It may not seem like it but ducks are much more complex than many of us realize, they do strange things for reasons we don’t realize like laying flat.
This article looks into why your duck may be laying flat.
Why does my duck lay flat?
Some odd duck behaviors are perfectly normal and other duck behaviors are concerning, knowing how to tell the two apart can save your duck’s life one day.
This is why your duck chooses to lay flat:
Ducks laying flat:
If your female duck is laying flat in water then this is simply something that the bird will do as part of the mating process. It is a sort of flirting with each other.
The male will start off the flirting, he will rise up from the water, nip at the female duck, shake his tail and neck, flick water, and will bob his head up and down while in the water.
The female duck will also flirt back, she will also bob her head up and down in water, and will lay flat on the surface of the water if she is interested in him.
It also signals that she is ready to mate with him.
Once he sees her do this for him he takes this opportunity to mate. Her laying flat allows the male to climb on her back and mate with her.
The female may also lay flat on land and wait for the male to mate with her but doing this on land is harder on her legs and back so the chances of injury are higher.
If your ducks are not mating yet then the female ducks may be doing this because they are becoming sexually mature.
Doing this is in their nature even if there aren’t any drakes around.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Do Ducks Hide Their Babies?, Egg Broke Inside Of Duck, Why Do Ducks Bite Your Feet?, How To Communicate With Ducks, How To Play With Baby Ducks, Duckling Keeps Getting Stuck On Back, Why Does My Duck Jump On Me, How Does A Mother Duck Take Care Of Her Ducklings, Chick Sitting Back On Legs,