what to feed ducks and swans uk

When their natural food sources are scarce or frozen, bread might be the only food available. Ducks happily eat seeds and grains, sweetcorn, porridge oats, and lettuce. Swans eat the same things and are also partial to grated carrot, vegetable peelings, chopped celery, and unsweetened breakfast cereal.

Full Answer

What can you feed ducks in the UK?

According to the Canal and River Trust, the best food items to feed ducks are: Sweetcorn – tinned, frozen or fresh is fine, just make sure you defrost frozen corn. Lettuce – all types of salad leaves are fine, as long as it hasn’t gone slimy.

What is the best time of year to feed swans and ducks?

The best time to feed swans and ducks is during the winter and colder weather as their natural diet may be harder to find or even frozen over. Getting extra calories in their diet from human fed food is a great supplement when food is scarce, but should not replace a natural diet.

What do swans and ducks eat?

Wild swans and ducks have a varied diet. Swans eat aquatic vegetation, which they can take from the riverbed using their long necks. They also eat molluscs which live on these plants, and they also eat small fish, worms and small frogs.

What happens if you stop feeding ducks and swans?

Imagine if we all stopped feeding them as happened a few years ago; lots of birds died from malnourishment. If it’s possible, you can feed ducks and swans with more healthy and nutritious fruit, vegetables, and seeds – just stay safe at the water’s edge.

What is the best food to feed swans and ducks?

For instance, corn, grapes, oats, wheat, lettuce, vegetable trimmings and peas are all much more suitable. Our swan and duck floating food for example is a great choice as it includes Soya Oil, Fish Meal, Soya and Maize which makes for a superior product packed with protein, fibre, fat and essential oils.

What is the best thing to feed swans?

Grain, such as wheat, and vegetable matter, especially lettuce and potatoes, can be fed to swans. Food should be thrown into the water to avoid encouraging the birds onto the bank.

What should you not feed swans?

What should you not feed swans?Pastries, cakes, cookies, and any sugary foods.Raw meat.Cooked bones.Chips and other fast foods.Crisps and other salty, highly processed snacks.Chocolate.Apples.Onions or garlic.More items...•

Should you feed swans and ducks bread?

'Bread isn't harmful' "Although ducks and swans can digest all types of bread, too much can leave them feeling full without giving them all of the important vitamins, minerals and nutrients they need. "So, although bread isn't harmful, our advice is to only feed small amounts to birds."

Do swans like porridge oats?

Rich in vital minerals and protein, energy-rich rolled oats have a higher fat and oil content than many other grains making them an ideal food for ducks and swans all year round but especially in cold weather.

Are porridge oats good for swans?

Most swans and cygnets love them, and they are nutritious and very good value. Swans and cygnets also love sweetcorn, but it's not quite as nutritious. Porridge oats are good, but they are expensive, and they can be powdery leading to a lot of waste.

Can ducks eat porridge oats?

Oats. Flapjacks, rolled oats and even instant porridge oats will be a huge hit with ducks.

Can swans eat carrots?

feed items that are close to their natural diet. dark green lettuce, spinach, chopped/shredded carrots, celery and alfalfa sprouts and other vegetables and greens make a great supplement. Note that lettuce may be an acquired taste and the swans may take a while to get used to it.

Do swans remember humans?

Just like elephants, swans never forget. They will remember if you have been kind to them…or not so kind! Always keep this in mind when you come across a swan, particularly if you regularly pass the same one on your morning commute. They're beautiful, but they don't like being messed with, that's for sure!

What should you not feed ducks?

Bread, chips, crackers, donuts, cereal, popcorn and similar bread-type products and scraps are never best to feed birds. Feeding ducks bread is bad because the food has little nutritional value and can harm ducklings' growth, pollute waterways and attract rodents and other pests.

What foods are poisonous to ducks?

Plants With Solanine/glycoalkaloids can be poisonous to Ducks. First we will talk about the dreaded nightshade family. Pepper plants, eggplant, tomato, tomatillo, tamarillo, gooseberry, ground cherry, pepino, goji berry, garden huckleberry, and potato (excluding sweet potatoes) are all in the nightshade family.

Can ducks eat carrots?

Root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, carrots, radishes and parsnips are also super nutritious treats but ducks have a far easier time eating them if they are cooked or grated.

What do ducks eat?

