Bread Is Not Harmful To Water Fowl!

[Ray]

Without the personal scientific knowledge to assess this statement I can only say that it makes interesting reading and it would be hard to argue with such an authoritative voice!

https://www.theswansanctuary.org.uk/cause/swan-sanctuary-statement-ban-bread-campaign/

[DaveB]

Hi Ray, do you mind if I put this link on Facebook?

[Londonlad1985]

That's very interesting. I had a discussion in the office about this the other day as a coleague was complaining about people at Granary Staithe always feeding the birds bread (we watch via webcam at work). I took the view that me and everyone I knew fed water birds bread as kids and there were never any dead or sick birds littering the place, and they must get loaves of the stuff at Wroxham and they all seem less than dead there was probably enough evidence to at least say it wasn't bad for the birds.

[Ray]

6 minutes ago, DaveB said:

Hi Ray, do you mind if I put this link on Facebook?

That's fine Dave, I think the organisation would approve of their view beimg widely shared

[NorfolkNog]

Very interesting. They should know what they are talking about. Mrs Nog likes to feed the swans, ducks and geese, particularly in winter. She normally buys a big bag of corn/mixed seed but does feed them bread too. One advantage of the corn is that it spreads out and all the birds get some, with lumps of bread sometimes the bigger or greedy birds can get the lions share. But for a charity to take such a stand they obviously feel very strongly about it. Thanks for posting.  

[Guest]

Most animals and birds have an inbuilt natural drive to seek out the foods, they require for good health. While bread may not provide all the necessary proteins, vitamins, minerals etc. they require. It provides easily processed energy, enabling them to seek out the grasses, water weed, water insects & molluscs and numerous other natural foods they eat, which do provide all the nutrients they need.

There were fears that gorging on bread, could deprive them of the balanced diet required for good health. But there was no evidence to suggest this was actually happening.

Funnily enough, us humans seem to be one of the few 'animals' able to suppress the natural drive to seek out the nutrients beneficial for our good health...

[Guest]

I have no idea of the facts and I take this statement as genuinely good information from what I assume to be a respectable and knowledgeable source, but it always seemed in theory much more of a concern feeding bread in ponds and lakes due to the static water allowing bread to be stagnant and growing mould, polluting the water (as mentioned in the link) than it does seem to a person, admittedly ignorant of wild birds needs, in the tidal waters of rivers and such, like the broads are.

I know there will be young children (and Mrs Nog) rejoicing at being allowed to throw scraps of bread for the swans once again.

Until the nasty buggers overcrowd the children and take the whole ruddy loaf from them of course 

If this post doesn't make sense, it did in my head 

[Vaughan]

Water birds such as duck, geese and swans eat grass. So if you have a lawn on the front of your riverside property, the geese will come in the evening and keep it nice and short for you. Trouble is, they will then spend the rest of the night pooping all over the quay heading! Swans feed a lot from weed on the bottom, which is why they have long necks and spend a lot of time with their back-sides in the air.

Ducks and geese also feed on grain, especially barley, as do pheasant and partridge. They have a "crop" which is a sack in the neck, where they store the grain they have eaten and gradually digest it during the day. Pigeons do the same.

This is what they do in their natural element. But when they are swimming around the Maltsters quay at Ranworth, they gobble up the bread thrown to them by all the visitors. Has this ever done them any harm?

Not to my knowledge!

[Paul]

I've always held this view. Back in the 70's we fed bread to ducks like nobodies business. We used to go to Jones' and buy up the stale loaves for five pence and it all went to the ducks. If it were as harmful as some "experts" have been trying to make us believe then Nic Park in Oulton would have looked like the anatine equivalent of the somme. 

I know something for certain, there were a lot more coots and mallards in those days than there are today.

[Guest]

It's interesting stuff.

I have no idea, I love letting the kids feed the birds and they enjoy it too but it is always good to know what is best for the birds to have too.

I think next month I'll chuck an uncut Warburtons loaf in the middle of the yare and just watch the carnage 

[VetChugger]

There are other behavioural factors behind the why's and wherefores of feeding bread to our feathered friends. They get so reliant on the source then cannot feed properly when all the holiday makers go home.

