Can Ducks Eat Lentils? (Explained)

One of the most common we cook in our home is lentils. Lentils are an inexpensive, tasty, and easy way to give your body a great amount of nutrition. A couple of years ago, I wondered – if I could share the small lentils with my animals as well. I did some research about it.

Ducks can eat lentils as long as you cook them first and don’t add any spices to them. Uncooked lentils contain a lectin that is toxic to ducks. Nutrients vary depending on the color of the lentil. Ducks require calcium and potassium in their diet, of which black lentils have the highest amount.

Lentils are excellent to give your ducks on their own or mix with their foods. Ducks love the taste and can eat lots of it. However, it would be best to always feed lentils in moderation since they are pretty high in calories. Lentils vary from 355 to 404 calories per 100g, depending on the color. Lentils aren’t high in fat, and they get their calories mostly from carbohydrates and protein.

Can ducks eat lentils?

Lentils are an excellent source of nutrients for you and your ducks. The inexpensive legume provides a lot of nutrients while being very cheap and accessible. Ducks can eat cooked lentils as a staple with other foods and will benefit greatly from doing so. Lentils should be added as an extension to the duck’s other foods and not as a replacement. Lentils are categorized as a complete source of protein, meaning it has all nine essential amino acids building a complete protein. However, the two amino acids, methionine, and tryptophan are low in lentils but are found in oats and soy. Excellent breakfast for ducks would be duck pellets, oats, cooked lentils, and cooked soybeans.

Can ducklings eat lentils?

Ducklings can eat lentils and will benefit from them. The high amount of protein is excellent for them and gives them the necessary nutrients to grow. However, ducklings shouldn’t consume lentils until they’ve grown four weeks of age. Until then, they will need to eat their regular duckling feed. You can start incorporating lentils into their diet gradually after the fifth week and increase after that if you would like.

🍉 Watermelon and other fruits are an awesome treat for ducks. Ducks love to eat most fruits. There are some fruits ducks should never eat. Find out which ones.

Do ducks like to eat lentils?

Ducks like to eat lentils regardless of color. Ducks eat almost anything you put in front of them, including uncooked lentils. However, it would be best not to give them raw lentils due to the number of lectins. Ducks also prefer if you mix the lentils with other foods, especially fruits.

Can ducks eat raw or uncooked lentils?

Ducks can eat uncooked lentils, but it’s not recommended. Uncooked lentils contain lectins, which works as an anti-nutrient and hinders other nutrients from being absorbed in the body. Not only do lectins inhibit the absorption of nutrients, but it’s also toxic to ducks. However, lectins are easy to deflect. Lectins are removed when the food is either soaked or boiled. For the sake of our duck’s digestive system, we boil their lentils before serving.

🥦 Vegetables is crucial in a duck’s diet. Learn what vegetables you can feed ducks here.

Can ducks eat cooked lentils?

Ducks can eat cooked lentils and will benefit from doing so. The lentils shouldn’t have any spices or be cooked with a bouillon cube. If you cook lentils for your ducks to eat, make sure to only add water and nothing else.

Depending on the color of the lentil – you will need to boil some for longer.

Soaking and boiling time lentils

Lentil	Soaking time	Boiling time
Black lentils (Beluga)	Not required	15-20 minutes
Green lentils	Not required	30 minutes
Red lentils	Not required	10 minutes
Puy lentils	Not required	10 minutes
Yellow lentils	Not required	20-25 minutes

Can ducks eat frozen lentils?

Ducks can eat frozen lentils as long as you defrost the lentils first. Do you have frozen leftover lentils and want to give them to your ducks? That’s fine as long as they haven’t been exposed to any spices and are defrosted before being served. However, preparing containers with cooked lentils, oats, vegetables is perfect for storing in the freezer for the upcoming week. Please put it in the fridge the night before for defrosting and serve the next day.

🐌 Ducks also eat slugs, insects, and other smalls. Find out what animals ducks can eat here.

Can ducks eat sprouted lentils?

Ducks can absolutely eat sprouted lentils. Sprouted lentils are extremely nutritious and healthy for your ducks. Soak them with water daily for a couple of days, and you magically have some tasty, nutritious, and curious sprouts sticking out.

Can ducks eat moldy lentils?

You should never give moldy lentils or any other foods to ducks or any other animal. Mold is toxic and can be lethal to them. If you have moldy food, you should add it to your compost for the microorganisms and worms to eat.

🍗 Some leftovers can be given to ducks. But there are some human food you shouldn’t give your ducks.

Can ducks eat canned lentils?

Ducks can eat canned lentils as long there isn’t any salt added to them. Ducks should avoid canned lentils with added salt, but canned lentils without salt can be eaten by ducks as long as you rinse them first. Westbraes organic black lentils are a good choice for canned lentils to give to your ducks.

Safe ways to feed lentils to your ducks

There are some great ways you can safely give your ducks lentils. Most ways are the same as you would feed yourself. The only difference is the use of spices and some ingredients. For example, you will need to know what vegetables you can feed ducks and what fruits ducks can’t eat. Below, I will give you my best and fun ways to feed lentils to your ducks.

