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WholeSomeMemes @lemmy.ml

Facelikeapotato @lemmy.ml

2y ago

Look out for our feathered friends!

58 comments

Just don't feed wild animals
- would a cat count as a wild animal
  
  I would argue that cats aren’t exactly domesticated. More like tamed perhaps.
- What about feeding a wild thang

I keep seeing this but as far as I can tell the only study on the subject seems to show that it has no effect on their normal grazing patterns and that both domesticated and wild ducks heavily fed bread spend 90% of their time "naturally grazing"
https://absa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Cor-Vol-35-Pg101_106-Ducks.pdf
- It's basically just duck junk food. https://www.uu.nl/en/background/what-to-feed-ducks-according-to-science Probably not an issue if they don't get too much, and still get plenty of good quality food in. I'd still rather give them something good for them, but I'm glad it's not as terrible as it seems.
  
  Totally agree, it's just that there is a lot of pearl clutching when it comes to this topic and we need a more balanced approach.
  A little bit of bread is not going to hurt them, but maybe there are some other options that are better. But if they get fed some bread, probably don't need to have an aggressive confrontation about it
- Right? Let us be the fun uncles and aunts that spoil our duck nibblings with junk food. We don't get to see them enough as it is.

In my defense, the only time I gave ducks bread was one time a gang of them surrounded me. One started biting/pecking my toe while the other was jumping up snatching at the sandwich I was eating. It was ducking extortion!!
- That's fair, I'd probably throw the sandwich and run.

Idk I tried to feed ducks with some frozen peas, and those fuckers just spat them out.
- Just like people, some like them, some don't! I usually let them thaw first, so I'm not sure if they'd like them still frozen. Maybe that was a factor?
  There's these two identical swans at the local park named Tom & Jerry that have been there for years. One of them loves peas and will gobble them straight from your hand (if they know and trust you,) but the other one will go to eat whatever you're giving them from your hand, see/smell that it's peas, and their head flies back and they violently shakes their head like "NOPE!" It's hilarious! I love those goobers.

You get little cans of peas that you can keep in your car in case of duck sightings
- I would love to explain my Emergency Peas to people who saw them.
  
  Me too lol
- Based on the meme in a freezer you have in your car as it seems it must be frozen peas otherwise they will fight you to death.
  
  I should explain, due to my experience in this matter. Frozen peas are better, simply because they float. Canned peas sink, so you can only throw a few at a time
  That said, I've seen what I am sure was a duck getting brain-freeze from the frozen ones. Can't be sure but I didn't imagine the stinkeye
- All we are saying, is give peas a chance.

as a treat, many ducks love blueberries! it shouldn't be their main food though. I had a duck that would go wild for blueberries.

I thought the reason they say not to feed ducks bread was because they would get used it and flock to city centers.
- Mainly they flock to bakeries. Once they've tried the artesianal stuff they come up with all kinds of crazy hijinks to get it. It's really a nuisance.
  
  “Ok that’s seven loaves of sourdough- Wait. I’m gonna need to see some ID.”
  (Reasonable quacking sounds)
  “Dang it. It’s ducks in a trench coat again. Third time today.”
  
  I was always under the impression that ducks liked to eat at Subway.

what if I feed them human flesh?
- Just be careful; once they get a taste for man, that's all they'll want from then on.

the ducks round here go wild for oats
cheap as hell too

i saw this problem with pigeons too, in the cities most of them are malnourished (diarrhea, which got better with seeds). If you ever go to the countryside you'll see they have much better health. Next time i go to a city i'll make sure to give corn or seeds to ducks as well!
- Isn't all bird excrement diarrhea? They excrete from a cloaca that is both feces and urine mixed, so it's liquid.
  
  From personal experience no. Also google gives me diarrea in pigeons as a symptom of disease, not as normal stuff

What about mealworms
- Mealworms are the shit! It's like my milkshake bringing all the birbs to my yard.

We have signs saying the same all around our local park. It seems to stop no one :(

What nutes do those foods have that the bread does not? Isn't white bread usually enriched?
- Bread is a good and easy source of carbs. Even if it has other nutrients, the duck is going to be consuming far more carbs than it should. While the other things have carbs, they aren't nearly as bio-available. It's like drinking juice that's had a bunch of sugar added and thinking it's healthy because it's juice. Carbs are the thing that'll make you fat, regardless of what other nutrients come with it.
- Corn: probably the Potassium
  Lettuce: water. That's honestly why we use lettuce in human food. Well that and the crunch.
  Seeds: protien/fat
  Peas: some potassium, iron, vitamin B6, and vitamin C
  Oats: good carb/fiber/protein balance
  Source: Chef that isn't fat. I'm not skinny either, but I know enough about the nutritional content of the foods I make to graze without getting more than a little chub
  
  Doesn't enriched white bread have a lot of that stuff in it though?
- Not sure but I guess it's disputed:
  The theoretical causes of angel wing are genetics, the excessive intake of carbohydrates and proteins, together with insufficient intake of vitamin E, low dietary calcium and manganese deficiency. However, scientific studies have not proven any link between bread and angel wing[citation needed]; and some experts and academics deny the connection.

58 comments