Many people like to visit ducks at their local pond and feed them bread. As well-intentioned as this may be, it is not advisable. Feeding bread to ducks causes far more harm than good.
Bread lacks nutrition and is very filling. Ducks will fill up on bread and not have room for the healthy and nutritious food that they need to survive.
Ducklings grow incredibly fast. It is important for ducklings to eat a nutritious diet so that they don’t develop deformities, such as a condition called Angel wing that makes them non-flighted.
Not only can bread make the ducks sick, it can pollute the water as well. Uneaten bread can mold, increasing bacteria in the water and leading to the spread of disease to both ducks and other wildlife. It can also attract mice and rats which can carry disease.
The act of feeding bread to ducks can cause them to habituate to humans. They start to depend on us for food rather than learning to forage for themselves.
So the next time you visit your duck friends at the pond, do them the kindness of not feeding them bread.
What do you suggest be fed to ducks when visiting a pond with kids?
I put out two pieces of bread, bird seed, and sometimes suet for my
own birds and acorns and peanuts in the shell for the squirrels and
chipmunks every day. Should I eliminate the bread?
We do not advise feeding any wildlife, including ducks since it can cause more harm than good. It is best to just observe the ducks when visiting them at the pond.