Devils advocate to a certain extent, I suspect the majority of mass produced bread nowadays has a vastly different nutritional content to what it did in years gone by.

[Betty1]

Maggots will be bad for fish next !

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Betty1 said:

Maggots will be bad for fish next !

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
 

Fishermen are bad for fish

[grendel]

I think its like a lot of these scares, if bread were the only thing they were fed, then it might well be not good for them as they will need additional nutrients, and for bread here I am talking the cheap white blotting paper bread as we used to call it when I was little (my mum being the daughter of a master baker has baked her bread every other day as long as I can remember) proper bakers bread would be a lot better, but the important thing is variety, by all means give them bread, but give them seeds, grain and other bird feeds as well.

[webntweb]

6 hours ago, Betty1 said:

Maggots will be bad for fish next !

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
 

Fish don't eat maggots, at least not the one's on my hook.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Ray,

Thank you for posting this interesting information, no doubt this will prompt a lot of debate.

Regards

Alan

[Ray]

Hi Alan, I was certainly surprised when I read it as I assumed the case for not feeding bread was widely accepted as correct. The two points in the statement that really stood out for me was the evidence that young swans in particular are actually suffering as the bread they used to have helps them as they look to join larger groups and learn to feed. The other was that the Royal Veterinary College feel misrepresented by those advocating not feeding bread to water fowl.

[Vaughan]

9 hours ago, Paul said:

I know something for certain, there were a lot more coots and mallards in those days than there are today.

There were indeed more coots, and moorhens too, which are now worryingly absent. But then the nice cuddly, playful otter was extinct on the Broads in those days.

[Bound2Please]

3 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

There were indeed more coots, and moorhens too, which are now worryingly absent. But then the nice cuddly, playful otter was extinct on the Broads in those days.

In one Vaughan, having seen and heard, a otter take a young swan ( not a signet) last summer, moorhens and coots stand no chance

[vanessan]

2 minutes ago, Ray said:

Hi Alan, I was certainly surprised when I read it as I assumed the case for not feeding bread was widely accepted as correct. The two points in the statement that really stood out for me was the evidence that young swans in particular are actually suffering as the bread they used to have helps them as they look to join larger groups and learn to feed. The other was that the Royal Veterinary Society feel misrepresented by those advocating not feeding bread to water fowl.

Couldn’t agree more with this Ray. I hope more wildfowl organisations will come out in support and the signs on the Broads about not feeding bread to swans etc will eventually be removed.

[MauriceMynah]

"The driving force behind this campaign works for Pets Choice and was quoted as saying ‘looks after’ a brand called Wild Things which manufactures swan and duck pellets."

That was the bit that convinced me.

[TheQ]

some birds know exactly what to do with bread...

 

[Timbo]

59 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

"The driving force behind this campaign works for Pets Choice and was quoted as saying ‘looks after’ a brand called Wild Things which manufactures swan and duck pellets."

That was the bit that convinced me.

 

That bit prompted me to dig a bit and discover that the Canal and River Trust have a rather...what's the word I'm looking for, erm, 'intense', yes, intense corporate marketing strategy. With a wide range of campaigns and awards developed to 'enhance the reputation' of the Trust and a facility to create a 'bespoke corporate partnership' to promote your brand.

Makes you reappraise the BA somewhat!

[Minifer]

I used to teach waterside field trips for a living (for a not very popular charity on this forum so I won't mention it!) and the official advice we had to give was that feeding only bread to the ducks was like feeding us only chocolate.  It gave a nice energy burst, but was not exactly nutritionally great.  Bread has a lot of sugar and salt in it and a lot of processed wheat filler.  Where we were teaching,  the wildfowl were being fed by the public all day long.   So we gave out chicken pellets (which was also the advice given to me from a nationally renowned wildfowl park) for the children to feed the ducks and geese with.   I can see the swan rescue point of view, but in popular places bread can be pretty much what all the ducks etc are eating and that is not healthy.  So I think the ban the bread campaign is no bad thing, as long as you are feeding a good alternative.  They are still going to get a lot of bread because the majority of people are feeding that.

[Ray]

Swan can not live by bread alone? That makes sense