I’m not a whole-hearted fan of feeding wildlife, including ducks, but if done the right way, it won’t impact heavily on our native fauna. Activities like feeding ducks creates an important bond between a child and the natural world that stays with them long after the activity is over.
Watching the poor little birds at our local park being fed copious amounts of bread makes me cringe. Even though it’s a great experience for children, it’s making the those ducks sick. They can’t receive all their nutritional needs from bread alone and in parks, where that’s their main source of food, it can cause abnormalities and shorter lifespans. In addition to this, ducklings growing up in this environment won’t learn to forage for food naturally, and their growth and development can suffer dramatically.
After trying to feed the ducks healthy alternatives like grapes or chopped apple, I found they just weren’t interested. They had developed an addiction to bits of ripped white bread that floated delicately on top the water.
So, I set out to develop a nutritious alternative to bread that wild ducks would eat!
Healthy Duck Food Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup Brown Rice
Greens (I used broccoli, carrot and apple)
2 hard-boiled eggs (with shells)
2 tablespoons of wholemeal flour
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
- Cook the rice, either in a rice cooker or as per the instructions on the back of the packet.
- Finely chop the broccoli.
- Grate carrot and apple.
- Smash eggs and ensure they are crushed and/or chopped well. The egg shells need to be very small.
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Roll the mixture into small marble-sized balls and place onto an oven proof tray.
- Cook in the oven for 10-13 minutes.
The mixture should come out soft and a little crumbly but still hold its shape.
It’s important to never overfeed ducks. Your meal should be given in small portions. To read more about the positives and negatives of feeding wildlife click here.
This recipe makes enough for three visits to the feed the ducks.And here we have a gourmet meal for wild ducks. A nutritional snack containing carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, calcium and protein. All the things a growing native duck needs. It looks good enough to eat, doesn’t it?!
No, don’t include BBQ sauce. It was just for the photo!
Here are the results!
Help spread the word about feeding ducks bread.
Download the recipe flyers to place at your local duck park.
Wildlife Fun 4 Kids support the use of paper printed from sustainable regrowth forests or 100% recyled paper.
I heard about the problems with abnormalities up at Girraween in Qld. For them it was the magpies – bread had caused beak abnormalities. It really bothered me, because like you, I see kids interaction in a respectful way with wildlife as hugely important. I just love this duck food idea!!!!!
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I’m glad you like it Susan. I know feeding the ducks bread is the easy option but it’s so important they get thier nutritional need met. We had just as much fun making the food as it was feeding the ducks… ok, almost as much!
I knew that feeding ducks bread was bad but had no idea why. Now I know exactly what to say to my girls when they are wanting to share our picnic. Thx lovely!
kirri recently posted..The power of intuition
You can always take a little bit of fruit along and see if the ducks will eat it. The more they are introduced to other foods the more they will like it. It’s so sad that they recognise bread as a food source but not fruits and vegies.
Gee, Bridget…it had never occurred to me ! And I was hoping to take the boys to our local park to feed ducks shortly…This post is great ! I’ll be sure to make this instead of giving them bread.
The more I read your stuff, the more impressed I am. We need to get your blog even more out there !
Grace Titioka recently posted..Some Reflecting…
Awmigawd ! Penny ! I called you Bridget – another blogger buddy !!! My bad !! I am so tired…I need to go to bed…
Grace Titioka recently posted..Some Reflecting…
Bwahh ha ha. You can call me anything you want Grace, especially when it comes with such positive feedback (that was meant for me, right?). I do draw the line at being called bob though.
You’re a clever little duckling, that’s great advice and it’s so bloody sad that they don’t recognise fruit and veg as a food source! Love the blog-do. It’s really clean and easy to follow! Looking forward to lunch tomorrow…….ahh, today…..xx
Im so glad for this post! 4 year old step daughter went with her dadda to the park last week and when they returned she was telling me about how they fed the ducks. I asked what they fed them and suggested that it probably wouldn’t have been bread because bread isn’t that healthy for ducks (we don’t even eat bread ourselves). She glared at me like i was an idiot and said “derrr of course we fed them bread. What else would ducks eat?!”
Now I have an answer for that!! (before I suggested grass, plants and insects but actually had no idea)
Thanks Alex! These are the comments that make my day!
I think the best part of this post is that it adds another activity with your kids before you go to the park. If you don’t have time, you can grate some carrot and apple. The ducks at my park didn’t take to it at first but because I do it regularly now, they have started to eat the healthy stuff I also go in the morning, to fill thier little tummies with good food before the bread feeders come.
I am guilty of feeding ducks bread! I’m kind of embarrassed that I had no idea how bad it was for them. Obviously I knew that they don’t eat bread out in the wild, but really didn’t stop to think about it. I’m so glad I came across this post. We will definitely be making some of your duck food and learning a bit more about ducks. Thanks for the post!
Joyce @Dinosaurs And Octopuses recently posted..Wordless Wednesday- Leaves
Instead of bread we buy kernel corn at the bird feed store. We get cracked corn too if there are ducklings around. The ducks usually prefer the corn to the bread. I look forward to trying your recipe as a special treat for the ducks.
Mama (Karen) Carmody recently posted..Learning Activities for the Color Green
What do I do when they follow me home? Wake up and 1 duck in pool, next day 2 ducks in pool , and I’m not feeding anything anytime, their drinking poolwater, next day brought a third friend, I got cat and two dogs watching…and now a duck pond? Not far from Lake Balboa, what do I do?
HI Earl, that would be quite a messy pool I’d day! You’re doing the right thing by not feeding them.
Ducks can be creatures of habit so they may have liked your place and decided it was the place to be. I have a few suggestions that may help.
*Scare them off everytime you see them, soon they’ll get the picture they are not wanted around.
* Make cardboard cut outs of their predators and put them on the pool e.g. Pythons and birds of prey
* Learn to live with them and instead enjoy their visits, they might eventually leave on their own. In the mean time, enjoy watching them. It’s a great learning experience for you and your children/grandchildren.
I hope some of these ideas help Earl and goodluck!
They stayed for a almost a week, named em Gene n Eugene, oh so pretty blue sheen, and then they got in a fight and took off, left their friend for a day, now he’s gone, oh well. Didn’t make much mess, poolside wash down.
Might even make a Stained Glass window dedicated to Lake Balboa Duck Pond- throw in the pretty blue sheen of their feathers. Have a good day all.
Great news Earl and I love the names for the ducks! It sounds like you became very fond of them. Hopefully one day they’ll return for a visit.
Except in the case of extreme environmental disruptions, don’t feed wild animals. They don’t need the food. Stop feeding the ducks and other water birds, and watch them up close as they feed on insects and grasses on the margin of a pond, lagoon, canal, etc.
Hi El Que,
Thank you for commenting on Wildlife Fun 4 Kids. I agree. I’ve written a post ( and response) in regards to your comment. http://www.wildlifefun4kids.com/2012/07/19/to-feed-or-not-to-feed-that-is-the-question/
I didn’t realise bread wasn’t great for them, although if I stopped to think about how much they get it isn’t very surprising. I love that you worked on a recipe that they could eat – I will be letting people know! And thanks for sharing on Happy lil ❤’s are baking!!
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Well that is something I didn’t know! Thanks for the great tips.