Raspberries are common fruits that are usually found in backyards and home gardens and if you keep ducks as pets, you might be wondering if you can feed them raspberries.
Can ducks eat raspberries? Yes ducks can eat raspberries as it contains nutritious benefits and also makes for a great addition to the diet of your birds. Raspberries are a delicacy for ducks, have some essential nutrients and vitamins and also make the perfect bite sized snacks. They are also brilliant when frozen in hot weather and can be used as a cooling treat for your birds.
What are the benefits of raspberries?
Raspberries are tiny fruits that are packed with numerous vitamins and minerals that are essential for the growth of your ducks
While there are usually different types of raspberries, from the black, gold and purple types, we will be looking at the most common one, the red raspberries.
Raspberries are very high in antioxidants, including vitamin C.
Antioxidants are very important in the body as it helps boost their cells and also prevents the occurrence of diseases.
While ducks are not prone to diseases like other farm animals, it hurts no one to ensure that their immune system is working.
Like humans, ducks and other birds are prone to cancer, and antioxidants ensure that all cancer cells are eliminated before they spread.
So you want to ensure that you include raspberries in your duck’s weekly diet to help boost their immune system.
Another very important benefit of raspberries is the high fiber content, which is an essential part of most duck’s diet.
Fiber improves the digestive systems of your birds and ensures that pathogens and bacteria are not found in the gut.
What is the nutritional value of raspberries?
To break it further, here is the nutritional value of one cup (123 grams) of raspberry.
- Calories: 65
- Carbs: 15 grams
- Fiber: 8 grams
- Protein: 1.5 grams
- Fat: 0.8 grams
You can see that this is very nutritious and contains all the important minerals in the right proportions.
While it’s hard to say exactly how many vitamins are provided to chickens upon eating, here’s a look at the % Daily Values for one cup (123 grams) of raspberries when consumed by a human.
- Vitamin C: 53% DV
- Calcium: 3% DV
- Iron: 4% DV
- Vitamin B-6: 5% DV
- Magnesium: 6% DV
It is also a rich source of vitamin C and calcium which ensures that your birds produce healthy eggs.
Ducks that do not get enough calcium will produce eggs with weak egg shells or no shells at all and if you keep them for their eggs, this can cost you a lot of money.
Also ducks can be anemic, meaning that their blood lacks iron.
When this happens, your birds will generally become lazy and in extreme cases might end up dying.
In such situations, feeding them with raspberries will provide them with the much needed iron for healthy growth.
Vitamin B-6 is another important vitamin that ducks need.
Ducks that lack this vitamin may suffer from a poor appetite, slow growth, and restless behavior. While raspberries aren’t the main source of this vitamin for their diet, it does provide it as a supplement.
Lastly, magnesium is essential for a duck’s bone development and metabolism.
Like with the rest of these vitamins, you’ll want their main diet to provide them with the proper amount of magnesium.
However, just in case your chickens may need an extra boost, raspberries are there to provide it.
How often should I feed my ducks raspberries?
As nutritious as raspberries are, you want to ensure that it does not make up the bulk of your duck’s diet.
You should be feeding them a balanced diet that contains all other minerals and nutrients in the right proportions.
Fruits like raspberries should only make up less than 10% of their entire diet, so it’s best to offer them as a weekly treat instead of a staple food.
Like with any animal, it’s always nice to provide a treat every now and then and the best part about raspberries is that they’re highly nutritional and your ducks will love being able to indulge in them.
Plus, if you’re growing raspberries in your garden, you’ll be happy to know that all parts of the plant are safe for them to eat.
Here is a comprehensive and detailed list I wrote on what do ducks eat
How many berries can my ducks have at a time?
You can feed your ducks one or two berries per bird.
Treats are meant to be just that and too much of anything is never a good idea.
One strawberry or cherry, 2 blueberries or currants.
Things to remember when feeding berry fruits:
- Scale down your portions to account for the size of your birds. They only need one two.
- A duck’s diet should be balanced in a completely different way. Fruit contains sugar which should be limited.
- Do not feed berry fruits every day, mine only get what’s left when in season as I grow my own.
- Moldy feed is toxic to birds, soft is fine but spoiled is never a good idea.
- Variety in the diet is essential to the happiness and well being of your flock.
- Feed fruit in the mornings as it is easily digested. Evening feeds need to sustain them into the night.
Remember that ducks or poultry of any kind do not digest food in the same way that we do, so what might be a nice treat for us might be harmful to your birds.
Conclusion
Ducks enjoy fruits such as raspberries as it contains numerous minerals and nutrients that are essential for their growth.
It can be used as treats for your birds and as always you should ensure that it makes up a balanced diet for your duck feed.
