Best Treats for Ducks – 10 Quack-tastic Snaks

Ducks could be your favorite fowl on your homestead. Not only are ducks way disease-hardier than chickens, but these birds are also fun to watch.

Nothing pleases a backyard duck keeper than watching their ducks gobbling up the treats they toss to their birds.

Backyard ducks love eating, and they appreciate it when you toss out some yummy treats like veggies, mealworms, and fresh fruits.

Store-Bought Treats for Ducks

Feeding your ducks various store-bought treats and other home-based foods is the ultimate way to ensure your duck flock remains happy and gets all the nutrients it needs.

Here are some of the best store-bought treats you should introduce to your ducks.

– Commercial Duck Feed

High-quality commercial duck feed can be a wonderful treat for your flock. You can get quality duck feed for your ducks from a feed store to give the birds a nutritional boost.

However, mind the ingredients in commercial duck feed you use as a treat for your flock. For instance, the best feed shouldn’t have moldy grains, dirt, and weed seeds because all these ingredients are hazardous to poultry.

Feed form also matters when purchasing commercial duck feed. High-quality pelleted duck feed works as a fantastic treat for backyard ducks.

Pelleted duck feed can help improve feed efficiency and maximize your ducks’ growth rate. It also minimizes feed wastage.

– Dried Mealworms

Dried mealworms also make a wonderful store-bought treat for ducks. Chickens and ducks love mealworms because they are rich protein sources for your flock, so your birds will love these treats.

Although ducks will love fresh mealworms, you will have to spend a lot when buying fresh mealworms for your ducks. You can purchase dried mealworms from a feed store because they are cheaper than their fresh counterparts.

Furthermore, dried mealworms offer great nutrition to domestic fowl. While your ducks will appreciate the taste of dried mealworms, you shouldn’t use mealworms as a frequent treat for your birds because they can be too expensive in the long run.

You can raise mealworms for your flock if you don’t have money to purchase dried mealworms from feed stores.

– Fruits

Like chickens, ducks also love fresh fruits. Experienced duck farmers usually give fresh fruits to their ducks to keep them happy.

Fruits aren’t only yummy but also pack crucial vitamins, minerals, and fiber, all of which benefit your ducks’ health. Furthermore, fruits can help give your ducks additional body fluids during hot months.

They can also help improve your birds’ digestive system because they have high fiber content. Some good fresh fruits to give to your ducks as treats include berries, melons, bananas, peaches, plums, and mangoes.

There is a caution you must take, though, while giving fruits to your ducks as treats. First, avoid introducing stale fruits to the flock because they contain harmful bacteria like Salmonella.

Ducks can succumb to this deadly bacteria upon consuming moldy fruits. Furthermore, your ducks shouldn’t only eat. They also need to consume these fresh yummies alongside many other healthy food items.

– Vegetables

Like most domestic fowl, ducks are omnivores and can consume anything, including vegetables and other plant material.

So, vegetables can make fabulous treats for your flock. They also make safe treats for birds like ducks. Ducks can eat almost all vegetables, although there are some favorite veggies to give your flock as treats.

For instance, your ducks will enjoy gobbling peas, carrots, broccoli, radishes, and Zucchini. Most ducks can eat frozen vegetables, although you must ensure you give your flock fresh frozen veggies.

Avoid giving dried veggies to your ducks because they won’t like them as much as they like fresh veggies. Vegetables like spinach and Iceberg lettuce aren’t suitable for ducks, whether as treats or main diet.

Spinach, for instance, can suppress calcium absorption in ducks, potentially exposing your duck hens to the risk of egg-bidding and laying soft-shelled eggs.

Iceberg lettuce isn’t toxic for ducks but doesn’t offer the flock substantial nutritional value like other types of lettuce, such as romaine lettuce.

Homemade Treats for Ducks

Ducks will also appreciate eating homemade treats if you can’t afford some store-bought treats.

These are some of the best homemade treats for your ducks:

– Kitchen Scraps

Kitchen scraps can be wonderful treats for your ducks if you give them to your duck flock in moderation.

Also, kitchen scraps have many nutrients, minerals, and fiber your ducks need for optimal good health.

However, spicy and junk food shouldn’t be ideal scraps for ducks because they can expose your flock to obesity.

– Garden Produce

Like you enjoy the produce from your garden, your flock will equally like to gobble up the many garden products you introduce to them as treats.

For instance, your ducks will enjoy pecking at carrots, green beans, and other root vegetables.

– Grains and Seeds

Whole grains and seeds also make special treats for ducks. Grains like wheat, oats, and rice can be excellent for the flock, whether raw or cooked.

Your flock will cherish eating whole grains during wintertime when the cold outside can affect their health. Whole grains will help warm up the flock during those nasty winter months.

Ducks love seeds like flower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds. Seeds can work as a treat and a feed-saver because ducks will feel full upon eating seeds and won’t consume much duck feed.

Best Practices for Offering Treats for Ducks

These are some of the best practices to adhere to when offering treats to your ducks:

• Offer treats only in moderation– Ducks should eat treats in moderation to ensure they aren’t too full to eat other foods that will improve their nutrition and health.
• Observe reactions when offering new treats- Ducks may not like every treat you provide. They may react differently to different treats. Kindly observe reactions when offering new goodies to the flock. Avoid introducing new treats your ducks don’t seem to like.
• Provide a variety of treats to keep ducks interested and stimulated– Ducks may like a particular treat, but they might soon get tired of the treat if they consume it for too long. For instance, your ducks could love certain fruits but may cease liking them after eating them for a long time. It’s good to keep switching treats to keep your flock interested and stimulated.

Conclusion

Ducks, like other birds, will like treats because they feel happy when gobbling treats rather than their usual food.

Treats can also give the ducks additional nutrition. Kindly find out which treats your ducks love m.

However, always offer your flock’s favorite treats in moderation.