What Can Ducks Eat? Full Food Safety & Treat List

Yes — ripe tomato flesh is a healthy treat, but never the leaves, stems, or unripe green fruit.

Serving: Offer ripe, chopped tomato a few times a week. Keep birds out of the tomato patch so they can't nibble foliage or green fruit.

⚠️ Caution: Leaves, vines, and green (unripe) tomatoes contain solanine — toxic. Only ripe flesh is safe.

Yes — watermelon is one of the best hot-weather treats, flesh, seeds, and rind all included.

Serving: Halve a chilled watermelon and set it out on a hot afternoon. Because it is mostly water and sugar, treat it as a snack, not a meal.

Yes — strawberries are a safe, vitamin-rich treat ducks go wild for.

Serving: Offer whole or halved berries a few times a week. Overripe berries from the garden are perfect for the flock.

Yes — blueberries are a nutrient-dense, duck-safe favorite.

Serving: Scatter a small handful per few birds as an occasional treat. No need to cut them.

In moderation — banana flesh is safe and nutritious but high in sugar.

Serving: Offer a few slices of peeled banana once or twice a week, mashed or in chunks.

Yes — apple flesh is a great treat; just skip the seeds.

Serving: Chop apple into pieces and remove the core and seeds. Offer a few times a week.

⚠️ Caution: Seeds contain amygdalin (a cyanide compound) — remove the core before feeding.

In moderation — grapes are a beloved treat but sugary and a choking risk whole.

Serving: Halve grapes and offer just a few per bird as an occasional treat.

⚠️ Caution: Whole grapes can choke a greedy hen — halve them, and keep portions small due to sugar.

In moderation — oranges are not toxic despite the folklore, but the acidity means small amounts only.

Serving: Offer a few segments occasionally and see if your flock takes to them. Remove uneaten pieces before they spoil.

Yes — cherry flesh is a safe treat once you remove the pits.

Serving: Pit the cherries and offer the flesh, whole or chopped, as an occasional treat.

⚠️ Caution: Pits, stems, and leaves contain cyanide compounds — feed pitted flesh only.

Yes — cantaloupe and other soft melons are safe right through, seeds and rind included.

Serving: Set out the scooped-out seedy centre and the rind after you have cut a melon up. Chunks work too.

Yes — peach flesh is a good treat once the stone is out of the way.

Serving: Stone the fruit, chop it into pieces, and offer a few times a week. Bruised windfalls are ideal.

Yes — pear flesh and skin are both fine; treat the core the way you would an apple core.

Serving: Core the pear, chop the flesh, and offer it a few times a week. Overripe fruit is fine as long as it is not fermenting.

Yes — plum flesh is safe, but the stones need to come out before the fruit goes anywhere near the run.

Serving: Stone plums and halve them before offering. If a tree overhangs the run, pick up windfalls daily rather than trusting the flock to spit out the stones.

Yes — mango flesh is a safe and very popular treat once the big stone is removed.

Serving: Cut the flesh off the stone, dice it, and offer a small amount occasionally. The skin is safe but often left.

In moderation — pineapple flesh is safe but acidic and fibrous, so it is an occasional treat at best.

Serving: Offer small chopped pieces of ripe flesh occasionally, cut across the grain so the fibres come apart. Skip the core.

Yes — kiwi flesh, seeds and even the fuzzy skin are all safe.

Serving: Halve a kiwi and let the birds scoop it out, or peel and dice it. An occasional treat rather than a staple.

In moderation — raisins are safe for ducks despite the dog warnings, but they are concentrated sugar.

Serving: Offer a few raisins per bird as a training or taming treat. Soaking them first makes them easier going.

Yes — cranberries are safe and antioxidant-rich, though plenty of flocks find them too sour to bother with.

Serving: Scatter a few fresh or thawed cranberries and see whether your birds take to them. Halve them for smaller hens.

Yes — raspberries are a safe, soft-fruit favourite, and the canes are worth netting for that reason.

Serving: Scatter a small handful between a few birds. Berries that have gone soft are perfect, mouldy ones are not.

Yes — blackberries are safe, and a flock ranging near a hedgerow will find them without any help.

Serving: Offer a handful of picked berries, or simply let a ranging flock work a hedge you know has not been sprayed.

