Swans & Ducks
Is there any greater pleasure than watching and enjoying the
wildlife here at Swanley Bridge Marina?It is the perfect habitat for birds, swans and ducks and many other creatures.
Today we are focusing on swans and ducks and what is best for them to eat. We have all done it, throwing them pieces of bread, but unfortunately bread is not a good food for swans and ducks, even though they gorge on it as though they dont know when they will eat again!
A bird’s digestive system is not intended to digest refined flour, preservatives, yeast and refind sugar and it replaces the natural foods that they should be eating.
With bread being high in protein compared to that of their natural diet, they can become weak and breed unhealthy offspring.
Cygnets in particular, can suffer from growth spurts which causes their bodies to grow far too quickly for their legs.This in turn makes them overweight and they can have difficulty standing and walking.
A condition called “angel wing” can occur when the feathers on their wings grow outwardly.Birds that suffer from this consequence will be unable to fly and be ostracised by other swans.”Angle wings” is not just peculiar to swans as other birds can develop this from eating bread and mouldy bread can also be a killer!
Swans dip their heads underwater to feast on the nutrients of the stems and roots of weeds.This food constitutes their natural diet complimented with grasses, bugs and insects.
Bread is a convenient food to offer swans and ducks as they absolutely love it just like children love sweets and fast food but it really is not sensible.
An healthy option to feed swans and ducks is lettuce.
You can go even further and create a mix of lettuce, fresh corn stripped off of the cob, grated carrot, greens peas, and chopped broccoli.
Throw this recipe in to the water from time to time and be safe in the knowledge that you are doing your bit to aid their healthy diet and throw your unwanted bread in to the recycling.