Muscovy ducks bathing after duck house is cleaned.

[Shadrach]

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this behaviour.
There is a very large concrete basin full of water close to the duck houses. The design of the ducks houses means the ducks sleep on the floor; not ideal I know.
I try to clean them out twice a week. Each time I clean the ducks houses and replace the straw the ducks go and have a bath. They don't have a full bath on the days in between as a rule.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I think your just giving them the hint it's time for a bath. Clean house clean body. Win win

 

[DiYMama540]

When it's house cleaning or fluffing day my birds are too busy fussing at me to go away to get much else done

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

It seems that Muscovies are somewhat different than Mallard derived ducks!
A body of water? - Any body of water available and my ducks are in.
Even the small $-Store bin that i forgot to put back into the shed and has filled up with rainwater is used as a bathtub…

 

[Shadrach]

I think your just giving them the hint it's time for a bath. Clean house clean body. Win win

I think I'm giving them a hint too but that doesn't really explain how and why they take that hint.
I can hint they do a lot of stuff and they'll completely ignore me.
I've watched them do this go bath while Bucket Boy cleans the duck house out so often now there is no way it's coincidence. In that case they are making a decision on my actions and their assessment of the state of their house. That's cognitive behaviour.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yep smart duckies

 

[Shadrach]

Yep smart duckies

Very smart. I would expect similar reasoning for food and mating. The ducks and chickens here work out things about food very quickly. I've played hide and seek with treats for the chickens and they're on it straight away.
Now what I want to know is if anyone else's Muscovy ducks do the same.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I clean my duck/ chicken geese houses daily I use deep bedding so I scoop out all poop fluff an add as needed. So mine pretty much just ignore what I’m doing and I’ve never seen them go an jump into the pool coinciding with me cleaning out their coops. My Muscovy just seem to bathe when the notion just hits them. My Runners and Buffs are the pool hogs.

 

[Raenh]

Mine like to take a bath before bed, and wait on the perch by the tub for me to carry them in sometimes, other times, they fly jump down after their bath into the mud by the gate.

Usually, I have the back light turned on, and they're gathered at the gate waiting for me to open it.
If the lights not on, though - they wait on the perch for me to come get them.
But I know they do appreciate a clean coop cause they wag their tails and bob their heads at me more after its done.