To think it's OK to feed bread to ducks/swans/geese

[GerdaLovesLili]

Our local parks have slowly been putting up signs that suggest that the wild fowl are actively harmed by feeding them bread.

It means that feeding them is no longer a cheap activity.

However the Swan Sanctuary have put out a statement to say this isn't true, and "We strongly disagree with the idea that the campaign will improve the health of swans and other waterfowl. In fact, we believe it could actually have a detrimental effect on the waterfowl. The Sanctuary has evidence that when people stop feeding bread, to the birds, they quite often stop completely rather than substitute the bread with an alternative."

The full statement can be read here: www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/swan-sanctuary-statement-ban-bread-campaign/

YABU

But who cares about the health of living things as long as your PFB can throw bread at them and it doesn’t cost you money?

A handful of frozen peas, cut up outer lettuce/cauliflower leaves, bits of fruit. All cheap and good for ducks.

Lots of pet shops sell duck and swan food now. You can put a small amount in to bags as you go out

I got bitten by an over-enthusiastic duck when feeding it bread as a child .

Visiting a duck pond is free. Count the ducks, point out the differences between the male and female ducks, point out their webbed feet etc. Identify flowers and trees in the park. All free.

My parents rarely had spare bread, going to see the ducks was still an activity I enjoyed.

People have been feeding ducks bread for decades and they’re hardly extinct are they? Just a load of sanctimonious preaching by do-gooders imo

Bread fills them up but has very little nutritional benefit so they end up not eating enough and can starve. It’s very bad for them. How about oats, frozen peas, sweetcorn etc?

If you can’t afford it, don’t do it.

We have similar signs around where we live. The signs almost always give suggestions of alternative foods that are more suitable than bread.

Plus the cafe’s / shop’s around our local parks that have waterfowl have been selling bird food for quite some time now. 50p for a bag that’s big enough for a small child to feed plenty of ducks with.

Rice is good

Yeah, ducks are so boring if you can't feed them bread. That's why my kids hate the zoo, because you're not allowed to feed the animals.

Our local ducks refused oats, sunflower seeds and grapes, all of which are on the approved list. Meanwhile they hoovered up the bread that another family was throwing them...

And to the people saying the birds rejected things like peas and oats - that’s part of the problem! They choose bread over other options and fill up on something that isn’t nutrient rich enough to sustain them. If everyone stopped feeding bread and started feeding oats and peas, they would eat the oats and peas.

People have been feeding ducks bread for decades and they’re hardly extinct are they?

People have been doing lots of stupid harmful shit for all of existence, doesn't mean we shouldn't stop doing it when we realise it's harmful. Especially when there's no plus side to continuing to do it!

Our local council banned feeding swans altogether after the population of swans grew and grew and grew.

However I may just be bitter as I'm scared of swans as I was bitten by one as a child. Feeding it bread.

So generally not personally in favour of swan feeding fullstop.

I genuinely didn't realise bread was bad for ducks and swans! I will stop immediately, but what do I feed instead? Are we talking ACTUAL peas, like birdseye?

Ducks in Birmingham turned their beaks up at lettuce but we’re dead keen on naan bread thrown by the family next to us.

Bag of basics porridge oats is about 30p and can do a few trips to the ducks! Alternatively, most places sell bags of duck food if ducks around! Although a bit more pricey! Bread is a no no now I believe

I read about bread being terrible for them and it said to give them peas instead.

Me and DS looked rather ridiculous showering a load of ducks with peas, while they utterly ignored them...

A couple of years ago when the signs advising against feeding bread went up at our local tarn, the ducks and geese were very fussy about eating the alternatives to bread, they would ignore our oats and sweetcorn in favour of other people throwing them bread, but they are getting used to it as more people are feeding oats etc and less are feeding bread.
It does make me cross though; there is a sign, probably 1m x 2m explaining why you shouldn't feed bread and what are good alternatives and you still see grown adults sold next to it throwing them carrier bags full of old (sometimes mouldy) bread. It cause lots of aggressive behaviour amongst the birds as well as being bad for their health.

Angie169
Was that a joke? David Attenboroughs career is about education: on a whole host of things ie. social, mating & predator/prey behaviour, evolution, habitat, migration, conservation etc etc.

People have been feeding ducks bread for decades and they’re hardly extinct are they? Just a load of sanctimonious preaching by do-gooders imo

Why would you continue to feed them stuff it's known is no longer good for them? Nothing to do with being a "do gooder."
We've always loved to go and feed the ducks, but the past few years the local nature reserve has had a sign up explaining that "bread makes the ducks poorly" and please could people give seeds instead. You can usually buy a massive bag of bird seed for approx a quid, or some parks etc you can buy a cup for 50p.

I genuinely didn't realise bread was bad for ducks and swans! I will stop immediately, but what do I feed instead?

Yes, it bloats them up so they don't get the nutrients they need apparently. Bird seed is what we feed them now

Lalliella, they may not be extinct but there's far more cases of angel wing, caused by a lack of nutrients in bread. Google it and have a look, it's horrible for them, they will never fly.

A bag of rolled oats is 80p in my local co-op, probably cheaper at a big supermarket or Aldi. And they love them.

Are you my mother? She’s adamant that she wants to feed bread to the ducks, even if that means they slowly die in the putrid green water.

Doing this is irresponsible and common.

Missing the point of the post, while I was eating. IT ISN'T BAD TO FEED WILDFOWL BREAD. Please read the link. www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/swan-sanctuary-statement-ban-bread-campaign/

The Ban the Bread thing was a study undertaken by a marketing company designed to sell enormously expensive food pellets.

Juvenile wIldfowl are now UNDERWEIGHT because people have stopped feeding them altogether.

But hey, you must know better than the Swan Sanctuary, who are officially distancing themselves.

(I don't know if bread is bad for Penggwyns though)

It's not my opinion, it's a fact.