to still be drinking their mother's milk. Humans that are not lactose intolerant have a beneficial mutation that causes the lactase gene from getting turned off. That's why nearly everyone who is not of european descent is lactose intolerant.

In nature, birds do not depend on mammalian milk for nutrition so there is no biological need to evolve the ability to digest lactose. As a result they are all lactose intolerant.

That said, we give our ducks cottage cheese once in a while as a treat (cottage cheese is generally lower in lactose than milk). Like in the case of lactose intolerant people, a small amount of lactose for ducks generally shouldn't cause any problems. Like almost all things in life, the key is moderation. A small scoop of ice cream doesn't bother me at all, a few scoops tends to bother the people around me, and eating an entire carton would make me curse the inventor of ice cream.

Also, it's a good idea to keep an eye on your duck's poop whenever a new treat is introduced to help ensure they aren't having any problems with it. Too much lactose in theory could cause diarrhea and/or gas (appear as foamy poop).

 

[lovesduckies]

thanks everyone.

duck_feeder, i gave them a bit last night, but they didn't seem to like it much. they are here in my room with me, so i haven been keeping an eye on them. so far so good. my female liked it more than my drake, but they both didn't eat much. the bunny on the other hand was trying as hard as she could to get her little paws on it! lol

goosedragon.. do you make lasagna with cottage cheese instead of ricotta?? my mom does. SOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMY!!! the ducks haven't tried that yet. i tried to give them some pop sicle last night and they didn't want any lol.