Do you feed ducks bread?

[Chippy_Tea]

We fed them bread (usually old stale bread) when we were kids, i was under the impression feeding birds bread is now frowned on as its bad for them turns out its OK in small amounts and better than nothing at all, birds are now starving as people have stopped feeding them bread (especially in winter)

BBD News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-50081386

 

[Dexter101]

Depends how quickly they walk and how many units of alcohol they drink

 

[Gerryjo]

We fed them bread (usually old stale bread) when we were kids, i was under the impression feeding birds bread is now frowned on as its bad for them turns out its OK in small amounts and better than nothing at all, birds are now starving as people have stopped feeding them bread (especially in winter)

BBD News - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-50081386

Does not do the seagulls any harm as they shall steal the eye from your head given a chance.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Flying rats.

 

[Clint]

Heard this nonesense on the radio yesterday....
Both camps with their arguments that bread makes ducks ill or the ducks will starve if they don't get any and it's ok for them anyway...
Both talking utter crap!
Not one could point out that wild ducks are not reliant on Hovis or thin white sliced...they eat it because it's easier than spending most of the day with your arse in the air and head under water. Where the vast migratory flocks come from this time if year,there isn't any bread...
There really are some knobheads about!

 

[MyQul]

I feed the ducks in my local park Jacobs Queam Quackers

 

[Clint]

 

[MrRook]

Does not do the seagulls any harm as they shall steal the eye from your head given a chance.

My wife and I often feed stale bread to seagulls.
Some times it's avian all in wrestling.

 

[geigercntr]

I don't think the issue is with the ducks: they'll happily eat most things (including bread). The issue is more that having the bits of bread sink to the bottom (the bits not eaten by the ducks) causes lots of nutrients to enter the pond/waterway which leads to eutrophication - basically, excess nutrients causing unsightly (and often dangerous) algal blooms. Stuff like frozen peas, lettuce and other greenery is much less of an impact and lots of places ask you to feed ducks with them instead (e.g. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjo...ix-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-feed-ducks)

 

[mathorp]

I don't think the issue is with the ducks: they'll happily eat most things (including bread). The issue is more that having the bits of bread sink to the bottom (the bits not eaten by the ducks) causes lots of nutrients to enter the pond/waterway which leads to eutrophication - basically, excess nutrients causing unsightly (and often dangerous) algal blooms. Stuff like frozen peas, lettuce and other greenery is much less of an impact and lots of places ask you to feed ducks with them instead (e.g. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjo...ix-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-feed-ducks)

That makes sense. So the answer is to feed them on the bank instead of throwing it onto the water. Easy!

 

[Cwrw666]

We have a pet magpie which we feed almost entirely on bread, ham and cheese. 15 years old now and still perfectly healthy.

 

[Ghillie]

Nothing wrong with feeding ducks bread.

Yet more ***** that has been spun from social media, in amongst the right to be offended and identify as a tomato if you want to, and have consented to of course...

The problem stemmed from the idea that bread is not an “ideal food source” for ducks. Of course it’s not ideal, bread isn’t a natural part of their diet. Just because it’s not ideal though, doesn’t make it unsuitable, dangerous or toxic.

But that’s how the internet works. Someone farts online and immediately the knee jerk reaction is that they’ve **** themselves. In the same respect someone said that bread isn’t good for ducks, so instantly it’s going to decimate the population of mallards in the UK.

So when people stopped feeding the ducks bread, they just stopped feeding them entirely. The end result, hungry birds which were starving and dying off. The birds were likely accustomed to being fed bread since chicks, when that suddenly stopped - I bet the poor buggers were pretty confused.

As much as I love the internet, I hate it at the same time. It goes online via social media and instantly becomes “fact”. People share those half truths without proper peer review or research and then it’s the old “well if everyone says it, it must be true!”

Needless to say, no-one consulted the ducks on this matter

 

[Brewed_Force]

Are the ducks really starving ?
What did they eat before people started making bread ?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

They ate what ducks always have the problem is as posted above many ducks have been eating bread from when they were chicks so probably don't know what else to eat now people have stopped feeding them bread.

 

[Graz]

Folk have been feeding ducks stale bread down the park for years before this nonsense came about.

They love it. We never stopped and our kids really like doing it.

 

[johncrobinson]

Local resturants in inverness feed the ducks on the riverbank. Result tame friendly ducks that will aproach you and a point of interest for the tourists.
Natural food for ducks and other birds gets scarce during the long cold scottish winter.
I dont believe the current population level would be sustained without human intervention.

 

[Clint]

But then doesn't that lead to an artificially high population of ducks? Which are essentially still wild animals...

 

[druid1966]

But if you fatten them up.....

 

[johncrobinson]

Good point clint.
I really dont know if they could survive anymore on thier own.

 

[Pirate_Pete]

These little fella's were outside my front door this morning looking for food.
They got weetbix, the Aussie version of weetabix.
Sometimes we'll feed the adults bread though.