Do ducks grieve? We look at how at PumpjackPiddlewick

I was watching a recent video from one of my favourite YouTube channels ‘Gold Shaw Farm’. The video topic was ‘Do ducks grieve’? He wasn’t certain, hence the question, but I can tell you one hundred percent, absolutely, categorically – Yes.

It made me realise that this is a duck tail topic we’ve not yet written about. Sure we have written about ourselves grieving for ducks, but I hadn’t written from the perspective of the ducks and how, and why, they feel grief.

There are a few factors that can contribute to a duck grieving. The first time we saw it was when we were the caretakers at a little Chateau and were looking after 3 chickens, a rooster, and a duck. The duck we quickly named Mr Drake. Very original, I know.

Time for a little story… Mr Drake followed the chickens and rooster everywhere. They very obviously put up with him. If he kept his distance, he was allowed to hang out with them. It’s that flock instinct. The instinct to flock supersedes everything, including species, in the duck world. Safety in numbers.

Our Mr Pumpjack felt very bad for Mr Drake. He went out and bought a female duck and brought her home. She was a beautiful Wood Duck. Mr Drake fell instantly in love and followed her everywhere.

Now Wood Ducks like to roost in trees. We would find Mr Drake walking around a certain tree or sat below and if we looked up, there would be Mrs Drake. However, Wood Ducks also like water, and nesting near or above it. So when Mrs Drake wanted a nest, she decided that she should explore beyond the Chateau’s enclosed land to a nearby river.

Mr Drake always went with her. They would explore out, and come back in the evenings. And then one day, Mr Drake came back alone. He went in to the duck enclosure, stuck his head under his wing, and didn’t move for 2 days. Normally a very, very talkative duck, he went completely silent. We never saw Mrs Drake again. That’s when we first realised that ducks grieve.

If a duck has hatched with and grown up with certain other ducks, there’s a form of imprinting between them. This can happen growing up with other species, too.

Both our imprinted, and thus grown up in the house ducks, Maggie and Gabby recognise our cats. However, if an outsider cat comes in to the boundaries of our land, the alarm is called out by the ducks. Our cats have learned to recognise this sound and scare them off.

In the case of Gold Shaw Farm he has different breeds of duck that hang out together, even one duck that hangs out solely with geese, because she grew up with them. In this sort of case, there can be grief for these well known siblings if they die.

This happened between our Sir Studly and Sunny. After our first year and winter in our new home, during the night a fox tore a gap in the stone wall of our duck enclosure. Sunny was on a nest at the time. The fox killed Sunny and took her away.

After that we housed our ducks in our stable in the barn each night while we made repairs and strengthened our duck enclosure. Each morning, when we would shift the ducks from the stable to the enclosure, Sir Studly would go straight to where Sunny’s nest had been. He would search it and call out for her.

We would find him often searching the garden on his own, always calling for her. It was absolutely heart breaking to see and hear. He had lost not only his sister, but his mate (it’s a duck thing), so his grief was tangible for quite a while.

We’ve found that the intensity of their grief, like with humans, depends on the type and level of the bond, how long they have known each other, and very importantly if they saw the death. A duck simply disappearing, for example, may cause no grief. Especially amongst younger ducklings or siblings.

When we have too many ducklings, come teenagerdom they go to new homes, usually in pairs. Even though we collect them in front of the other ducks, or maybe because we do, the other ducks do not show grief at their going away.

However, if they see the death, the ducks grieve. This happened when our little Pecan and Pumpkin were taken by predator birds. All the ducks went quiet, but their sister Pi was at a complete loss and kept calling for her sisters.

Immediately, as the only remaining young duck, she latched on to me from then on and wouldn’t leave my side. (Sadly we, rather than the ducks, then went on to grieve for Pi as she reached adulthood and was not able to lay eggs.)

There is definitely a survival of the fittest moniker amongst ducks. If a duckling or even a duck is weak or there is something wrong with it, the other ducks may kill or abandon it, rather than weaken the flock. This is how we ended up with an imprinted Gabby.

He was abandoned by Maggie, his mother, as he had niacin deficiency. This vitamin deficiency is not uncommon in ducks, especially ducklings, but is curable with human attention and additional niacin.

