What Fruits Can Ducklings Eat?

Ducks are some of the most adorable animals to keep. However, raising one from a hatchling to a full-grown waterfowl is tricky. They require care, attention, and constant feeding.

If you have a duckling under your care right now and feel clueless about where to start with its diet, you have come to the right place!

Generally, ducks can be fed almost anything edible and natural, such as seeds, rice, lettuce, oats, etc. But the ducklings’ diet requires a little more fine-tuning since we do not want to overfeed them and/or make them sick.

An important portion of this diet will have to be various types of fruit, especially if you do not have starter feeds for them. So, what fruits can ducklings eat?

The answer to this will delight you because you can feed your ducklings almost any fruit you have around your house or your local grocery. They do not require you to spend too much on specific or exotic fruits.

You can interchange what you give them so that they get as many nutrients as possible.

We encourage you to read further to understand why you should incorporate fruits into your freshly hatched ducklings’ diets and how to prepare them!

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Can Ducklings Eat Fruit?

Ducklings that have just hatched should maintain a strict diet until they have feathered. Fruits are an important part of this regime as it provides the ducklings with the necessary nutrients to grow into healthy and happy ducks.

What Are Some of the Benefits of Feeding Ducklings Fruit?

Fruits add the perfect amount of nutrition to your baby duck’s diet to aid them in growing strong and healthy as they get older. Like any other baby animal, they require more energy and nourishment than their adult counterparts.

So naturally, ducklings tend to consume more than you would expect.

Fruits provide ducklings with the nutrient to grow stronger bills and bones as they grow, making them better swimmers and hunters. They are also a great source of fibre, vitamins, and minerals, not generally found in other sources of food.

As long as they are given fruits moderately, the ducklings will grow in good shape and lead a long and happy life.

What Is the Best Way to Prepare Fruit for Ducklings?

Ducks are happy to have whatever they can find in the wild, and owners do not have to worry much because it is completely safe for them to consume.

Fully grown ducks have a stronger digestive system and require less tweaking in their diets.

Ducklings cannot even have the full fruit because it will be difficult for them to squash, swallow, and digest with their small bills. They have to be only handed the skin of most of the fruits they consume, more often mashed than not.

Much like human babies, they tend to get over-excited, and preparing the food to be less of a choking hazard is a necessity.

What Kind of Fruit Can Ducklings Eat

You will be glad to hear that ducklings are not fussy eaters. They are constantly ravenous and will gobble up whatever you give them.

This is why you should be extra careful about disposing of half-eaten food anywhere in their vicinity.

They like to forage for food in the wild, even if they have been fed recently, and rotten food can make them ill.

However, you do have several options amongst the fruits that are easily available at low costs that you might have lying around!

Let us take a look at a few of the fruits that you can feed your ducklings.

01. Can Ducklings Eat Watermelon?

Ducklings adore watermelons and will be delighted to chomp on crushed watermelons, but you need to make sure that the seeds are removed before it is given to them.

02. Can Ducklings Eat Grapes?

Yes, ducklings are able to feed on grapes, given that they have been prepared correctly. Once again, remove the seeds and skin completely, and feed in small portions.

03. Can Ducklings Eat Bananas?

Mash up the flesh of the bananas and feed it to your ducklings a little at a time, and we are sure your ducklings will indeed go bananas!

04. Can Ducklings Eat Apples?

Only the flesh of the apples is to be given to them. Chop up the pieces and mash them together a little to make them easy to consume for your ducklings with their cute little beaks.

Of course, make sure there are no seeds in their food here too!

05. Can Ducklings Eat Berries?

Ducklings truly enjoy berries the most; strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, whatever you have available.

It is small enough for them to crush on their own with their beaks, but it would still be safer to mash them before feeding them to the young ones. They are, after all, a choking hazard.

Are There Any Fruits Ducklings Should Avoid?

Younger ducklings tend to dive into the water for food less often probably because they have not fully acquired the skill yet.

So, extra care must be taken to provide them with additional feeding. However, you need to be careful about which fruits you feed them too.

Are There Any Fruits Ducklings Should Avoid

Tomatoes are also an option for your ducklings, but you have to be very careful and make sure that they are only fed the flesh. The vines and leaves are toxic to them and can be severely harmful to their bodies.

Avoid Citrus Fruits

You must also make sure your ducklings are not fed citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons, etc. In fact, citrus fruits should be avoided in adult ducks’ diets as well.

It is believed that these fruits interfere with calcium absorption in their bodies.

They are also harmful to egg production because consuming these fruits can give their eggs thinner shells, which is dangerous for the embryo inside.

Additionally, they can cause acid refluxes leading to stomach pains for the poor ducklings and ducks, and we definitely do not want them to suffer that way.

How Often Should Ducklings Eat Fruit?

Ducklings consume about a quarter of a pound of food every single day. Despite this, fruits should not be fed to them too frequently or too much, as fruits are high in natural sugar.

Feed them small amounts, maybe a couple of spoonfuls or bites of the fruits that you selected once a day, and they should be happy as a clam!

Conclusion

And that is all for this article on what fruits can ducklings eat. As you can see, fruits are a good source of important nutrients for young ducks to help them grow up into happy adults. It is a good thing they absolutely love it too!

We hope this article was informational and was able to give the answers you have been looking for. To know more about ducks and how to care for them, follow our pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Article References:

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-wildlife/keeping-our-ducks-healthy/what-do-ducks-eat-6-things-you-can-feed-ducks
https://a-z-animals.com/blog/what-do-ducklings-eat/
https://theconversation.com/what-to-feed-ducks-according-to-science-150901