Duck butter experiment
Can ducks tell the difference between Asda's smart price butter and i can't believe it's not butter...?
![[Picture of duck experiment]](../images/weird/duckexp.jpg)
Picture showing part of the experiment
Don't ask me where i got this idea, - i don't know, it just seemed a good idea at the time. i was making toast in the kitchen when the ducks came to the window begging for food as usual. i gave them some of my toast. They seemed to be having trouble eating it, so i thought it would be better if i buttered it for them.
Part 1
The first part of the experiment involved a number of small pieces of bread, some of which had butter spread upon them, and some spread with i can't believe it's not butter. i used three main methods of experiment A, B and C.
- (A) The ducks were presented with two pieces of bread, and it was noted which piece the duck showed the most interest in.
- (B) The pieces of bread were then thrown simultaneously in random directions, it was then recorded which piece of bread was eaten first. To rule out the case the duck would simply go to the closest snack, it was ensured bread although thrown randomly was thrown similar distances from the duck.
- (C) Pieces of bread were placed next to each other a distance away from the ducks, it was noted which piece was eaten first.
Results:
Results from experiment A were quite inconclusive with the ducks showing a slight leaning towards i can't believe it's not butter (the ducks showed interest in real butter only 47% of the time). Experiment B showed a definite preference for real butter with ducks choosing the bread with real butter 73.8% of the time. These results were echoed in experiment C where the ducks opted for the real butter choice in 82.6% of cases.
In order to keep as many factors as possible constant, i melted the butter in a microwave oven until it was the same consistency as the i can't believe it's not butter. i also took care to use the same quantities of real butter and i can't believe it's not butter.
Part 2
The picture above shows the second part of the experiment. The purpose of this experiment being to investigate how the ducks responded to the different branding on the two products.
Little can be drawn from this experiment, the ducks simply don't like butter without the bread, this maybe only due to unfamiliarity though. One inquisitive duck pecked at the i can't believe it's not butter, while another stepped in the real butter.
Conclusions
Some people might label this investigation as totally pointless, highly subjective, and an utter debasement of science, however they would be wrong to jump to such a harsh verdict. As documented, this experiment was implemented with the greatest of care. The results will remain valid for many years to come, and have great significance in the growing field of duck behavioural psychology
The fact the ducks chose real butter most of the time shows that they can tell the difference, thus answering my original question
Ducks although appearing highly stupid, obviously chose the butter because of its higher nutritional value. However they were not intelligent enough to respond to the marketing test.
There appear to be a few ducks wandering around campus with butter on their beaks ... now i wouldn't know anything about that. How do they, or can they, clean around their mouths after eating? do ducks have tongues? - now there's a question.
Maybe the name i can't believe it's not butter is too long, it's certainly annoyed me having to type it so many times on this page.
I'll finish on this note: if you've read the hitch hikers' guide to the galaxy and remember the white mice, then maybe you are thinking that it was actually the ducks that were doing the experiment on me...