People usually put white bread crumbs in their bird feeders in winter. Sparrows love them. We are talking only about white, not black bread. It should not be given to birds. In recent years, you can increasingly hear and read that even dry white bread is dangerous for birds and can lead to various diseases, including blockage of the esophagus. This opinion is replicated on many sites. I decided to look into this issue, because... I often put dried crumbs or finely chopped pieces of white bread into the feeder myself. For woodpeckers, who also fly to the feeder, there is no better treat than a hardened loaf. Could this food really harm the birds?
♦ On topic: Feeding birds in winter
Not only sparrows, but also tits eat white bread in winter
To feed or to feed?
White bread is not the most complete food for birds kept in captivity. However, we are not talking about them, but about sparrows and other birds that fly to the feeder in winter. We just feed them, which is very important, especially in bad weather. For example, during or after freezing rain and snowfall. The rest of the time, the birds are busy searching for food on their own, flying to feeders for a “snack.” That is, we are talking about feeding, and not about full feeding. Many ornithologists do not advise putting food in feeders in the summer and autumn, when the birds themselves must look for it. Otherwise, they lose the ability to obtain food and become completely dependent on humans.
The opinion of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds of Great Britain is interesting. The disadvantage of white bread as bird food is the lack of a complete set of substances necessary for birds. They fill their stomach and experience a temporary feeling of fullness. British experts suggest feeding birds with cookie crumbs or baked goods, rather than “empty food.” It is recommended to give grated cheese, leftover boiled jacket potatoes, breakfast cereal and boiled rice.
What to feed the ducks?
Elena Chernova, an employee of the coordination center of the Russian Bird Conservation Union, told Moskva 24 that the ideal option for ducks is special compound feed. It can be purchased at agricultural stores or at the poultry market.
“It is clear that the majority of city residents feed them white bread. White bread is for them like cakes are for us: they love it, it is tasty for them, but in large quantities it leads to obesity and is not very healthy. The most important thing is that you don’t need to feed the ducks black and moldy bread,” she emphasized.
They won't eat the seeds. If you want to feed them properly, you can buy feed for ducks that is designed for their diet. Elena Chernova
employee of the coordination center of the Russian Bird Conservation Union
The ornithologist added that low-fat cottage cheese, boiled pearl barley porridge or cereals are also suitable for feeding ducks. At the same time, fried, salted and smoked foods, as well as fruits, can, on the contrary, harm birds.
In turn, Igor Buskin, a member of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Environmental Policy, explained to Moscow 24 that ducks are migratory animals, therefore, as a rule, they easily find food on their own.
They know very well where there are open bodies of water. Even on the Yauza River, wild ducks fly to places where the water does not freeze. Igor Buskin
Deputy of the Moscow City Duma, Director of the Babushkinsky PKiO
“Any waterfowl will always find food for itself. It is our whim that we think they are hungry. In addition, on all reservoirs where we have duck holes, a waterfowl feeding program has been running for several years. It’s just that not everyone knows about it,” says the deputy.
Muscovites were told what they can feed wild ducks
Difficult and dangerous options
Reputable publications advise pouring raw sunflower and pumpkin seeds, corn grains, pearl barley, oatmeal, dried white bread crumbs into feeders and adding unsalted lard. Some of them recommend giving birds crushed watermelon seeds, melon seeds, thistles, burdocks, nettles, horse sorrel and quinoa. It is proposed to prepare weed seeds in advance in the summer and make brooms from stems and branches with seeds to stick them into the snow near the feeders in winter.
Garden quinoa seeds with beet-colored leaves
For waxwings and bullfinches, it is proposed to collect the fruits of rowan, hawthorn and maple seeds (lionfish), and prepare conifer cones and acorns. Not every bird lover can cope with this option for winter feeding of birds. And many gardeners and gardeners are frightened by the prospect of sowing their plots with weeds.
Other dubious, from my point of view, options are also offered. For example, use animal fat (lamb, pork, beef, etc.), which needs to be melted in order to pour it over thick branches and tree trunks. It is believed that lard frozen in the cold forms a nutrient layer for tits, woodpeckers and nuthatches.