Yes — fresh figs are safe and enormously popular, though the sugar keeps them occasional.

Serving: Halve fresh figs and offer one between a few birds occasionally. Dried figs want chopping and rationing harder still.

Yes — pomegranate seeds are safe and make an unusually entertaining treat.

Serving: Cut one in half and set it down cut-side up, or scatter loose arils. An occasional treat.

In moderation — coconut flesh is safe and well liked, but it is unusually high in fat.

Serving: Set out a cracked half-shell for the flock to peck out, occasionally. Keep desiccated coconut plain and unsweetened.

In moderation — lemons are not toxic, but they are sharp enough that most flocks refuse them outright.

Serving: If you want to try, offer a small piece of flesh and see what happens. Most keepers conclude it is not worth the bother.

No — avocado contains persin and is one of the most dangerous foods for ducks.

Serving: Never feed any part of an avocado, and don't compost the skins or pits where the flock can reach them.

⚠️ Caution: Persin (in skin, pit, leaves, and flesh) can cause fatal heart failure in birds. Never feed.

Yes — leafy lettuce is a healthy green, though skip watery iceberg in quantity.

Serving: Offer torn leaves daily if you like; hang a whole head to give the flock something to peck at.

In moderation — spinach is nutritious but its oxalic acid can interfere with calcium.

Serving: Offer a small amount of raw or cooked spinach once or twice a week, not daily.

⚠️ Caution: Oxalic acid binds calcium — too much can affect eggshell quality. Feed occasionally.

Yes — kale is one of the most nutritious greens you can offer a flock.

Serving: Offer torn leaves several times a week, or hang a whole stalk as a winter boredom-buster.

Yes — broccoli, raw or cooked, is a safe and vitamin-rich treat.

Serving: Offer raw or steamed broccoli a few times a week. Remove any that goes slimy.

Yes — carrots and their tops are both safe and healthy.

Serving: Grate raw carrot or offer cooked chunks a few times a week. Chop the tops finely.

Yes — cucumber is a hydrating, low-calorie treat, seeds and all.

Serving: Halve a cucumber lengthwise and let the flock scoop out the middle, or offer chopped chunks.

Yes — pumpkin flesh and seeds are a nutritious autumn favorite.

Serving: Cut a pumpkin open and let the flock work at the flesh and seeds. Leftover Halloween pumpkins are perfect if not painted or rotten.

Yes — cabbage is safe and doubles as a winter boredom-buster.

Serving: Hang a whole head at head height, or offer chopped leaves. Fine several times a week.

Yes — sweet potatoes are safe raw or cooked, unlike regular potatoes.

Serving: Offer cooked mash or chunks, or raw grated sweet potato, a couple of times a week.

Only cooked — plain cooked potato is fine, but raw, green, or sprouted potato and peels are toxic.

Serving: Feed only plain cooked potato flesh with no green. Skip the peels, and never offer raw or sprouting potatoes.

⚠️ Caution: Raw, green, and sprouted potato plus peels contain solanine — toxic. Cook first, discard green parts.

In moderation — small amounts are widely fed and well tolerated, but garlic is an allium, like onion.

Serving: A crushed clove or two per gallon of water, or a little chopped into feed — occasionally, not daily.

⚠️ Caution: An allium, like onion — small amounts only, and never as a substitute for veterinary treatment.

In moderation — shop-bought culinary mushrooms are safe, but never let a flock forage wild ones.

Serving: Offer chopped shop-bought mushrooms occasionally. More usefully, walk the run in autumn and kick over anything that has come up.

⚠️ Caution: Culinary mushrooms only. Wild mushrooms include lethally toxic species — never let the flock forage them.

Yes — celery is safe, though the stringy fibres are worth cutting up before they cause trouble.

Serving: Chop celery across the stalk into short pieces so the strings come apart, and offer the leaves whole.

Yes — fresh, frozen or cooked peas are one of the better vegetable protein sources you can offer.

Serving: Scatter a small handful of thawed frozen peas, or offer fresh pods. Fine several times a week.

Only cooked — raw green beans carry the same lectin that makes dried beans dangerous, at a lower dose.

Serving: Steam or boil green beans through before offering them, then chop into short lengths. Nothing salted or buttered.

