Ducks can be an amazing addition to your garden, to help eat snails and other insects that might damage your crops and flowers. However ducks eats many fruits, vegetables and berries, so better keep an eye on them. Today we are going to talk a bout gooseberries to answer the question, can ducks eat gooseberries?
Ducks can eat gooseberries, but don’t let them eat the leaves on the bush because they are very toxic. Gooseberries are low in calories and can be a great, healthy snack for ducks in addition to their normal diet.
Make sure to cut the gooseberry into 4 small pieces to prevent the duck from choking.
Are Gooseberries Good For Ducks?
Gooseberries can be a healthy snack for ducks because they are high in fiber, low in calories and are rich in antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin B5 & B6.
- Calories: 66 (1 cup)
- Protein: 1 gram
- Fat: less than 1 gram
- Carbs: 15 grams
- Fiber: 7 grams
Some of the benefits of eating gooseberries are the antioxidants that helps build a strong immune system and good heart health.
It’s important that you don’t feed the ducks to much gooseberries because they need their normal balanced diet for a healthy life. Only give gooseberries as a treat, which they will enjoy.
Gooseberry Bushes Are Toxic To Ducks
The gooseberry bushes are very poisonous to ducks so make sure that they don’t the leaves. The problem with the bush is that it contain hydrogen cyanide to defend itself from attackers. So if ducks were to eat the leaves, they could get cyanide poisoning and die.
If you have goose berry bushes in your garden, make sure to enclose them to prevent the ducks from reaching them. The ducks has a sense of what they can eat, but if they are hungry they might eat the leaves and get ill or worse.
Some signs that ducks has been been poisoned from eating gooseberry bush leaves:
- Loss of appetite
- Throwing up
- Dehydration
- Increased heartbeat
If you are unsure if your ducks ate gooseberry leaves or if they seem to be ill being around gooseberry bushes, then call a veterinarian.
Other Berries That Ducks Can Eat
There is no secret that ducks loves berries of many kinds.
Below are a few more berries that you feed ducks:
Most berries are packed with vitamins and antioxidants, which makes them a perfect snack.
Make sure to check out our list of berries ducks can eat.
Conclusion
So to sum up, gooseberries is a perfectly fine snack to give ducks, it contains amazing antioxidants and is low in calories. Just make sure to avoid the ducks eating the leaves from the bush, which are poisonous.
If you have ducks in your garden, it might not be a good idea to grow gooseberry bushes, just to be on the safe side.
I hope you found this article useful, thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: The information in this article is for informational purposes only. I'm not an expert or a veterinarian.
