Why You Shouldn’t Feed Your Ducks Bread

Like cats and milk or mice and cheese, ducks and bread are an all-too-common pairing. Ducks seem to love bread in all shapes and sizes — so what’s the problem?  Should you keep giving them the food they’re used to, or is bread bad for ducks?

Incorporating bread as part of a duck’s diet is akin to feeding them a regular stream of junk food with no nutritional value. As a farmer seeking to keep your ducks healthy and strong, you’ll want to eliminate bread from their diet entirely. Here is a look at several reasons why you shouldn’t feed bread to your ducks.

Why Bread Is Bad for Ducks

While bread might seem like a popular tasty option, it’s a diet that does far more harm than good. Your ducks need feed that’s packed full of nutrients, minerals, and amino acids such as niacin. This kind of diet will help them to develop properly, avoid illnesses or malnutrition, and stay healthy throughout the year. Bread doesn’t offer any of these much-needed benefits — in fact, it does quite the opposite.

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Bread May Stunt Ducks’ Growth

We understand why bread may initially seem like an optimal choice for a farmer, particularly when it comes to a small flock of backyard ducks. Bread is simple, affordable,  and easy to distribute. And as ducks will eat it up and seem to enjoy it, you won’t be handling a lot of wasted food.

However, one of several dangers is that ducks will fill up on bread instead of other foods that have higher nutritional levels. Without any hunger and need to eat natural foods or organic feed, they will be missing out on the nutrients that would help sustain them. Bread-fed ducks are also at risk of gaining weight and dealing with subsequent health problems.

Bread Is Low in Nutrients

While bread is loaded with carbs, it’s largely devoid of nutritional value. Just as humans shouldn’t live on a diet of sugar and fried food, ducks can’t stay healthy for long on a heavy bread diet. They need varied nutrients, best found in natural plants and proteins, as well as organic feed. Ducks that live solely on a bread diet won’t receive the nutrients needed to develop properly, hindering their health in the long term.

This is particularly important when it comes to ducklings who desperately need nutrients as they rapidly grow. Consider this factor when you’re deciding what not to feed baby ducks.

Bread Can Increase Risk of Disease in Ducks

As a result of the poor nutritious value of bread, ducks relying on this diet are more likely to develop malnutrition-related illnesses. A carbohydrate-rich diet typically leads to greater amounts of defecation, which easily harbor bacteria that can spread diseases like avian botulism. Ducks can also contract aspergillosis — a fatal lung infection — from moldy bread, and it has has been known to wipe out entire duck flocks!

This high-carb, high-protein diet can also increase the risk of contracting a wing deformity condition known as angel wing. This distorts the duck’s wings to the point where the duck cannot fly.

Throw out the Bread and Start Using Organic Duck Feed

As a farmer, when it’s time to decide what not to feed ducks, bread should be high on your list. What should you feed them instead? Nature’s Best Organic Feeds offers Organic Duck Crumbles, specifically formulated for ducks and ducklings. This high-energy feed contains a calculated balance of protein, vitamins, amino acids and minerals that will provide growing ducklings and ducks with everything they need to develop properly and stay healthy. Purchase a bag or buy in bulk today.

Any questions? Let us know how we can help!

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