⚠️ Caution: Raw green beans contain phytohaemagglutinin, the same lectin as dried beans. Cook thoroughly first.

Yes — zucchini and other summer squash are safe whole: flesh, skin and seeds together.

Serving: Halve one lengthwise and let the flock hollow it out, or offer it grated or chopped into chunks.

Yes — butternut, acorn and other winter squash are safe, flesh and seeds alike.

Serving: Halve or quarter a squash and set it out, seeds and all. Roasting the flesh makes it easier going for older birds.

Yes — the ripe fruit is safe, but bell peppers are nightshades and the plant itself is not.

Serving: Chop peppers, seeds and all, and offer a few times a week. Keep the flock out of the pepper bed itself.

Yes — cauliflower florets, stalk and leaves are all safe, raw or cooked.

Serving: Hang a head, or offer chopped florets and the outer leaves raw or steamed, several times a week.

Yes — sprouts and their stalks are safe, and a flock is usually keener on them than the family is.

Serving: Halve raw sprouts or offer them lightly cooked, a few times a week. The bare stalk makes a serviceable pecking toy.

In moderation — asparagus is not harmful, but it is reported to taint egg flavour and most flocks ignore it.

Serving: Chop it small and cook it if you want to try, in small amounts. Clear away whatever is left rather than letting it sit.

Best avoided — onions contain thiosulphate, which in any real quantity can cause anemia.

Serving: Don't feed onions as a treat. Keep them out of the scrap bowl you share with the flock.

⚠️ Caution: Thiosulphate damages red blood cells — regular or large amounts cause anemia. Avoid feeding.

No — rhubarb, especially the leaves, contains oxalic acid at toxic levels.

Serving: Never feed rhubarb leaves, and keep the flock out of the rhubarb patch.

⚠️ Caution: Leaves contain toxic levels of oxalic acid — can cause kidney damage and death. Never feed.

In moderation — short fresh clippings are fine, but a pile of long mower cuttings can impact a crop.

Serving: Let birds graze living grass freely. If you tip clippings in, use short cuttings only, spread thin, and never a warm heap straight off the mower.

⚠️ Caution: Long mower clippings are a crop-impaction risk, and treated lawns carry herbicide residue.

Yes — dandelions are edible root to flower and are one of the best free greens available.

Serving: Pull whole plants and toss them in, or simply let the flock work over an untreated lawn.

Yes — clover is safe, high in protein for a forage plant, and worth deliberately sowing in a run.

Serving: Let the flock graze it. If you are seeding a run or a rotation paddock, clover is worth including in the mix.

Only wilted, dried or cooked — nettles are excellent flock food once the sting is gone.

Serving: Cut nettles and leave them to wilt for a day, or dry and crumble them into feed. Cooked nettles work too.

⚠️ Caution: Never feed fresh standing nettles — wilt, dry or cook them first to destroy the sting.

Yes — mint is safe, grows faster than a flock can eat it, and is a traditional coop herb.

Serving: Let it grow where birds can reach it, or scatter cut sprigs in the coop and nest boxes.

Yes — oregano is safe, and it is the herb with the most actual poultry research behind it.

Serving: Let it grow within reach, or crumble dried oregano into feed. Both are fine as a routine.

Yes — parsley is safe, nutritious, and one of the herbs flocks actually finish.

Serving: Offer whole bunches or let the flock strip a plant. Fine several times a week.

Yes — cilantro is safe, and a bolted plant is more use to the flock than to the kitchen.

Serving: Pull bolted plants whole and toss them in, or offer cut leaves. Stems and seed heads are fine too.

Yes — basil is safe, though most flocks are noticeably unenthusiastic about it.

Serving: Toss in bolted or frost-damaged plants and see whether your flock takes any interest.

Yes — marigold petals are safe, and they are the reason some commercial yolks are so orange.

Serving: Let birds pick at the flowers, or scatter petals into feed. Deadheaded flowers are ideal.

Yes — leaves, flowers and seed pods are all safe, and it is a long-standing poultry-yard plant.

Serving: Grow it where the birds can reach it, or cut and offer leaves and flowers. Nothing needs preparing.

In moderation — a little bread is a harmless treat, but it is empty calories and moldy bread is dangerous.

