Ducks can exhibit some very odd behaviors, one of which is the bird eating its own poop. While this is disgusting it can happen and it does.
This article looks into why a duck would go around eating its own poop and what you can do about it.
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Why do ducks eat their own poop?
Poop may be disgusting for us but it seems that ducks don’t share this same sentiment, ducks can be seen going around eating their poop.
This phenomenon is quite common in the animal kingdom and helps the animals absorb nutrients that were not absorbed during the first round of digestion.
While it may be gross to humans ducks enjoy doing this and because these birds poop so much they have a lot of poop available for them to eat
The reason your duck will eat their poop is that they think that their poop is some sort of treat, this behavior usually happens in young ducks.
Young ducks don’t yet know the difference between food and poop and if they see you throwing treats into the water that they’re swimming in then they will think that the poop that they eat is a sort of treat as well.
While duck poop can be dangerous as it contains a variety of germs, the bird that pooped it is already carrying the germs present in the poop and the poop will thus not affect this bird.
However, it isn’t recommended that you touch the poop and then touch your mouth without washing your hands. The poop of these birds can contain salmonella which can make you quite sick
What to do:
This is quite normal behavior and your birds should soon grow out of eating their own poop the more that they get used to eating real foods and treats.
Changing the duck’s water so the birds don’t eat their own poop is one way of dealing with the problem but if you choose to do this you’ll be changing the water very frequently.
These birds poop quite frequently, every 15-20 minutes or so, cleaning the poop every 15-20 minutes or so will get very exhausting
You can simply let the bird be and grow out of this phase.
If the birds are eating their own poop then this may also mean the birds aren’t getting enough food to eat, these birds have a big appetite so you’d need to accommodate for this by making sure that the bird eats the right amounts of food.
FAQ:
Can ducks get sick from dirty water?
Yes ducks can get sick from dirty water, one of the illnesses that ducks can get when living in an environment with dirty water is avian cholera
On top of this, dirty water can cause feather complications, like wet feather, in your ducks.
What is an abnormal behavior in ducks?
There are a variety of abnormal behaviors that you may notice in your duck, including not eating, not drinking, neck retraction, puffed up stance, abnormal twisting or tilting of the neck, aggression, hiding, poor posture, not wanting to move, over preening and changes with toileting
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other duck related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: How Do Ducks Feed Their Babies?, Why Do Ducks Follow Cows?, Duck Laid One Egg And Left, Why Do Geese Fight Each Other?, Is A Duck Bite Dangerous?