Hence, although abandoned, we were able to save Gabby, though with the result he imprinted on me as I became ‘mom’. Maggie did not grieve his disappearance when I took over nurturing him, and in fact would continue to attack him if she saw him again. Until he became an adult male.

This year we lost our Maggie, our first duck, our first imprinted duck and Queen of the flock. It gave us the biggest understanding in consequence of whether ducks, like ourselves, grieve. George, who had been her duckling, grew up to be her mate (again, it’s a duck thing). He was like velcro for 4 years, never leaving her side. Until she left his.

George’s level of grief equalled our own, and we still have moments where he comes to us to be consoled, hugged and commiserate with him. To read and understand more about George, grieving and ducks, read our Helping a Grieving George.

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2021-02-19

6 Comments

  1. I do believe that ducks feel jealousy too. We raised 10 ducklings together from the first day of their lives. As they grew one of them was very different from the others and I fondly called it majestic and spoke to it. He would listen to me and greeted me each day as I went to the pen. However, as I began to give the others more attention, he immediately change his disposition and became violent to the others and even to me.

    1. Interesting and I would agree. I know that our imprinted ducks definitely see me as a big duck. As they reached adulthood it’s been different between our male and female imprints. Maggie goes through phases of telling me hands off her mate George, eg jealousy, and other times she is super friendly. And Gabby, our male, has just discovered girls and so now I am not wanted because he thinks I may try to steal his girls attention. He is going through the pecking phase, trying to show his dominance.

  2. Very interesting.
    This morning I woke to find 7 of 9 eggs, broken and eaten.
    2 theft in the nest with mom’s feathers.
    Dad came back and looked around; ate the duck pellets I left by a tree.
    I have not seen mom. She is usually here nesting.
    I am grieving.
    What should I expect?
    I am worried about the two remaining eggs.

    1. Diane I am so very sorry to hear. Because of the broken eggs, I would say a predator has gotten to her nest. Was she outside or in an enclosure?
      If outside, there’s always a chance she was spooked by something and flew off. (Can she fly?) The male duck calling her will bring her back within 24 hours if she is not harmed. So it’s a time of waiting.
      In the meantime, the remaining eggs. Are they still warm? If yes, and you have an incubator, put them in there if you wish to try to keep them alive. If you do not have an incubator there is not really anything you can do for them.

      The male duck will probably be or will start calling for the mother. He will search too. But mostly he will call regularly in hopes that she can find her way back to him. If she does not return within a day, he will start grieving for her. This means he will still call now and then, but more he will search for her and go to the places they used to visit together. Depending on the level of their bond will depend on how long he grieves. At some point he will go quiet and most likely find a spot to sit with his beak in his feathers. This can last a few days. He will probably not eat or bathe during this time. Make sure to keep food out to tempt him to eat, especially any favourites.
      Here’s hoping she comes back.

  3. I have had my ducks for almost 2 months now. They have been in their outside enclosure for less than a week and one has already died. He died most likely during the night but I didn’t know till morning. It was a bloody mess but I don’t know how he died or what killed him. My other duck is grieving and I am too. I don’t know what to do. RIP Noodle ❤️

    1. I am sorry to read about the death of your duck. And so hard on the other one. Give your duck time to grieve, spend time with him. Give cuddles if he/she is used to itm but mostly spend time when you can. Ducks are flock animals, so losing a member of flock and being the only one is hard. Consider getting another duck, but not for a few days. Wait until your duck seems to be acting more normal.

      Ducks will often grieve harder if they have seen the death. But it can also be being alone adds to that grief, since there are no other ducks.

      If your duck was bloody, something attacked it. It is the only answer. If your duck enclosure is enclosed above and sides, look to below. A rat, weasel, stoat. They can get in an opening that is the size of a quarter (coin). If your mesh walls are chicken wire, but large hole chicken wire, the above rodents can get through it. Normally they would try and drag the duck back in to their den, or out of the enclosure. The fact they didn’t implies the hole was large enough to get in, but not get the duck out. If the head is missing, it is a weasel. If the top of your enclosure is open it could have been a bird of prey. Again, if the head is missing, then an owl.

      Hope you find the source so you can close up to protect the other duck. Once the animal knows there is a source of food, they will be back.
      Good luck!

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