Can my baby ducks swim?

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My baby duck is two days old and he likes to sit in his water dish alot. When he lifts up his legs he floats. This seems a little strange because most people say after 1-2 weeks they will be able to swim but he's only two days old! Should I see if he can swim in a deeper water dish or should I wait?
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I have two one-week old Rouen ducklings, and I let them dabble in my kitchen sink with about four inches of water - not enough for them to properly swim, but enough for them to waddle around and experiment with water. I took them out after five or six minutes and dried them off, and they were warm and fluffy again within forty-five seconds.
My teacher was concerned that because their waterproofing oil gland hasn't developed yet, they could get a chill and then a resulting cold, due to weak immune systems that come with all baby animals.

Is this a valid concern? As much as I respect my teacher's opinion and I want to make sure she feels comfortable, the baby ducks in the sink was really cute and I want to see it again as soon as possible.
 
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]I started swimming my babies the second day I got them and they had access to a platform when they got tired but they seemed to hardly ever get out they loved it. Our weather is warm enough to let them swim outside but during the first week I would put them in there brooder with there heat lamp and they did fine. I put them in a larger 15 gal. stock tank and now a kiddie pool and they love it, they have been preening and rubbing their heads in the oil glands early on. So I don't know if it was producing oil but they acted like it was. Mine are now 3 weeks old and have had no problems and both my Cayuga and buff Orpington love to swim everyday since day 2.
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Some pictures of my babies enjoying there swim.
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BlueTannery said:
I have two one-week old Rouen ducklings, and I let them dabble in my kitchen sink with about four inches of water - not enough for them to properly swim, but enough for them to waddle around and experiment with water. I took them out after five or six minutes and dried them off, and they were warm and fluffy again within forty-five seconds.
My teacher was concerned that because their waterproofing oil gland hasn't developed yet, they could get a chill and then a resulting cold, due to weak immune systems that come with all baby animals.

Is this a valid concern? As much as I respect my teacher's opinion and I want to make sure she feels comfortable, the baby ducks in the sink was really cute and I want to see it again as soon as possible.
Click to expand...

I read, years ago, a scientific paper that looked at the effect of early tub time on ducklings, and it found that those given the opportunity to splash in water developed preening sooner than those kept away from water. So, it looks like their instincts to preen (and therefore make feathers waterproof) is enhanced by tub time.

If they are in water up to their bellies or so, and the water is brooder temperature, and they are monitored every moment, and removed after several minutes when they become tired, and returned to a clean, dry, warm-enough brooder, and helped to dry off if they do not immediately begin preening afterward, they should be fine.

(It's what we did with our Runners)
 
The ducklings instinctively know how to dry themselves (they hatched from a wet environment) but if they get chilled they will shiver and not preen. It is important for the water to be warm and that the ducklings to not get too tired or chilled. I usually let mine fluff themselves but I have used a blow dryer (one for curly hair that does not blow hard) to warm them and aid in drying if they are not preening themselves but I let them do most of the work because it is good for them. They will rub their oil gland from an early age and this might help stimulate their oil production. I always supervise bath time, just as I did with my children.
 

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