1. Cook the lentils

The most important part is to cook the lentils before serving them. Boiling and soaking remove the lectins from them and makes the lentils safe for ducks.

2. Serve the lentils with foods

Ducks prefer lentils with other foods. You can incorporate lentils into their diet with foods they like to start with and then gradually add them to their regular food. My ducks receive oats, lentils, and vegetables each morning, almost like a dahl dish.

3. Make a salad for your ducks

Ducks love greens, and making a salad with lentils for them is an awesome treat. You can add all kinds of vegetables ducks like and why not some fruits or nuts?

4. Make a stew for your ducks

Lentil stew is one of my favorite foods, and I think it is for my ducks too. When you do a lentil stew for ducks, it’s important not to add any spices, garlic, or onions. They will harm the ducks, and the ducks don’t really care about umami. You can add a can of crushed tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, and some olive oil.

Cut everything into tiny pieces and let it simmer on low heat for 30-40 minutes. Let it cool down and serve your ducks.

5. Make mashed potatoes with lentils

Something I regularly make for my ducks is mashed potatoes. Something they appreciate is mashed potatoes and lentils. Why not make a vegan Shepherd’s pie with lentils for your ducks? Without the onions and spices, of course.

Start by preparing the mashed potatoes. Boil the potatoes first. Cook the lentils while you stirfry chopped celery and carrots. When the lentils have been cooked, you can mix them with the celery and carrots in the pan. Add some water into the pan and add some frozen peas. Move the ingredients to a casserole. Add the mashed potatoes on top and put them in the oven for 350° F for 20 minutes.

The ducks will love finding the green peas hidden underneath the layer of mashed potatoes.

6. Offer som lentils and rice

When you are cooking your lentils, why not throw in some rice at the same time? Ducks love to eat rice too. Try to add some green peas to the dish, and you will see how fast it disappears.

Don’t forget to let it cool. Never feed warm food to a duck.

7. Give away some lentil soup

Ducks love soup. This works better if you have a hand mixer and can make the soup really smooth. Leeks, potatoes, and carrots are excellent to add to your lentil soup.

8. Lentil porridge anyone?

Oats and lentils go hand in hand. If you have some cooked lentils and want to spice up your duck’s oats for the day – why not give them lentil porridge? Cook some lentils, add them to oats, and make some porridge. Not harder than that.

9. Sprouted lentils

Sprouted lentils are my duck’s favorite way of eating lentils. You only need to soak the lentils every day and wait a couple of days, and magically you have some sprouts looking out from your lentils.

🌰 Seeds and nuts are a great food for ducks to eat. There are some nuts you shouldn’t give ducks. Find out which here.

Unsafe ways to give lentils to ducks

1. The lentils aren’t cooked

You will need to cook the lentils before serving them to your ducks. Uncooked lentils contain lectins which are toxic and will inhibit nutrient absorption. Lentils have different boiling times depending on the color. Check out the table a bit up in this text about soaking and boiling lentils times.

2. Too much lentils

When feeding lentils, it’s easy to get carried away and not reflecting on how much lentils you are feeding them. 100 grams of uncooked lentils are between 350 and 400 calories depending on the color of the lentil. A duck requires around 1400 calories per day and making lentils you should avoid making lentils a majority of their diet. The majority of their feed should be actual duck pellets.

When you feed too many lentils, you fill the duck’s stomach, which discourages them from foraging for other foods, risking them become malnourished.

3. Feeding them in water

It’s a common sight in the park. People throwing food to the ducks directly in the same water the ducks swim in. It would be best if you didn’t throw food into the water the duck swim in. Uneaten food dissolves and causes algae growth. Instead, give them food in water buckets or directly on the ground.

4. Feeding them your leftover lentils

Ducks can eat a lot of human foods. If you have made lentils and some are left, you might want to give them to your ducks as a treat. However, unless you didn’t use any spices, onion, garlic, or other condiments, you are good to go. Otherwise, it would be better to eat the leftovers yourself.

How many lentils can you feed your ducks?

The amount of lentils you can give your ducks is determined by the other foods in your duck’s diet. If they already have a high caloric diet, you will need to decrease something else. Myself, aim for 50 grams of uncooked lentils per day per duck.

🐹 Ducks usually eat duck pellets, but they can also eat other fodders. Learn what fodders ducks can eat here.

How often can I feed lentils to my ducks?

You can feed lentils to ducks as often as you would like, as long as you do it in moderation and adjust the other food in their diet. If you increase something, you will need to decrease something else. The limitations are the caloric budget your ducks have. There a people who feed lentils or other legumes daily, while others feed less frequently. It all comes down to what other foods there are in your duck’s diet.

