Ducklings are known to follow their mother duck around going everywhere she goes and doing everything she does, but ducks can sometimes do this to cows
This article looks into the question of why do ducks follow cows.
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Why do ducks follow cows?
A duck following a cow around is odd but it does happen there are two reasons why this happens:
Imprinting:
One of the reasons why ducks follow cows around is because the adult duck imprinted on the cow when it was just a duckling.
Imprinting is nature’s way of making sure that a duck learns how to be a duck from its mother. The first thing that a duckling sees after it hatches is its mother, and, a duckling imprints on the first moving thing that it sees.
Unfortunately, ducklings can imprint any moving object, even inanimate objects like toy trains or balls.
There is a fail-safe against ducklings imprinting on their siblings as ducklings usually don’t imprint on yellow moving things, their sibling ducks come out yellow when they hatch
The first non-yellow moving thing that a duckling usually sees is its mother, who the duckling will imprint on.
These little birds will recognize the thing that they imprint on as their mother following their mother around and doing what she does, this is how ducklings learn how to be ducks.
There is a sensitive period in which the birds are most likely to imprint and once the bird imprints it will not imprint again.
This whole situation can go awry if the first moving thing that a duckling sees after it hatches is a cow.
Ducklings can’t tell that a cow is a cow and not its mother duck and will imprint on the cow and think that it is its mother.
Signs of imprinting, ie: following their mother around, can be seen even in adult ducks who will sometimes follow their mother, the cow, around.
Ducks enjoy and need to be with their mothers, if not they can suffer health issues, but a duckling won’t be able to learn how to properly be a duck if it imprints on a cow, it needs to be with its own kind for it to have a normal duck life
If your ducks have been following cows around since they were young ducklings then this may be the reason why the adult ducks are following the cows around.
What to do:
These birds need to be around their own kind to learn how to be ducks. Keep them around other ducks so they can do this
Because the birds will become agitated if not with their mothers you’d need to start off giving them small amounts of time with their flock members in the beginning and then increase the time as they get more used to it.
Make sure that the birds have access to their own food and water during this time as well to keep them from becoming stressed.
You can keep this from happening by keeping cows, and other moving objects or animals for that matter, away from the ducklings once they hatch.
For food:
Ducks following cattle can also happen because the cattle help ducks with food. As gross as it sounds ducks enjoy following cattle because this gives them the opportunity to go through the cow’s manure looking for food.
Ducks are foraging animals, foraging provides the birds with food, mental stimulation, and exercise.
The birds will look for short and tender plants like weeds and grasses as well as seeds of the more mature plants to eat, the birds will sometimes have to go through cow poop to get to this type of food
The ducks will also eat the larvae and maggots that are usually around cows and cow poop
This is great because there will be fewer insects harassing the cows thanks to the ducks eating these insects
What to do:
These two animals enjoy a symbiotic relationship with one another, you don’t have to do anything in this case as the two animals aren’t bothering each other but rather benefiting each other.
What you should keep in mind is that ducks can attract predators, thus, keeping your animals indoors and protected at night will keep both your cows and your ducks safe.
You may also need to use a fence to keep your cows and ducks safe
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 Eat Their Own Poop, Duck Laid One Egg And Left, Why Do Geese Fight Each Other?, Is A Duck Bite Dangerous?