Can Ducks Eat Oranges?

Both in the wild and at home, ducks enjoy feeding on various foods – and some of their favorites include fruits.

Oranges are among the most delicious and nutritious fruits in existence. So can ducks eat oranges?

Sadly, the answer is no, ducks can’t eat oranges. These fruits are high in substances that can make these birds ill.

Let’s find out why it’s a bad idea to feed ducks oranges!

4 Main Reasons Why Oranges Are Bad for Ducks

Below are the four key reasons why you shouldn’t feed ducks oranges:

1. Oranges are high in citric acid

All citrus fruits, including oranges, lemons, and grapefruit, are bad for ducks. These fruits are high in a substance known as citric acid, which may interfere with a duck’s ability to absorb calcium.

But why do ducks need calcium? For starters, it’s crucial for the development and maintenance of strong, healthy bones. In addition, it allows mother ducks to lay eggs with rigid shells.

Therefore, if you feed a duck oranges regularly or in excess, it can become deficient in calcium, leaving it susceptible to serious problems such as:

• Osteoporosis
• Rickets and/or other growth problems/bone deformities
• Stiff legs
• Swollen joints
• Reproductive illness
• Eggs with soft, thin shells or no shells
• Egg binding (when the eggs stay in the mother duck’s reproductive system)
• Ruffled feathers

If you don’t want your duck to suffer from brittle bones and inferior health, don’t give it oranges!

2. Oranges can cause diarrhea

Oranges are composed mostly of acid and water – a combination that can make ducks suffer from diarrhea. Prolonged diarrhea can lead to dehydration, which can be lethal if not treated quickly.

Strangely enough, oranges can also cause heartburn in ducks in the same way they can in humans.

Consuming oranges can even result in ulcers.

As all citrus fruits can cause these problems, you should also avoid feeding ducks fruits such as limes, lemons, tangerines, and grapefruit.

3. Oranges are high in sugar

Oranges owe their delectable flavor to their considerable sugar content. Here’s the problem: too much sugar is bad for ducks.

A duck that eats plenty of sugary fruits can gain an obscene amount of weight until it’s suffering from obesity. This condition, in turn, is associated with serious chronic conditions (such as diabetes, heart disease, and liver disease) that can harm a duck’s quality of life and even shorten its life expectancy.

Sugary fruits such as oranges can even make a duck more vulnerable to infections.

4. Orange peels are tough to digest

The peel of an orange has lower citric acid content than its flesh. Unfortunately, it’s also full of cellulose, which the duck’s digestive system can’t break down properly.

Eating orange peels can therefore cause digestive problems such as stomach upsets, vomiting, and diarrhea. In addition, the peels’ modest citric acid content can still cause problems such as diarrhea and the hindering of calcium absorption.

Thankfully, many ducks won’t even consider eating orange peels as their bitter taste doesn’t appeal to them.

Can Ducks Benefit from Eating Oranges?

Oranges contain nutrients ducks need to stay healthy.

These fruits are particularly abundant in vitamin C, which many birds need to develop and maintain a healthy immune system capable of fighting off illnesses and diseases.

Oranges are also rich in antioxidants, which aid in protecting the duck’s cells from cellular damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. This damage to the cells can increase the likelihood of diseases; the antioxidants found in oranges can therefore stave off diseases.

With all that said, the drawbacks of eating oranges far outweigh the benefits. As discussed above, oranges can cause myriad health issues – many of them dangerous. For this reason, a duck is better off not eating oranges.

Besides, vitamin C and antioxidants can be found in many fruits and vegetables that ducks can safely eat. Why feed your feathery friend oranges when there are so many other better alternatives?

Can Ducklings Eat Oranges?

No. A duckling is significantly smaller than an adult duck. A few orange slices for a mature duck is already far too many for a growing duckling, so it may suffer even worse consequences after eating these fruits.

Also, as previously discussed, oranges have the potential to prevent calcium absorption. Calcium is particularly important for ducklings, as they need this nutrient to develop strong, healthy bones. If they don’t get enough calcium, they can therefore end up having weak and/or deformed bones.

To avoid harming your duckling, never feed it oranges!

Other Foods Not to Feed Ducks

Below is a list of some other foods you should avoid feeding ducks.

Bread

As a carbohydrate-rich food, bread can make a duck feel full without providing it with the nutrients it requires to enjoy good health. This means regularly feeding a duck bread can make it malnourished, which in turn causes various unfavorable effects, including an immune system incapable of protecting the animal from diseases and illnesses.

