Don’t feed bread to the ducks !
For many of us, giving duck bread evokes fond memories: being children, vacation at the grandparents, in the countryside, we will throw crumbs of dry duck bread, who are agitated and running to feast on the treat. How fun was that!
However, this is not ideal for several reasons. Note that these are not trivial alarms. For example, the city of Corbeil Essonnes made an article to ask walkers tostop giving bread to the ducks. It is confirmed by Checknews and the LPO.
Not great nutritional value
The bread will come to fill a nutritional need which, usually, is filled with foods containing other contributions (vitamins, minerals, etc.). Thus, the duck risks not consuming enough of these micronutrients and having deficiencies, making it more exposed to diseases and less healthy.
According to some, ducks would not digest bread due to the presence of gluten and could risk salt poisoning.
Disturbance of aquatic life
Bread will disrupt aquatic life in two ways:
- first of all, it risks attracting the surrounding birds and, in a word, causing havoc
- uneaten food will deteriorate water quality