by S. August Abbott (TheCaretaker)

Created on: September 19, 2010   Last Updated: October 01, 2010

How to kill a duck with kindness:   Stand at the edge of the ponds, lakes or parks and toss the pieces of bread you brought especially for this.   Once again we're faced with human ego and selfishness usurping the wellbeing of the animal.   The argument can be made until you turn every shade of blue, but the truth doesn't vary, the science isn't a 'theory' on this it's a "fact" and all the pompous justification people can offer won't change it.   Feeding ducks what we THINK we should be feeding them will often kill them.   And it's not an easy death.  They starve to death with a full stomach.

Please don’t feed the wild ducks.  Really, don’t. I know that as a kid I enjoyed feeding the ducks, even had special outings just to do this. Little did I know that these birds were probably living a much shorter lifespan and possibly dying because of what I thought I was doing out of love.

You’ve got to see this before you even think about feeding the ducks again:

http://duckrescuenetwork.org/duck_care.html 

At least pick up the right foods to feed them if that’s what you’re determined to do. There’s a list at that link, including dark greens, cut up grapes, even certain cereal.  Just don’t bring bread, no matter how healthy you might think it is; and no peanuts or popcorn.

Many ducks like Mallards, are omnivorous and will eat almost anything in front of them. This doesn’t mean it’s healthy, but they are often not picky. 

Fruits, even nuts are ok, multiple grains, snails, slugs, worms and of course small fish are big sources of food for ducks, but probably their favorite is corn.  Corn meal, fresh corn, cracked corn are easy to come by and offer.

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/esse_jaso/Nutri tion.htm 

Pellet formulas have become a good option even with waterfowl, but the pleasure of variety is still necessary for a happy duck.

Pelleted diets are highly recommended and preferred because of a far lower risk of molds and bacteria growth which often happens in other food sources like mash and grains. Studies are also showing without doubt that pelleted ducks grow bigger and quicker than others.

For supplemental foods offer some hard cooked eggs, regular garden snails with or without shells, worms/night crawlers, bloodworms and of course cracked corn. It’s important to be sure when offering slugs and the like that you need to be certain no pesticides or other chemicals were used in the area and could possibly in the flesh.

For a printable guide

http://www.duckhealth.com/ducknutr.html

Too much protein can be nearly as much of a problem as too little. A condition called ‘angel wings’ occurs when overfed proteins. The feathers grow up and out rather than sleek. When too little protein is offered, walking/flying and balance problems, along with more serious health problems will result.

I own a licensed animal rescue org - and perhaps the most stunning accusation made by a parent with a toddler is that I was trying to ruin the kid's childhood by denying them the opportunity to feed the ducks the bread they brought.  Even after explaining that by allowing this I'd be allowing the proliferation of bad and wrong information that essentially murders birds - the parent didn't care in the least.

When a person claims to "love animals" and then, with full knowledge continues to feed them badly - the animal is not being loved and the person is not being honest. Now that you know the right thing, what will YOU do?

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