I grew up on a farm where, as kids, my brother and I regularly had various farm animals as pets – horses, lambs, calves, chickens, geese, and, of course, ducks.
All these animals enjoy eating a variety of foods, and ducks are no different – but, can they eat green beans?
Yes, ducks can indeed eat green beans. In fact, they can and will indulge in a variety of greens to fulfill their vitamin requirements, such as peas, kale, cabbage, and zucchini.
Let’s take a deeper look into ducks and their relationship with green beans.
Contents
Should Ducks Eat Green Beans?
Just because ducks can eat green beans, does that mean they should?
A quick comparison of duck diet requirements and the nutritional benefits of green beans shows that ducks can, and should eat green beans, however, these beans should be cooked.
Green beans contain many nutrients that ducks require in order to be happy healthy ducks, such as vitamins A and K, and calcium.
That said, it’s still important for them to eat other foods and forage their own food so that they can get all the nutrients they require for a long duck life.
This means that there is no reason to not feed your ducks green beans, however, beans shouldn’t be the only thing you feed them.
How to Prepare Green Beans for Feeding Ducks
If you want to start feeding your or other ducks green beans, make sure they are cooked first.
Dry or raw/ undercooked green beans can cause poisoning in ducks, similar to avocado pips and raw meat. This means it’s essential to ensure the beans are first correctly cooked.
You should avoid seasoning the beans with things like salt and pepper, which are not good for ducks and other fowl.
Feeding ducks is more complicated than you might think since they do not chew their food, but rather swallow it whole with some water.
To ensure the ducks are safe from choking, it is important to cut the cooked green beans and other food items into small pieces before feeding them to the ducks.
You should also ensure that the ducks always have fresh water to gobble their food down with.
How Do Ducks Eat?
A duck’s mouth is called a ‘bill’, also referred to as a beak.
It is a lot flatter than the bills of other birds and shaped like a spatula to make it easy for the ducks to filter food through the water they are swimming in.
In their natural environment, ducks mostly forage in ponds, wetlands, and river estuaries, so it’s clear that water plays an important role in their lives.
Making sure the ducks have water nearby when presenting them with any food, not just, nutritious green beans, will eliminate any possible attempts of a duck Heimlich maneuver.
When you look closely at a duck’s bill or mouth when it is open, you might think you see something that looks like teeth – but do ducks really have teeth?
Do Ducks Have Teeth?
Similar to other birds, ducks do not have teeth, even though it may look like they do.
The teeth-like things found on the side of a duck’s bill are called lamellae – a thin, comb-like feature used by the ducks to filter food through mud and water.
What Other Foods Can You Feed to Ducks?
As it’s important for ducks to have a well-balanced diet, you most likely want to know what other foods ducks feed on, and what you could feed your ducks at home or in the park.
If you want to feed ducks some healthy duck food, try any of the following:
- Carrot tops
- Grated carrots
- Shredded cabbage
- Chopped broccoli
- Banana
- Crickets
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Corn
- Small pieces of cucumber
- Berries
- Chopped pears
Just to name a few.
That’s right – ducks can eat carrots and cabbage, which gives you a great way to dispose of carrot tops or the outside leaves of a cabbage.
Even certain un-spiced, cooked leftovers, like cooked rice, carrots, broccoli, turnips, and potatoes can be given to ducks! Who knew that ducks can be such good little vacuum cleaners?
While ducks can relieve you from your food waste in the form of cooked leftovers, wilted greens, bruised vegetables, and bug-infested fruits, never feed rotten or spoiled food to any ducks.
Ducks are not herbivores (vegetarians), eating a large number of insects, such as mealworms, slugs, and even flies.
You would believe a duck can fly if you saw one catching flies – they are extremely good at it!
Ducks and other birds also love to eat snails and slugs and can be a huge help in the garden, protecting your precious vegetables from the hungry, slimy little buggers.
Some wine farms have even used them as pest control in their vineyards, allowing them to roam the vineyards snacking duck’s escargot.
Can Ducks Eat Cooked Meat?
I bet you are wondering whether ducks can eat cooked meat leftovers.
Ducks are clearly omnivores, eating both other small animals and a variety of greens.
Although you can feed them cooked meat leftovers like turkey and chicken, it’s always best to feed animals as close to their natural diet as possible.
For ducks, this would include foods such as:
- Pondweed
- Insects
- Worms
- Snails
- Amphibians
What Should I Not Feed To Ducks?
You might also think that it’s a good idea to feed ducks bread, but contrary to popular belief (and action), bread is actually not good for ducks and can cause health problems for them.
Other foods that could be poisonous to ducks and should be avoided include:
- Citrus fruits
- Mangoes
- Avocado
- Spinach
- Iceberg lettuce
- Rhubarb
- Eggplant
- Green tomatoes
Do Ducks Feed On Different Beans?
So since ducks can eat cooked green beans and quite enjoy them, does that mean that they will indulge in other beans and pulses?
It turns out that they absolutely will – again, as long as they’re cooked.
Some different beans and legumes that ducks enjoy include:
- Pulses beans
- Peas
- Lentils
- Chickpeas
These contain many nutrients essential to ducks, such as protein and phosphorus.
Do Beans Make Ducks Fart?
As most people are wildly aware, pulses, especially beans, cause flatulence (good old farts) and now I’m sure you are wondering… can ducks fart?
The answer totally amazed me – yes, ducks can fart, but they don’t have an internal sphincter muscle which means they do not have a way to control them.
This causes a constant escape of gas rather than a build-up with an explosive result. In other words, it’s almost as if ducks are continuously farting.
Duck Fart Drinks
Did you know that a duck fart is also a famous Alaskan drink? This shot, made from Kahlua, Bailey’s, and Whiskey, sounds delicious.
Legend has it that this shot got its name one night in an Alaskan bar where the bartender and an older woman were creating and testing new recipes.
After drinking a few of these shots, the woman names it “Duck Fart”.
How To Make A Duck Fart Shot
If you want to replicate the Duck Fart Shot at home, you need to have some layering skills, a shot glass, a teaspoon (for the layering), Kahlua, Bailey’s Cream, and Whiskey.
I recommend you use speed pourers in the liquor to make the pouring super smooth.
1. First, fill a third of the shot glass with Kahlua. This is your first layer.
2. Second, place the teaspoon hollow side down into the shot glass, hovering the tip of the teaspoon just above the Kahlua layer.
3. Next, slowly fill another third of the shot glass with Baileys Cream as you slowly remove the spoon – the next layer of the shot, which should be beautiful even with the first layer.
3. Fourth, place the spoon in the same way as before with the tip just above the Bailey cream layer.
Slowly, Pour the whiskey onto the top of the shot glass while removing the spoon – the final layer of the shot.
