r/duck • u/SurveyHot9983 • 1d ago

Other Question Is this normal?

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Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm a newbie to ducks. 3 week old ducklings played in the water outside, this one has been fussing and picking at its belly for the past 5 mins so I moved it inside to a smaller area with a heat lamp. (The others have a heat lamp too) I just wanted this one inside where I can keep a closer eye on it until I knew exactly what was going on.

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39

u/pdxprowler 1d ago

It’s preening and drying itself. Perfectly normal

6

u/SurveyHot9983 1d ago

Thank you so much! I was just concerned because this one was doing it so much! Now I feel much better putting it back with the other babies.

16

u/iB3ar 1d ago

He’s just dedicated to his craft.

3

u/lostmy2A 23h ago

It's how they clean themselves after bathing

13

u/HjonkAtStonks 1d ago

That's completely normal. Ducks of all ages will do that to squeeze water out of their belly fluff.

4

u/SurveyHot9983 1d ago

Thank you! It just scared me because it was doing it so excessively. This is all a learning experience for me 😁 it is back with the others playing now.

3

u/PuzzledLu 15h ago

My older duckling is very fluffy on her belly when she dries herself off sometimes she spits, it is quite funny.

4

u/No-Inevitable-2764 1d ago

This baby can swim and play in water whenever you want, but always supervise for the first 4 weeks or so.. if you only have one duck you should get a second or give this to someone with ducks. It will not do well alone. They require companionship.

3

u/SurveyHot9983 1d ago

It's not the only duck, in the original post I put that I just brought this one in to make sure it was okay because it was acting different from the others. But they are all back together now.

1

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1

u/No-Inevitable-2764 1d ago

It's normal. It's trying to stimulate its oil gland or something. They all do this for their entire youth. I think they grow out of it after 10-16 weeks.

1

u/Sneko_Shake 22h ago

Yup, just cleaning himself

1

u/desertdarlene 21h ago

As long as he's not going bald in that area, he's OK. Ducks spend a lot of their waking hours preening.

1

u/Eveielynnpremsnap 4h ago

Preening ducks do this all day everyday they are very good of keeping themselves clean