Health benefits for ducks from eating lentils

Lentils are an excellent source of Vitamin B6, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

Comparison between uncooked black, red and green lentils per 100g

Nutrients in 100g uncooked lentils	Black lentils	Red lentils	Green lentils
Calories	404kcal	358kcal	355kcal
Protein	31g	23.91g	24.27g
Fat	1.2g	2.17g	1.62g
Carbohydrates	71.4g	63.1g	63.22g
Calcium	47.6mg	48mg	42mg
Potassium	933mg	668mg	672mg

Comparison between cooked green and red lentils

Nutrient (unit)	Cooked Green lentils	Cooked Red lentils
Weight standard (g)	100	100
Energy (kcal)	127	125
Energy (kJ)	532	524
Carbohydrates (g)	15.9	14.6
Fat (g)	0.7	0.6
Protein (g)	9.38	10.63
Fiber (g)	9.6	9.1
Water (g)	62.9	63.7
Alcohol (g)	0	0
Ashes (g)	1.5	1.4
Monosaccharides (g)	0.03	0.07
Disaccharides (g)	0.5	0.51
Sucrose (g)	0.42	0.41
Sugars (g)	0.5	0.6
Total saturated fatty acids (g)	0.1	0.08
Fatty acid 4: 0-10: 0 (g)	0	0
Lauric acid C12: 0 (g)	0	0
Myristic acid C14: 0 (g)	0	0
Palmitic acid C16: 0 (g)	0.08	0.06
Stearic acid C18: 0 (g)	0.01	0.01
Arachidic acid C20: 0 (g)	0	0
Total monounsaturated fatty acids (g)	0.16	0.14
Palmitic acid C16: 1 (g)	0	0
Oleic acid C18: 1 (g)	0.15	0.14
Total polyunsaturated fatty acids (g)	0.3	0.26
Linoleic acid C18: 2 (g)	0.24	0.2
Linolenic acid C18: 3 (g)	0.05	0.05
Arachidonic acid C20: 4 (g)	0	0
EPA (C20:5) (g)	0	0
DPA (C22:5) (g)	0	0
DHA (C22:6) (g)	0	0
Tiamin (mg)	0.1	0.24
Riboflavin (mg)	0.07	0.06
Vitamin C (mg)	0	0
Niacin (mg)	0.81	0.87
Niacin equivalents (NE / mg)	2.4	2.6
Vitamin B6 (mg)	0.2	0.16
Vitamin B12 (µg)	0	0
Folate (µg)	40.2	72.7
Retinol (µg)	0	0
Vitamin A (RE/µg)	0.9	0.9
β-Karoten (µg)	11	11
Vitamin D (µg)	0	0
Vitamin E (mg)	0.37	0.15
Vitamin K (µg)	9.9	11.9
Phosphorus (mg)	156	146.7
Iodine (µg)	34	33
Iron (mg)	3.19	2.72
Calcium (mg)	26	10.2
Potassium (mg)	359.8	349.2
Magnesium (mg)	48	31.5
Sodium (mg)	242.9	219
Salt (g)	0.61	0.55
Selenium (µg)	36.8	6.97
Zinc (mg)	1.39	1.75
Cholesterol (mg)	0	0
Whole grains total (g)	0	0

Vitamin B6 in lentils for ducks

Vitamin b6 helps the body to produce hormones like serotonin and norepinephrine. Serotonin helps with mood and norepinephrine helps to regulate stress. You don’t want grumpy stressed ducks, don’t you? Ducks can eat Vitamin b6 through peanuts, soybeans, oats, and bananas.

Iron in lentils for ducks

Iron is found in lentils and is important for hemoglobin formation, brain function, muscle function, and much more. Iron is found in sweet potatoes, peas, oats, and tofu.

Magnesum in lentils for ducks

A magnesium deficiency may lead to hypertension, insulin resistance, heart disease, and headaches. Magnesium can benefit strong bones, the activation of vitamin d, and provides a more restful sleep. Foods rich in magnesium ducks can eat nuts, beans, okra, tuna, and bananas.

Potassium in lentils for ducks

Potassium is paramount in a duck’s diet, as well as Calcium. Potassium’s role in the body is the regulate the fluid balance and help different cells. For example, nerve cells or muscle cells. Examples of foods rich in potassium ducks can eat bananas, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, lentils, nuts, potatoes, and tomatoes.

Zinc in lentils for ducks

Zinc helps the duck with improving their memory, muscle mass, curing diarrhea, and prevents inflammation. Foods rich in zinc that ducks can eat are mushrooms, oats, tofu, nuts, and seeds.

🌿 Did you know ducks loves to eat herbs? Find out what herbs ducks love to eat here.

Conclusion

Ducks can eat lentils, and they will benefit from doing so. Both ducks and ducklings like the taste of lentils. Ducklings shouldn’t be given lentils in their first four weeks of age.

Ducks shouldn’t eat raw lentils since they contain a toxin called lectin. The lectin is removed when the lentils are boiled.

There are different boiling times depending on the color of the lentil.

Ducks shouldn’t eat any moldy lentils since it’s toxic to them.

You can feed canned lentils to your ducks, as long as there isn’t any salt added.