Lard and animal fat are also used to make other poultry delicacies. First, they are slightly softened, then mixed with various seeds and sunflower seeds. After this, they are rolled into balls or given another shape. Then they attach a thread or put the bird treats in nets from packaged vegetables and hang them on bushes and trees.
The mesh option can be deadly for birds. Not so much because of the cats, but because of the net itself. I have seen budgies in veterinary hospitals with serious injuries caused by tulle curtains on the windows. My friends had a very smart tame parrot that often flew around the room. One day he caught his claws on a tulle curtain and tried to free himself. Veterinarians were unable to save this parrot's life. In birds, fractures and dislocations often result in death. For them, any net can become a mortal danger. Especially the one that you need to cling to with your claws in order to quickly peck at the treat and instantly fly away at any hint of danger.
Birds certainly benefit from special store-bought mixtures of grains, chopped chicken eggs, small pieces of meat and offal. You need a lot of them, so not every bird lover can afford to feed birds this way. On my feeder, a full handful of this delicacy is eaten in ten minutes. And during the day a lot of different birds fly up to her. By the way, the neighbor’s cats also like the treat.
There are always a lot of sparrows near the feeder
Why shouldn’t you feed ducks bread and is it possible to take a migratory bird home?
During the cold season, the ground is covered with snow and ice, making it almost impossible for the birds remaining in the city to find food. We tell you how a person can feed his little brothers during a difficult period for them, without harming their health.
Many of us don't even think about the fact that different types of birds eat differently, and this is useful to consider when we want to feed them in winter. “Very few birds eat bread,” said Ilya Volodin, leading researcher at the Faculty of Biology at Moscow State University. - Either sparrows that have adapted to this, or pigeons that live in cities. The fact is that pigeons have a specific digestive system. They can process bread into normal food, and therefore reproduce even in winter.”
Bread is not very useful for other birds, even though they eat it with pleasure. A common practice that most of us have come across is feeding bread to ducks. “In fact, this is not very correct,” noted zoologist, candidate of biological sciences Filipp Tumasyan. “They really enjoy eating bread, but eating too much makes them sick and suffers from digestive problems.” According to experts, it is better to feed ducks with grass pellets, which can be bought in specialized stores. However, what is more important for ducks is the presence of a reservoir that does not freeze in winter; they live in water and find food for themselves.
And who really needs help with food are forest birds that winter in the city (tits, bullfinches, waxwings, blackbirds, goldfinches, etc.). Sometimes they fly to cities from the forest for local food sources and the opportunity to shelter from the wind. In the city you can also meet migratory birds that for some reason did not fly south; they also cannot cope without human help.
“If you see a freezing bird, you need to determine its species: this way you will understand whether it really did not have time to fly away or whether it simply did not find food and is freezing,” advises Philip Tumasyan. “If it is not a migratory bird, you can warm it up and release it back, hoping that it will not end up in such a situation again.” If it is, for example, a robin or a finch that was supposed to fly south, then it will not find insects in the city - it must be specially fed with insects. You can take responsibility and leave such a bird at home until spring, providing it with care and food. You can also contact the Department of Natural Resources and they will recommend what to do.”
How to properly feed chickens bread
Chickens are fed only with toasted bread or crackers. The choice of crackers is more convenient, because they do not require much space, are stored for a long time, and are easy to prepare.
Dried bread is as easy to obtain as crackers. You need to cut it into pieces and let it dry, or bring it to the desired state in a frying pan or in the oven. Rusks and dried bread are stored very simply: in cloth or in ziplock bags.
You can give bread and crackers to chickens by first crushing them and moistening them a little with water.
Bread norm for laying hens
A little bread won't harm even chickens. You can give it already on the 5th day of life, adding it to the food with vegetables and herbs. Adult kurmas should be fed with bread, adding it to the mash. In this case, you need to slightly reduce the amount of grain in the mash.
The addition in the form of bread goes well with potatoes, carrots, zucchini and herbs.
The dosage of bread is no more than 35% of the total feed. They don’t give you a mash of bread every day, because 1-2 times every 7 days will be enough.
The exact amount of bread in the chickens' diet depends on their weight.
Do you give your laying hens bread?
