A trip to the pond is an enjoyable family activity and a wonderful chance for kids to learn about nature. Unfortunately, many people feed bread or other human snacks to ducks and geese instead of providing them with more nutritious foods like worms or plants.
Overfeeding waterfowl can have numerous detrimental effects, from teaching them to depend on handouts to disrupting their natural nutritional balance.
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Duck Feed
If you’re a duck owner, the best thing for your birds is providing them with high quality, healthy duck feed. This should be high nutrient and protein content with essential vitamins and minerals your ducks require to thrive.
When purchasing duck feed for your flock, organic is key. All organic duck food must come from crops grown without pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or antibiotics.
Organic feed must meet stringent production and handling specifications, unlike non-organic feeds that cannot be mixed with other types during production or packaging.
In addition to duck feed pellets, you can also offer your birds vegetable scraps like carrot and cucumber peelings, radish tops and lettuce trimmings. Remember to chop these items into smaller pieces so they’re easier for the ducks to consume!
Duck Fat
Duck fat is a popular cooking choice due to its high smoke point and low saturated fat content. It can be used for stir-frying, roasting, sauteeing vegetables, potatoes, and meats.
It can also be used for making salad dressing and mayonnaise, and is a staple ingredient in the French dish duck confit. Furthermore, you can use it to cook roasted potatoes, hash browns, croquetas, and French fries with ease!
Rendered duck fat is a healthier cooking oil choice than other cooking oils such as coconut oil, olive oil, lard and beef fat (tallow). It has the same fatty acid profile as olive oil and Hass avocados but with higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids like oleic and linoleic acids which have been known to reduce heart disease risk factors.
To render duck fat at home, trim away excess skin and fat from a whole or part-skinned duck and boil them in 1/2-3/4 cups of water until soft and release their natural oils. Strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth; this can be stored up to six months in the refrigerator or one year frozen.
Duck Eggs
Duck eggs are not typically sold in grocery stores due to their higher production costs compared to chicken eggs due to different laying patterns, annual production rates, husbandry requirements and labor inputs.
If you have the luxury of raising your own flock, raising ducks for their eggs might be worth considering. Demand for these eggs is high in some parts of the world, particularly Asia where they make a popular addition to stir-fries and other Asian dishes.
Duck eggs, whether purchased from the market or cooked from your own flock, provide an abundant source of essential nutrients and protein for your diet. Not only that, but they’re also packed with omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and choline. So why not add them to your menu today?
Duck Treats
When purchasing duck treats, steer clear of stale bread, crackers and other fatty or salty foods as these can add too much weight and put undue strain on their legs. While you can purchase various bird seed varieties as a reward for your ducks to enjoy as an occasional treat, remember this should not replace their main diet and should only be given in moderation.
Your ducks’ best and healthiest treats are fresh vegetables and greens such as lettuce, kale and chard. Additionally, they enjoy all varieties of squash and root veggies like beets, carrots, parsnips and turnips.
Fruits and berries are another great treat for your ducks. They enjoy tomatoes, berries, watermelon as well as bananas and cantaloupe. Be sure to remove the pits and seeds from any stone fruits such as apricots, apples, cherries, pears or plums before feeding them since some contain small amounts of cyanide which could be toxic to ducks.
