Broccoli is a vegetable praised for its strong health benefits.  They are loaded with vitamins and minerals which are essential for the body’s proper development.  Broccoli can do away with many diseases such as cholesterol, cancer, and heart disease. Their high fiber content aids against intestinal blockage as well.

But what about ducks? Can they eat broccoli? Yes, they can! Ducks are herbivores by nature and have a special affinity for such plants.  Compared to chickens, they can eat more and better vegetable matter.  Ducks and poultry, in general, are much healthier if exposed to fresh vegetables as much as possible.

Duck owners should take advantage of this fact and provide their birds with plenty of broccoli, lettuce, and other fresh greens that are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Health Benefits Of Broccoli

Over the years, broccoli has been considered a kind of superfood.  It is one of the most nutritious food items in the market.

Broccoli is rich in calcium, vitamins A and C, and calcium, which are essential for good bone health and for overcoming many diseases.  It also contains a number of antioxidants that can remove harmful toxins from the body.  In addition, it is rich in fiber content, which promotes good digestion.

The broccoli plant is a member of the cabbage family.  It can grow up to 2.5 feet tall and has a diameter of 6-8 inches.  At the top of the bulb is a cluster of yellow or purple flowers followed by tiny seeds that make up the vegetable we eat as broccoli or sometimes referred to as calabrese or broccoletti. Broccoli comes in many varieties, with different colors and textures, but they all have one thing in common: they make delicious side dishes.  Broccoli is a rich source of vitamin C and folic vitamin K (healthy for blood clots).

How To Feed Broccoli To Ducks

Broccoli can be fed to ducks in different ways, depending on what you like to do.  Some people boil it and then steam other foods, such as rice or pasta, in that water.  Others choose to mix the broccoli with other vegetables to make puree and sell.  You can also eat broccoletti by sowing them directly in the field, or mixing with a food plot until they sprout and then harvesting the entire plant or cut the stems.

If you want to feed your ducks broccoli, it is best to make sure that you have done something in advance so that there is little effort involved on your part.  First of all, make sure you have enough time for feeding this time of year because broccoli takes about 14 days to grow from seed sowing until harvest.  Broccoli is a cool season crop (like peas), so it should be planted between April and May depending on where you live – later if you live in warmer climates.  It should not flower because that means it will not grow well.  Broccoli is a cross of cabbage and cauliflower, so it requires the cool temperatures to produce its best results.  You can plant broccoli directly in the ground or start them in small containers and transplant later.

If you choose to plant broccoli for your ducks, then place about 3-4 seeds about 2 inches deep in each hill and do not plant more than 2 days apart. You can also add pressure to your soil by running over the hill with a lawn roller or heavy object after sowing the seeds to eliminate weeds growing up and trying to steal nutrients from your broccoli plants.  Watering is important to make sure your plants grow well but try not to water too much because they are susceptible to mildew when they are young.

Harvesting broccoli is very easy – just cut above the main head, being sure that you cut with scissors or a sharp knife instead of pulling so that you do not damage the rest of the plant. If you grow it in a container, you can plant a second crop at the end of the season, but only if your first batch has been harvested.  If you grow it in the ground, be sure to leave it over the winter so that next season’s crop will have time to grow.

What Vegetables Can Ducks Eat?

You are almost never wrong feeding vegetables to your ducks,  they are all pretty much a good addition to their diet and they will only benefit from them, to avoid problems you could always check with a source such as the ASPCA or your local agricultural extension to make sure that whatever is safe for you is also safe for your ducks. Also, if it grows above ground, it can still be dangerous to ducks if they eat more than 1/2 pound per day of it because they might become sick from over-indulging (which I know from personal experience!).

Your Ducks will love it if you’ll incorporate these in their feed:

Greens: Collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach, turnip.  They are also very fond of swiss chard though I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a weed or because chard is such an awesome vegetable…

Legumes: Beans, peas, lentils, peanuts.  When preparing these legumes, however, make sure they are the legume and not the seed.  If you prepare the seeds, they have a similar effect to domestic ducks and can cause them to get sick.

Leaves: Parsley, sage

Here are some other vegetables that are very good to feed your ducks: Canola seed crumbles, corn on the cob (poisonous and should not be fed directly but rather fed to your chickens), corn silk, collard greens, and chard, cucumber (only safe if fully ripe or pickled), dandelion greens, peas, rhubarb, and spinach.

In Conclusion

Yes, Ducks can definitely eat broccoli, it’s a good addition to their diet, with a long list of health benefits :

Rich in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphor, and potassium.

Contains Vitamin A (90% of the recommended daily dose in a 100g serving of broccoli) which aids eye health, aids in white blood cell production, aids immune system functioning, aids DNA and RNA synthesis, and assists with cell division.  Vitamin C fights against infections such as colds and flu.  Vitamin E fights against cardiovascular disease and heart damage ensuring a healthy cardiovascular system.

When eaten raw (the way ducks eat it), broccoli provides almost 1/3 of the recommended daily amount of calcium! Turbocharge your ducks’ healthy diet with this superfood!

Also, when selecting the broccoli for your ducks, make sure that the stalk is cut shorter than what you would normally buy at the grocery store.

The stalks can be added to their water or fed to them.

Credits: pixel2013 / ImageParty of pixabay.com