Serving: Offer only small amounts of fresh, plain bread occasionally. Never feed moldy bread.

⚠️ Caution: Never feed bread to wild or domestic ducks. It expands in the crop, causes malnutrition, and leads to permanent wing deformities.

Yes — cooked or uncooked rice is safe; the "raw rice kills birds" claim is a myth.

Serving: Offer plain cooked or uncooked rice as an occasional treat. Skip heavily salted or seasoned rice dishes.

Yes — oats and plain oatmeal are a wholesome, warming treat.

Serving: Offer dry rolled oats or plain (unsweetened) cooked oatmeal a few times a week.

Yes — corn is a flock favorite, best fed as an energy treat rather than a staple.

Serving: Offer corn on the cob, or a scatter of kernels, as a treat rather than the main meal.

In moderation — plain cooked pasta is a harmless treat, but it is starch and very little else.

Serving: Offer a small amount of plain cooked pasta, rinsed of any sauce, now and then. Chop long shapes so nobody runs off trailing one.

Yes — cooked quinoa is safe and carries more protein than most grains a flock will see.

Serving: Offer cooked, cooled, unsalted quinoa a couple of times a week. Rinse it before cooking, as you would for yourself.

Yes — barley is a safe grain, and sprouting it turns a cheap sack into winter greens.

Serving: Scatter whole or rolled barley as a scratch grain, or sprout it into fodder for a winter flock.

Yes — black oil sunflower seeds are a classic molt treat, rich in fat and protein.

Serving: Scatter a small handful between several birds, more freely during a molt and sparingly outside it.

In moderation — flax is how omega-3 enriched eggs are produced, but it has a sensible ceiling.

Serving: Mix a small amount of ground or whole flax into feed rather than offering it alone. Keep it well under a tenth of what they eat.

In moderation — a plain cracker will not hurt a hen, but salt is the reason to keep the packet shut.

Serving: Crumble half a plain unsalted cracker between several birds, rarely. Salted, seasoned and cheese-flavoured varieties stay indoors.

In moderation — plain unsweetened cereal is a harmless treat, but most boxes are largely sugar.

Serving: Offer a small handful of plain unsweetened cereal as a taming treat. Read the sugar content before the flock does.

Yes — mealworms are a protein-packed treat ducks treat like candy.

Serving: Offer a small pinch per bird, especially during molt. Buy mealworms labeled for poultry.

Yes — cooked eggs are an excellent protein treat; just cook them first.

Serving: Offer scrambled or hard-boiled egg occasionally. Crush and dry the shells separately as a calcium source.

⚠️ Caution: Feed only cooked eggs — raw eggs can trigger egg-eating behavior in the flock.

In moderation — small amounts of cheese are fine, but ducks digest dairy poorly.

Serving: Offer occasional small crumbles of hard cheese. Avoid soft, very salty, or heavily processed cheese.

⚠️ Caution: Chickens digest lactose poorly — too much dairy causes digestive upset. Keep portions tiny.

Yes — ducks are omnivores, and plain cooked meat is about the highest-value protein treat there is.

Serving: Offer small pieces of plain cooked meat, trimmed of heavy fat, occasionally. No sauces, no salt, nothing cured or processed.

⚠️ Caution: Cooked and plain only — raw meat carries a bacterial risk, and cured or processed meat is far too salty.

Yes — plain cooked fish is an excellent protein treat and one of the few good sources of omega-3.

Serving: Offer small amounts of plain cooked fish flaked off the bone. Nothing battered, smoked, salted or sitting in brine.

In moderation — plain yogurt goes down better than milk, but ducks still handle dairy poorly.

Serving: Offer a spoonful of plain yogurt between a few birds, occasionally rather than as a routine.

⚠️ Caution: Plain and unsweetened only; flavoured yogurt is mostly sugar.

In moderation — a little milk will not hurt a duck, but it is the form of dairy they cope with worst.

Serving: If you offer it at all, keep it to a splash over something else rather than a bowl on its own, and take it away before it sours in the sun.

In moderation — plain unsalted peanuts are a good protein treat, but mouldy ones are genuinely dangerous.

Serving: Offer a few plain unsalted peanuts per bird, chopped, as an occasional treat. Buy fresh stock and store it dry.