The natural diet of ducks and other waterfowl is aquatic vegetation such as pond weed, along with seeds, insects, worms, small water snails and amphibians, and even crustaceans such as crayfish. You might see ducks, swans and other birds ducking down into the water and feeding from the bottom – this is their natural way of feeding, ...

What do kids like to feed ducks?

Feeding ducks and other waterfowl such as geese, swans, coots and moorhens, is a great activity for kids , bringing them closer to the natural world and fostering a lifelong love ...

Can ducks eat oats?

Peas – no need to cook them, but allow frozen peas to defrost before feeding them to ducks. Oats – rolled oats and even instant porridge oats are fine to feed ducks. You could even feed them small pieces of flapjack, as long as there isn’t too much added sugar.

Can ducks fly on bread?

Over time, ducks fed on bread can become malnourished and even overweight – bad malnutrition can lead to deformed wings, which prevents ducks from being able to fly. What’s more, if you feed mouldy food to ducks they can become unwell, sometimes even developing a lung disease.

Is bread good for ducks?

However, in recent years, it’s become apparent that bread isn’t good for ducks. This is because bread isn’t particularly nutritious. While the bread itself isn’t dangerous to ducks, it fills them up and means the ducks are less likely ...

Can you feed bread to ducks?

An added problem of feeding bread to ducks is that any leftover food can attract rats, potentially spreading diseases. According the RSPB, it’s okay to feed very small amounts of bread to ducks but, on the whole, bread should be avoided along with chips, crackers, cereal, sweets and mouldy food.

What is the best food for swans?

Specialist Swan Food. The “Ban the Bread” campaign may seem a little underhanded, but Specialist Swan and duck food is one of the best things you can offer to supplement the swans’ diet. It is nutritionally balanced, contains many of the grains they favour naturally.

What do swans eat?

The Natural Diet. Swans are herbivores – they eat mainly greens. They eat weed and algae. They prefer to eat on the water as this is the most energy-efficient for them. Swans feed by filtering the water to take out the food they want.

Why do swans float?

This allows the swans to use their proffered surface feeding method. It also means that more of the food will get eaten, with less sinking to the bottom and being wasted.

Why do swans eat bread?

Bread has a higher protein count than their natural diet and will disrupt their normal nutrition. Mature swans who eat too much bread will become weak, and possibly infertile.

What happens if a swan eats too much bread?

Mature swans who eat too much bread will become weak , and possibly infertile. If they do manage to produce offspring, they are more likely to be born unhealthy. Young swans that eat too much bread will undergo a crippling growth spurt.

How to keep swans from breaking your arm?

So give them some respect and space when you feed. On the Water. Be sure to always through food into the water and don’t encourage swans to come out onto the bank to get it.

How much do swans eat?

So the swan has to eat a lot of weed every day to get the energy it needs. An average adult swan weighs around 25 lbs. They need to eat between 25 and 35% of their body weight each day to keep healthy. That’s six to eight pounds of weed and algae every day.

What to feed a duck?

The Canal and River Trust recommend these foods for wild ducks: – 1 Sweetcorn, tinned, fresh or frozen (defrosted first) 2 Lettuce, ripped up 3 Frozen peas, defrosted 4 Oats, flapjacks and instant porridge oats 5 Seeds from the pet shop or supermarket 6 Rice, cooked or uncooked 7 QuackSnacks – responsible, convenient wild duck pellets

What is a quackersnack made of?

Kids of the Wild got to try them out first! Their new packets are made from 100% recyclable pure pine wood cellulose (similar to greaseproof paper) with cardboard delivery boxes using a 60% bio-based packing tape.

Why does bread make birds feel full?

It may make birds feel full when they haven’t actually eaten enough causing malnourishmen t. It may affect their behaviour, reducing natural foraging for the right food.

Is bread bad for ducks?

So yes, bread really is bad for ducks, geese, swans, watercourses and all wild birds.

What is the best food for ducks and swans?

Rich in vital minerals and protein, energy-rich rolled oats have a higher fat and oil content than many other grains making them an ideal food for ducks and swans all year round but especially in cold weather.

What is the best food for wildfowl?

Based on a natural diet, this mix includes wheat, barley, linseed and dried grass pellets. Sprinkle on banks or in shallow water for ducks and in deeper water for swans.

What is the best mix for birds?

A mix of two thirds wheat and one third kibbled maize, this excellent value for money mix is popular with larger wild bird species including ducks, swans and other waterfowl.