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Ducks, Poop, & You

An in-depth experiment on how bread affects the feces of a duck.

How does the amount of bread in a Ducks diet affect the quantity of poop it excretes?
One might expect that a park managers worst nightmare is cleaning and maintaining the field, but such an expectation would be a mistake. When it comes to ponds and lakes, park managers begin to resent ducks or any other type of bird that lack sphincters. While ducks may be adorable animals, because they do not have a sphincter, if they have to release their excrement, it is beyond their control and they will do it right away. Most hazards related to animal feces are specifically related to the inhalation and physical contact of the contaminated materials. (Animal Feces Removal) The extra bread and remains in the pond may also negatively affect the chemical balance of the water. The chemical composition of feces is called skatol and it is either Methyl indol (C9H9N) or Methylindol Udskriv artiklen. (Poonurse) The excess of bread in a ducks feces makes it more acidic causing irritability for the ducks intestine and gastrointestinal tract. This damage can significantly diminish not just the ducks life but also other animals and critters living in the same body of water. Most fish require water with the correct acid-alkaline balance. (Alkaline Water) When the pH of the body gets out of balance (too acidic), the animals may experience low energy, fatigue, excess weight, poor digestion, aches and pains, and even more serious disorders. The purpose of this experiment is to see to what extent feeding ducks bread exacerbates the problem and it will answer the question of how does the amount of bread in a Ducks diet affects the quantity of poop it excretes. To test this hypothesis, we need to collect a diverse group of ducks from different ponds/lakes around the world. We will collect around 10 ducks per species we gather and these species will include: Mallard (from America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia), Pekin (from China), Redhead (from Western North-America), Mexican Mallard (from Mexico), and Wood Duck
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(from North America). There are a few variables at stake here. There is obviously the species of the duck because ducks vary with their response to the food they eat. There is also the type of bread that is ingested. Because the bread fed to a duck tends to be conventional bread found in a household, I will use wheat bread, sweet bread, and corn bread. With these five species of Ducks, three different kinds of bread, and three different amounts of food (control, 50/50, only bread), we are left with 45 different permutations of testing. Like every proper experiment, a control is needed. The control in this experiment will just be the duck eating normal waterfowl that is found in the lake/pond. Then we need a hybrid between the waterfowl and bread, so half of the ducks diet will be waterfowl and the other half will be bread. The last amount of food in the ducks diet will be solely comprised of bread. The experiment will last 2-4 weeks so we can accurately observe if the bread is causing a significant difference. Every few days we will take the pH level of the water to test the change of acidity of the water. If there is an increase in the pH level or the ducks produce more excrement, then my hypothesis would be supported. The results of this study can influence the decisions of park managers to ban or allow feeding bread (or other food) to the ducks, thus potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars in either janitorial costs (if bread causes more excrement) or signage/enforcement costs (if it does not cause more excrement). Bread is not part of a ducks natural diet. While they are a good source of carbohydrates, they offer little other nutritional value for ducks, waterfowl and other birds. In fact, bread is the equivalent to junk food for the birds and too much bread can lead to excessive weight and malnutrition as well as many other problems. The excess in weight makes it much more difficult for ducks to fly. Thus it seems that Ducks are constantly weighed down by shit.

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References: "Alkaline Water." Alkaline. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct 2010. <http://www.alkaline.org/alkaline_water.htm> "Animal Feces Removal." Advanced Wildlife Control LLC. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct 2010. <http://www.advancedwildlifecontrolllc.com/animalfeces.html> Poonurse, . "Chemical Composition of Poop." Poop Report. N.p., 13 FEB 2004. Web. 10 Oct 2010. <http://www.poopreport.com/Doctor/Knowledgebase/chemicalcomposition.html>.

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