Consuming too many carbs can also cause a serious, potentially lethal deformity called angel wing.

Biscuits and cookies

Cookies and biscuits don’t contain the nutrients ducks need to survive. Therefore, frequently feeding a duck these foods can make them malnourished, which opens the door to a slew of health concerns.

Candies

Sweets such as gummies and chocolates are chockfull of ingredients that can harm ducks. One of them is sugar, whose consumption can lead to digestive problems and more dangerous long-term issues such as obesity.

Some candies also contain artificial sweeteners, which can kill ducks.

Junk food

Junk food is loaded with ingredients – including salt, sugar, artificial sweeteners, etc. – that can make a duck dangerously ill. It’s also extremely fattening while low in nutritional content.

Avoid feeding ducks junk food such as chips, crisps, doughnuts, pretzels, and the like.

Salty foods

Foods boasting a ridiculous amount of salt (such as peanuts and potato chips) are exceptionally harmful to ducks. Eating excess salt can even lead to death.

Onions and garlic

Ducks can’t eat veggies belonging to the Allium family. This includes onions and garlic.

These vegetables contain a compound called thiosulfate, which can cause severe, potentially deadly toxicity in ducks. As ducks also can’t digest thiosulfate efficiently, eating onions and garlic can result in digestive problems such as diarrhea and stomach aches.

Spinach

This vegetable acts like citrus fruits in that it also hampers a duck’s capacity to absorb calcium. Spinach can therefore cause bone weakness and deformities, the softening of eggshells, and other problems.

Moldy food

You should never feed duck rotten food that’s become home to mold. This is because many mold species are toxic to ducks.

Fruits You Can Feed Ducks Instead of Oranges

Ducks enjoy and benefit from the consumption of fruits – as long as you’re giving them nutritious varieties their body can properly process.

With that in mind, here’s a list of some of the fruits you can feed your ducks instead of oranges:

• Apples and apple peels
• Apricots
• Bananas and banana peels
• Berries
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe
• Cranberries
• Cucumbers
• Dates
• Grapes (the seeds are also okay)
• Honeydew melon
• Jackfruit
• Juniper berries
• Kiwi
• Mangoes
• Melon
• Nectarines
• Pears
• Pineapples
• Plums
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Watermelon (the rind is also okay)

While ducks love fresh fruits, they can also eat dried fruits such as raisins and dried cranberries.

Keep in mind that a major part of a duck’s diet should consist of commercial feed; therefore, you should feed your duck many of the fruits listed above in moderation only.

Veggies Ducks Can Eat

Ducks require a varied diet to ensure they obtain all the nutrients necessary for good health. Therefore, you should feed them not only fruits but also vegetables.

Below, we list down some of the vegetables ducks can safely eat and benefit from nutritionally:

• Arugula
• Asparagus
• Bell peppers
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Corn (they can be cracked or frozen)
• Deer corn
• Edamame
• Grains
• Green beans
• Jalapenos
• Jicama
• Kale (the stems are also okay)
• Kidney beans
• Leek
• Lentils
• Lettuce (the leaves are also okay)
• Millet
• Olives
• Peas (they can be frozen)
• Potatoes (the peels are also okay)
• Pumpkins
• Sprouts
• Sweetcorn
• Split peas (dried)
• Yams
• Yellow beans
• Yellow peppers
• Yellow squash
• Zucchini (the leaves are also okay)

As discussed above, a major part of a duck’s diet should be commercial feed, so you should feed most of the above vegetables to your pet in moderation only.

In general, vegetables can be served raw or cooked to ducks. When cooking veggies for ducks, however, make sure never to include ingredients and seasonings such as salt, sugar, oil, fats, spices, and herbs, as many of these can make them ill or even kill them. In other words, cooked vegetables should be as plain as possible if a duck is going to eat them.

If you have any other questions about what to feed a pet duck, make sure to consult a veterinarian.

Conclusion

You should never feed ducks oranges or any other citrus fruits. These fruits contain substances that can harm our feathered friends.

For instance, oranges can interfere with calcium absorption, thereby causing brittle bones and the production of eggs with soft or no shells. It can lead to diarrhea, heartburn, and obesity as well as related health concerns such as diabetes and heart disease. Orange peels can also cause digestive problems and, like the fruit’s flesh, reduce calcium absorption.

Feeding ducklings oranges leaves them particularly susceptible to such problems.

While oranges do contain nutrients that are essential to a duck’s health, keep in mind that there are other options your bird can enjoy, including many safer, healthier fruits and vegetables.

Do your ducks a favor: keep them safe by never feeding them oranges!