Whether you’re the proud owner of new ducks or are a duck veteran, it’s scary to find one of your ducks floating lifeless in the water. It might get you wondering—can ducks drown?
Ducks can drown for several reasons, including:
- Hypothermia
- Mating that’s too intense
- Injuries
- Exhaustion
- Waterlogging
Waterlogging occurs when the duck inhales water too fast. As with the other causes of drowning mentioned here, there aren’t many things you can do to help your duck unless you catch it in the act of drowning.
Ducks, Water, and Diving
It’s natural for ducks to swim, but they also like to dive. That said, watching your ducks dive under the water can be nerve wracking.
If you’re watching your duck dive down and wondering how long it can stay under, don’t worry. Ducks can stay underwater for approximately one minute. There are a few exceptions for certain breeds, including the diving duck, which can stay underwater for a few minutes.
With that in mind, you do want to make sure they don’t stay down too long. No duck species can breathe underwater. Instead, they can store a lot of air inside their body. They then slowly release the oxygen while they’re underwater, typically lasting for up to a minute before coming back for air.
You Don’t Need a Deep Pond
The average duck you have in your coop usually only ducks its body underwater, rarely going deep beneath the surface. Biologists call these types of ducks “dabblers.” On the other hand, certain diving duck breeds can reach depths of 65 feet.
Therefore, if you’re thinking of making a pond for your feathered friends, you don’t need to make it too deep. In fact, it may be for the best if you don’t have a deep pond. Why? Because ducks can drown other ducks.
Sometimes it’s on purpose, such as a drake drowning one of its offspring. Other times, it’s an accidental event that happens to a female during a passionate mating session. We’ll dive deeper into this later.
You’ll also be protecting your ducks from accidentally drowning themselves. If some debris catches their legs or wings during a dive, they could become entangled and end up unfortunately drowning.
Ducks That Don’t Swim Underwater
Ducks can swim underwater, but the dabbler variety usually don’t—they tend to use more of a dunk-in-place method. Diving ducks are excellent swimmers, though. They have compact wings that offer them the ability to cut through water and larger, lobed feet to help propel them underwater.
How Do Ducks Float?
A duck can float because of its feathers. Their feathers collect air, helping them float as if they had an artificial floaty. The reason they’re able to trap air is that their feathers have minuscule barbs. These barbs interlock, trapping in the air.
How Long Does It Take for a Duck to Drown?
Ducks are air-breathing creatures, but most can hold their breath underwater for approximately one minute, with diving ducks being able to hold their breath for several minutes.
So, if you notice that one of your ducks has been underwater for over one minute, there’s an unfortunately high chance that it drowned.
To avoid preventable drownings, make sure that predators can’t enter your duck coop and that there aren’t objects in the water that your ducks can get tangled up in.
But what about adult ducks—can grown ducks drown too? Yes, grown ducks can drown. There are several causes of drowning in adults, including females that drown during mating.
Ducklings and Drowning
Unfortunately, ducklings can drown for many reasons, considering how new they are to swimming. Examples include:
- Their muscles are too weak to sustain swimming
- They get trapped in debris in the water
- Currents drag them under
If a duck drowns their ducklings, it often is a male duck (drake) that does so. They typically do this if they somehow feel threatened by the duckling or if there’s an external factor that makes them feel the need to do so.
Can Baby Ducks Drown in a Pool?
Perhaps we should start with this question—can ducks swim in pools? Yes, ducks can swim in pools and, as a result, they can drown in them.
If your ducklings don’t have a mother, it’s critical that you supervise them if you give them access to a pool. Otherwise, if they’re too young, they won’t have oil on their feathers that prevent them from becoming waterlogged.
Can Ducks Drown in the Rain?
Rainy weather is a duck’s dream. Therefore, rain itself isn’t likely to kill them. However, if there’s severe flooding or hurricane weather, then strong currents and debris in the water could make a duck drown.
When Can Ducklings Swim?
If you have recently hatched ducks, you might be wondering, can ducks swim from birth, or can baby ducks swim after a certain period? Ducklings can swim almost instantly as long as they aren’t born in incubation. The reason being is that the mother duck can transfer her oils to her offspring. That’ll prevent the ducklings from waterlogging until they’re old enough to produce their own oil.
Ducklings in the wild and those born to a mother in a coop can swim at birth. The reason being is that baby ducks can’t immediately produce the oils necessary to keep them afloat in water. Otherwise, the water will soak into their feathers, causing them to drown.
However, the mother duck can pass these oils onto their offspring as soon as they’re born.
So, when can ducks swim? Right away if they have a duck mom.
If they don’t, you should wait a minimum of four weeks before introducing your ducks to water, for it’ll give them time for their oil glands to develop. That said, some people prefer to wait until the ducklings are eight to 12 weeks old, which is when their oil glands mature.
Can Ducklings Go Underwater?
Ducklings can go underwater, but they should wait until their oil glands develop if they aren’t with their mother. Otherwise, their wings can get saturated. In that case, they’d get waterlogged and drown.
The Take Away
Unfortunately, sometimes ducks can drown. However, the circumstances are quite involved for this to happen. If you’re worried about your domesticated ducks potentially drowning in a pond you want to build, simply don’t build a deep pond. Keep it clean and clear of debris, and you’ll create a happy, healthy environment for your animals.