⚠️ Caution: Peanuts are a common aflatoxin carrier, and poultry are especially sensitive. Never feed mouldy or musty nuts.

In moderation — plain peanut butter is safe, but check the label for xylitol and go easy on the texture.

Serving: Thin a small amount into feed, oats or seed rather than offering it neat. Choose a jar whose only ingredient is peanuts.

⚠️ Caution: Check for xylitol, a sweetener that is dangerous to animals and appears in some reduced-sugar jars.

In moderation — plain unsalted tree nuts are safe chopped, but they are rich and easy to overdo.

Serving: Chop plain unsalted nuts and offer a small scatter occasionally. Never salted, sugared, or from an old bag.

⚠️ Caution: Mouldy nuts can carry aflatoxins, which poultry tolerate badly. Feed only fresh, plain, unsalted nuts.

No — cured and processed meats carry far more salt than a duck can handle.

Serving: Keep cured and processed meat out of the scrap bowl. Plain cooked unsalted meat is the version worth offering.

⚠️ Caution: Curing salt and nitrates at preservation levels, in an animal that tolerates sodium poorly.

Only fully cooked — raw and dried beans contain a toxin that is deadly, but thorough cooking destroys it.

Serving: Feed only beans that have been soaked and fully cooked. Never offer raw or dried uncooked beans.

⚠️ Caution: Raw and dried beans contain phytohaemagglutinin — deadly. Only fully cooked beans are safe.

Yes — plain popped popcorn is a fun treat; skip the salt and butter.

Serving: Offer a small handful of plain popped corn. No salt, butter, or sugar, and avoid unpopped kernels.

⚠️ Caution: Salted, buttered, or caramel popcorn is not safe — offer plain, air-popped only.

No — mouldy food is the rule that overrides every other verdict on this site.

Serving: Feed nothing mouldy, musty, or that has been sitting damp. If you would not eat it yourself, it does not go in the run.

⚠️ Caution: Mycotoxins, aflatoxins especially, are potent and poultry are highly sensitive. Never feed anything mouldy.

No — salt is the most underestimated hazard in a bowl of kitchen scraps.

Serving: Keep crisps, salted nuts, cured meat, anything tinned in brine, and seasoned leftovers out of the run entirely.

⚠️ Caution: Chickens tolerate sodium poorly, and salt toxicity is a documented cause of loss in poultry.

No — fries combine salt, frying fat and empty starch, which is close to the worst possible combination.

Serving: Do not feed fries, crisps, or anything else out of a fryer. Plain cooked potato with no green on it is the version that is genuinely fine.

⚠️ Caution: Salt and frying fat. A human-sized portion is a substantial dose for a five-pound bird.

No — coffee grounds contain caffeine, the same toxic family as the theobromine in chocolate.

Serving: Never offer coffee grounds. Dig them into a bed or a closed bin rather than the open heap the flock can reach.

⚠️ Caution: Caffeine is a methylxanthine, like the theobromine in chocolate — toxic to birds. Never feed.

No — tea carries caffeine too, and used bags on a compost heap are how a flock usually meets it.

Serving: Keep tea and used tea bags out of the run, and out of any compost heap the flock has access to.

⚠️ Caution: Contains caffeine, a methylxanthine toxic to birds. Leave herbal infusions out too, as a default.

No — alcohol is toxic to ducks, and fermenting windfall fruit is how it usually happens by accident.

Serving: Never offer alcohol in any form, and clear fermenting windfalls out of the run rather than leaving them down.

⚠️ Caution: Ethanol is toxic and acts fast in a bird this size. Fermenting windfall fruit counts.

No — sweets are pure sugar, may hide chocolate or xylitol, and offer a bird nothing whatsoever.

Serving: Do not feed sweets, chocolate, or sugar-free confectionery in any form, including the ends of baked goods.

⚠️ Caution: May contain chocolate or xylitol, both toxic. Even plain sugar confectionery is empty and sticky.

No — chocolate is toxic to ducks and should never be fed.

Serving: Never feed chocolate or cocoa in any form. Keep baked goods containing it out of reach.

⚠️ Caution: Contains theobromine and caffeine — toxic to the heart and nervous system. Never feed.