Treats for Ducks?

[RavenStorm]

Why no spinach? That is my baby's favorite thing of all time!

 

[Wifezilla]

That is another thing I got mixed info on. My ducks also like spinach, though their most favorite thing of all time is bok choy tops

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

cottage cheese is also a good treat.

 

[nettie]

Quote:
Something in spinach reduces the amount of calcium the ingester can absorb. This is particularly important in laying birds, since calcium in needed for eggshells. If not enough calcium is being absorbed, a duck's body will steal it from their bones.

My vet told me this when i brought in my runner with egg binding issues.

A good spinach subsitute is Kale. It has lots of calcium in it, and it's green and leafy.

I guess some spinach is okay as a treat every now and then, probably more so when a female bird is not laying.

 

[nettie]

mine will do anything for:

Peas
Lettuce
tomatoes
bell peppers
and floating koi food.

I even trained mine to lower their heads (when I say "Wait!") to get their peas.

I also can get them to jump up and get them from my fingers. it's quite amusing, esp when Victor miss-judges the jump and falls backwards... and can get up, lol.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Why not Avocado?
Not that my Scovies get much plus it's just plain expensive to buy. We had some left over that had browned in the air so I squished it all up and added left over mashed potatoes and oatmeal. The chickens hogged just about all of it but once they had it down to the green dregs I added some water to the plate and my drake Scovie, Duke, slurped up the avocado water.

 

[nettie]

AVACADOS ARE TOXIC!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT FEED YOUR WATERFOWL AVACADO!!!!!

All parts of the fruit/tree are toic to both ducks and geese. It will kill them!

See this website:
http://birds.about.com/od/feeding/tp/poisonousfoods.htm

Here is a post on a different site i found online where someone fed their ducks avocado and they died quickly-

http://forums.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=10923

here's another article:
http://www.oldworldaviaries.com/text/miscellaneous/toxicoses.html


AGAIN, DON'T FEED AVOCADOS!!!!!

 

[nettie]

I've posted a HUGE list of good and bad treats. The list allaboutdemchicks posted is a list i gave her that i compiled myself (and still am compiling!) I did tons of research on it. So for all the info, go check out this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=137379

 

[Wifezilla]

Nettie, on the seeds, it looks like ducks are eating these in nature. People are feeding their ducks seeds. Ducks LIKE seeds. Are they really bad for ducks? Where does this information come from? Is it only certain seeds that are an issue? Which ones (besides the apple seeds - they do have cyanide in them)?

 

[joshplus10]

Fond childhood memory: stomping on all the fallen apples while the ducks followed at my heels.