Help, my duck is attacking me!

[Kmdejesus116]

I have two ducks, a male and female. Until today, everytime I go into the backyard my make duck nips at my feet but today my male duck was nipping more than just my feet. He was attacking me and I have no idea why. Same routine, nothing has changed. My ducks are five months old and have free range of the yard. I’ve read that males are aggressive when in heat. Could that be a possibility?

 

[DobieLover]

It sounds like the hormones are kicking in with your male. Some males can be very aggressive when that happens. I'm not sure if you treat a juvenile male duck the same way as a cockerel when aggression becomes an issue.
Some eat them, others work with them. Sometimes they come around, other times they don't.
Perhaps you could post this thread on the Duck forum and some duck savvy folks could offer you some advice.
Good luck.

 

[PirateGirl]

Hmm... there is a really good article about dealing with an aggressive drake... let me see if I can find it... at 5 months old he is maturing and hormones are changing, I'd say there is a good chance that this is the cause for his change in behavior.

 

[PirateGirl]

http://www.raising-ducks.com/aggressive-drakes/

 

[sourland]

Ducks don't go 'in heat' - they are perpetually sexually aggressive. Changing the behavior of a human imprinted drake is difficult. He may needed to be penned so that he can not interact with people.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I chose the opposite of penning[in a pen that is] I worked with mine and the key to training is consistency I never let him get away with being aggressive with me. I'd pin him down[ just like another drake would do to him] if he came at me again I'd do it again and again until he finally got the message sometimes it would take 3X before he did. Then he would waddle off. He is and was imprinted on me not my choice but that was the way it was.

 

[Jpat]

I chose the opposite of penning[in a pen that is] I worked with mine and the key to training is consistency I never let him get away with being aggressive with me. I'd pen him down[ just like another drake would do to him] if he came at me again I'd do it again and again until he finally got the message sometimes it would take 3X before he did. Then he would waddle off. He is and was imprinted on me not my choice but that was the way it was.

That takes real love miss lydia


I love soup! So yeah the wife told me to stop naming soup

 

[chickens really]

Hello. Chase him off and carry a broom to push him away.
Locking him up won't stop his behaviour.
If you hand feed them them don't anymore. He needs to respect your space.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I still hand feed all my birds and haven't any problems with them respecting my space. But during training it wouldn't be such a good idea to have your hand out there with treats in it. Sending mixed signals like hey here's a hand to bite.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Pin?

LOL yes pin sorry