What fruits can ducks eat? Ducks enjoy a wide array of foods, including fruits with skins that are favorites to their human owners. Your pet can snack on several types with proper preparation, including bananas, pineapples, and more. Not all skin fruit is beneficial to your birds, though. Therefore, you should know which fruits are safe for consumption before offering them to your ducks.
What Fruits Can Ducks Eat?
If you want to introduce fruit into your duck’s regular diet, choosing the right ones is vital. Offering additional items to their daily diet can provide several health benefits to keep your duck, even at a very young age.
Some of the best fruits to give a duck include:
- Apples (without seeds)
- Apricots (without the pit)
- Bananas
- Blueberries
- Cantaloupe
- Cherries (without the pit)
- Cranberries
- Honeydew
- Kiwis
- Mangoes (without the pit)
- Nectarines (without the pit)
- Papaya
- Peaches (without the pit)
- Pears
- Pineapples
- Plums (without the pit)
- Pomegranates
- Pumpkins
- Watermelon
When offering pit fruits to your ducks, you need to remove the pits to avoid introducing any choking hazards. Ducks swallow their food whole; therefore, pits can get lodged in their mouth and throat, causing them to choke and suffocate. These pits also contain cyanide which is a toxin to birds and can be harmful.
Apple seeds, on the other hand, should also be avoided. Not because they are a choking risk, but because they contain cyanide and are poisonous to birds. A few seeds here and there will not be a problem, but you should not regularly feed your chickens apples with seeds.
How Much Fruit Should You Give a Duck?
By offering a well-balanced diet, you are sure to have a healthy, happy duck on your hands. Skin fruits can provide several nutrients to your duck, making them a terrific treat, especially on a hot day. But just because fruit is nutritious for birds does not mean that it should replace their regular diet. Too much of a good thing is not beneficial, even to a duck.
All types of fruit contain plenty of natural sugars that are not the best choice for ducks to eat in considerable amounts. Therefore, these sweet treats should remain as an occasional item and not be available every day.
Be sure to limit the total amount of fruit to only 10% or less of their overall food consumption. This way, you will not fill them up with sugary fruit, leaving them deficient in other areas, like protein and omega acids they get from other food sources. Of course, your duck should still eat plenty of greens, protein, and a food meal for a balanced diet.
If your domestic duck eats fruit too often or in large quantities, they can suffer stomach upset or digestive issues, including diarrhea or constipation. One way to tell if your duck has had too much fruit is to monitor the consistency of its poop. If it is too watery, seems exceptionally dry, or they are not pooping as much as usual, take some time off from offering fruit.
What Fruits Should You Avoid Giving Your Duck
Can ducks eat oranges? Can ducks eat avocados? Although ducks are terrific at consuming many fruits with skins, you want to avoid a couple of popular items, including oranges and avocados, to eliminate potential issues. Some fruits may interfere with calcium absorption, creating thin-shelled eggs, while others are incredibly toxic and can kill a duck.
The fruits you need to avoid giving your duck include:
- Avocado: Contains fatal amounts of Persin, which can cause the death of heart tissue
- Citrus, including oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit: Can interfere with the absorption of calcium, creating soft-shelled eggs, cause stomach upset and acid reflux
- Rhubarb and Rhubarb Leaves: Contains highly toxic oxalic acid
Remember that any pits from fruits like cherries, nectarines, or peaches are not only a choking hazard, but they also contain cyanide and are poisonous to your birds. Pits do not belong anywhere near your duck, so be sure to remove them before feeding time.
How to Prepare Fruits With Skins for Ducks
Even though most fruit is perfectly safe for ducks to eat, you will still need to prepare it accordingly. Ducks eat their food differently than chickens or other birds, so as a pet owner, you must offer fruit to them in a safe manner to consume. For example, if the fruit pieces are too large to swallow, they will remain uneaten or could cause a risk of choking for your birds.
Bananas
Is banana good for ducks? Do ducks eat bananas? Do ducks like banana peels? And how do you feed ducks bananas? Unfortunately, you cannot simply throw a bunch of bananas into their coop and leave. Although ducks can eat bananas and peels, the skin can be challenging to manipulate and swallow, causing many ducks to skip over the peel and stick to the fleshy insides.
If your duck enjoys banana peels, ensure that you cut it up into tiny morsels that are easy to pick up and swallow to avoid any potential choking. Otherwise, your best bet is to mash up a banana into a shallow dish and offer it to your ducks.
Kiwis
These small fruits contain antioxidants that are beneficial to your pet ducks while giving them a sweet treat. In addition, the entire kiwi is perfectly safe for them to eat, including the skin and seeds, so you do not have to worry at all.
You can mush up ripe kiwi for ducks or slice them in halves, quarters, or bite-sized pieces before giving them to your domestic ducks. The insides are extremely soft, and the skins, while they may not be appetizing to humans, are completely fine for ducks. Feel free to hand over any kiwis to your ducks that are becoming too soft for your plate. They will love you for it.
Pineapples
Can ducks eat pineapples? People and ducks around the world love this exotic fruit. However, avoid giving your ducks canned pineapple since it contains too much sugar. Instead, only offer fresh pineapple as a treat. Pineapples can be quite acidic, so you must choose a ripe one and limit their consumption.
You will prepare this for your pet ducks the same way you would eat it. First, remove the stem and outer skin, then cut the inside flesh into small pieces that a duck can easily swallow. Alternatively, you can slice a pineapple in half and leave it face up for your ducks to peck at the inside flesh. They will leave the outer skin for you to collect once they finish eating.
Papayas and Mangoes
Can ducks eat mangoes? Yes! In fact, the exotic fruit choices of papayas and mangoes contain several health benefits for ducks. Papayas contain a generous amount of Vitamin C, while mangoes are rich in Vitamin A and K, as well as folate. Their antioxidant properties make them a terrific choice as a sweet treat for your pet duck.
Papaya seeds are completely safe for your duck to ingest, although you will have to remove the stone from a mango before offering it to a pet. You can dice up both of these fruits into small pieces for your ducks or mash them in a shallow bowl for an easy way to eat these fruits.
Peaches and Pears
While it may seem easy to offer canned peaches and pears to your ducks, you should avoid these forms of fruits. Stick with fresh fruits only since the canned versions will contain additional syrups and sugars that your duck does not need in its regular diet. Fruits have a significant amount of natural sugars, so you don’t need to add any.
Before offering peaches to your ducks, be sure that you remove the pit. Alternatively, the seeds from a fresh pear will not harm your ducks. Slice these fruits in half, quarters, or dice into small chunks for your pets to easily consume as a refreshing snack.
Melons
Can ducks eat cantaloupe? Yes! Watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew are all terrific fruits to offer your domestic duck. They contain a large amount of water, making them perfect for your birds to eat on a hot day when they require extra hydration.
What makes melons great is how easy it is for you to serve them to your birds. First, slice a melon in half or quarters to expose the fleshy inside, then leave it face up for your ducks to peck at and enjoy. Your pet will gladly consume all of the melon and seeds, in the end, leaving you only the outer rind.
Some Fruits with Skins Are Great
Many fruits with skins are terrific foods to offer a domestic duck in moderation. However, if the fruit contains a pit, you will need to remove it before giving it to your pet so they do not choke or accidentally ingest a poisonous pit. Most fruit seeds are harmless and perfectly fine for ducks to consume, but you should be mindful to remove apple seeds since they contain cyanide, and ducks should not eat them.
Ensure that you have an ample water source for your pet duck and keep the fruit you offer them to 10% or less of their daily food consumption. This way, you are sure to keep your fowl happy and healthy for years to come.