Continuing the archive — slow essays and observations from marshes, mangroves, and pondsides around the world.
№ 439 Cabbage is safe and excellent for ducks - raw or cooked, chopped or whole (hung on a string as a tetherball game). Green, red, savoy, all fine. The single best winter enrichment for a confined flock.
Avocado contains persin, a fungicidal toxin that damages avian heart muscle. All parts (flesh, skin, pit, leaves) carry it. Documented bird deaths come from amounts as small as a teaspoon. There is no safe quantity for any duck.
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№ 437 Banana flesh is safe and palatable for ducks. The peel is technically safe but stringy and fibrous - most ducks won't eat it. Mash or chop into small pieces, offer as a treat 1-2 times a week, and skip if your ducks ignore it.
Ducks can eat almonds in small amounts but the rules are stricter than most fruit and veg. They must be raw, unsalted, chopped fine, and a treat not a staple. Bitter almonds are toxic. Here's the safe-feeding breakdown.
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№ 435 Apple flesh and skin are excellent duck treats. Apple seeds contain amygdalin, which breaks down to cyanide - a real risk if a duck eats the core. Chop apple into small pieces, remove the core entirely, and a few times a week is fine.
Ducks can eat asparagus but the tough fibrous stems are hard for them to swallow. Cooked, chopped, with the woody ends removed - that's the version they'll actually eat. Raw is fine too but most ducks ignore it.
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№ 433 No - ducks don't have the anatomy or the cognitive setup for it. A duck poops roughly every 15 minutes and has no sphincter control. What works instead is duck diapers, designated outdoor zones, and a husbandry routine that lives with the mess rather than fighting it.
It sounds like myth but it's documented science: hen ducks whose ovary is damaged or stops working can develop secondary male plumage. The bird is still genetically female but visually presents as a drake. Here's the hormonal pathway and why it happens.
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№ 431 Ducks have no lactase enzyme. Milk passes through them undigested and causes diarrhoea, which in turn causes dehydration. A duck given milk instead of water can decline quickly. Stick to plain fresh water - the only drink ducks should ever get.
Bird seed isn't shelf-stable forever. Sunflower hearts go rancid in six months, suet in three, and even whole sunflower spoils inside a year if stored badly. Here's the shelf-life table, the smell test, and the storage that doubles the lifespan.
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№ 429 A moving-water birdbath pulls more species than any feeder upgrade. But most fountain birdbaths sold online are too deep, too steep, or pump too hard. Here's what to look for, what to avoid, and the solar-powered setup that's worked for us three summers running.
A new feeder can take six weeks to get its first regulars. But if it's been months and nothing is happening, one of eight things is wrong - and most of them are easy fixes. Here's the diagnostic checklist.
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