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Original poster

Does anyone else love feeding ducks?

53 replies

Creamarrancardi · 08/04/2022 20:36

Childhood activity I have restarted again since having a baby. I bloody love it. It makes me so happy to see them quacking.

Excited to see the first ducklings soon!

OP posts:
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Arucanafeather · 09/04/2022 05:32

@XenoBitch

I stayed at a holiday park once that had all the cabins around a big pond. In the morning, about 40 ducks descended on the decking outside the front door. I love feeding and interacting with any wildlife, but the sheer volume and manner of these ducks was threatening.
Did they have swans and geese in the mix of ducks? My DH has always been a bit nervous of larger birds, although he’s skilled at holding a chicken or a duck now when I need him to Grin) but he says if geese move in, he’s moving out!
SquirrelG · 09/04/2022 05:53

I go to the park every second day and feed the ducks. There is one half white half black duck and he/she gets the most food - he/she knows me and comes across the pond to wherever I am.

Costacoffeeisbetterthansex · 09/04/2022 05:59

@dalmatianmad

Oh my, I've found my people. 1 of my favourite things is going to local park to feed the ducks. My family think I'm a sad bastard and my colleagues think I'm bonkers. I often take the old bread from the ward kitchen and feed them after a nightshirt. It helps me unwind. I've been this afternoon. Was in my element.
You are a lovely person doing your job but please do not feed the ducks bread as it is really bad for them. Your local farm or pet shop should sell grain which is much better for them😁🦆
FourChimneys · 09/04/2022 06:28

When DH and I were discussing making a few cutbacks recently, the 3 kilo bags of duck and swan food from the garden centre was put under essential expenditure. I love feeding the birds on the lake at the park, they are so uncomplicated.

MintyMoocow · 09/04/2022 06:42

I have three ducks ( ménage a trois) attempting to set up home on my pond at the moment. My pond is 4ft by 6ft, we have four cats.
I am not loving ducks just now!

nzborn · 09/04/2022 06:56

For me its moorhens

WiseUpJanetWeiss · 09/04/2022 07:10

Yes I love ducks. We sometimes stay at a holiday park in the Lake District where there’s a pond with ducks. I always hope to be near the pond and feed them (duck food, I buy it in big bags from a pet store in Keswick) from the balcony or patio. DH is less enamoured with the early morning breakfast quacking but meh.

I used to take DS to feed the birds and to farms etc. when he was little and I’m pleased to say he never grew out of it. He now takes my grandson to see the animals.

CircleofWillis · 09/04/2022 07:33

This is such a heartwarming thread. However, my conspiracy monitor has been beeping away telling me that this thread contains coded spy messages.

"The ducks are fluffy and yellow."
"My mother would often enjoy a morning cup of tea with the ducks"
"I will be putting my ducks in a row"
Etc.

Vampirethriller · 09/04/2022 07:42

I LOVE ducks. I can't walk past ducks without quacking at them. I'm 40.

Wantubackforgood · 09/04/2022 09:21

I loved it when my children were young .
Loved feeding the ducks and going to a nearby farm where you could feed lambs and brush piglets 😁

FuckYouDebbie · 09/04/2022 09:50

Piglet brushing sounds like fun.

liveforsummer · 09/04/2022 09:56

Oh I absolutely adore ducks. I also love geese despite them being utter arseholes with massive chips on their shoulders 😆.

UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername · 09/04/2022 09:58

I love gathering a load of fresh greens from the garden and feeding them to my chickens (they can't free range safely, we have a lot of buzzards locally). They get so excited and make such contented little noises.

Cherrypies · 09/04/2022 10:12

I found this on Facebook by accident, but love it, really look forward to his updates, bear in mind it is a working farm, but they don't make it obvious. I just love Toby dog.
www.facebook.com/goldshawfarm/
Hope you enjoySmile

SquirrelG · 09/04/2022 21:16

You are a lovely person doing your job but please do not feed the ducks bread as it is really bad for them.

The local ducks here have bread fed to them on probably a daily basis and they are fine. A local bird expert says it is bad if it is their only food source, which it isn't.

Arucanafeather · 09/04/2022 23:24

@SquirrelG

You are a lovely person doing your job but please do not feed the ducks bread as it is really bad for them.

The local ducks here have bread fed to them on probably a daily basis and they are fine. A local bird expert says it is bad if it is their only food source, which it isn't.

I’m sure I read somewhere that the Queen’s keeper of swans (or some such title) asked people not to listen to the advice to stop feeding bread to water birds over winter, as they’d had a real national issue with losing ducks/swans etc after the advice that bread isn’t great for them came out as loads of ducks suddenly didn’t have enough food over winter & therefore didn’t have enough energy to survive the winter. It’s a little like giving them cake as in it’s lots of calories with not a lot of nutrients for them but over winter they need to have a higher amount of calories to survive the colder weather so bread is a lot, lot better than not getting enough food. We don’t feed our pet ducks with bread but only because they have constant access to duck food & chicken food available all year round m, as well as wild grazing when restrictions allow - so they would get overweight if we fed bread too but totally fine, I believe, to top up wild ducks populations with a bit of bread.
Arucanafeather · 10/04/2022 04:33

www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/official-statement-bread-queens-swan-marker/

This is the article I was referring to. I guess it is one of those situations where there are two differing views both of which are likely entirely valid.

liveforsummer · 10/04/2022 09:08

It's probably best to avoid giving it to the more wild rural birds but as the article said ducks on city ponds or places with high human traffic have pretty much evolved to eating it and they are starving now people have stopped. The ducks on our city river won't entertain muesli or peas etc. bread isn't ideal just as many of our human diets are far from ideal. Some dc won't eat veg or whole grain but they still thrive however if they are used to eating clean organic food and suddenly fed loads of nuggets and frozen pizza they'd probably not be very well. Those who have never eaten much else seem to be just fine

Costacoffeeisbetterthansex · 10/04/2022 19:05

@Arucanafeather

www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/official-statement-bread-queens-swan-marker/

This is the article I was referring to. I guess it is one of those situations where there are two differing views both of which are likely entirely valid.

This is where we need a like button. Nice to see that someone is prepared to have a decent debate with balanced information
AtomicBlondeRose · 10/04/2022 19:09

We forgot to bring anything for the ducks today but spent a good 15 minutes sitting watching the ducklings - and my DC are far past toddler age! It was lovely to sit by a pond in the sun and just watch them. One of life’s underrated free joys.

Original poster
Creamarrancardi · 10/04/2022 19:26

Do you have ducklings where you are, @AtomicBlondeRose?

We fed some at the park today. The white one was bullying all the other ducks!

Does anyone else love feeding ducks?
OP posts:
JurasicPerks · 10/04/2022 19:38

Yep! Ducks ad swans.
My mother got a bag of swan food for her Christmas present. It is much more popular than oats/greens that we'd been taking due to the "don't feed bread" notices.
Swans and cygnet from last summer.

Does anyone else love feeding ducks?
Georgeskitchen · 10/04/2022 19:39

Yes !!! Especially in the winter when food is sparse.cant wait for the ducklings and the goslings to start appearing, won't be long!! 😋😍

SpeedofaSloth · 10/04/2022 19:52

Yes, love it. Sometimes bread, sometimes sweetcorn or peas, sometimes oats, sometimes birdseed. Our ducks are never too bothered about the peas.