Author Topic: Aggressive Male Duck.. PLEASE HELP!! (Read 22096 times)

katrina4068 · « **on:** March 19, 2009, 10:41:52 pm »

Hi,

after a hatching last year went very wrong (only 1 egg hatched....) i have a bit of a problem....

Beep, who a few months back was my dearly beloved, and me his, has now turned into monster duck.
gone has the duck who would follow me about and sit on my lap and wander in the house and it's it's place is evil duck, who at this rate is likely to find his neck rung as my partner has just about had enough of the biting! (i'm more patient given i spent most nights asleep wiht him for the first month as he cried so much)

i think it's stemmed form a combination of things. firstly we gave him two girlfriends and he won't let anyone go near them. (all that said when they were small and i had one on my lap he would wander over and bite them till i put them down) but as theyve got bigger, and so have his balls, theyve clearly takne over as top totty!
secondly having battled wiht mr fox and in desperation after 100's of punds in fencing and still being unable to keep him out of the garden we bought a dog.
the dog is a lovely little soul but he and the duck do not see eye to eye. wolfie thinks the best fun in the world is to run past beep at speed knowing beep will go mad and chase him (what puppy woudlnt think this was fun?).
when the duck gets hold of the dog he bites and bites him. dealable with but now the duck is terrorising us too!!

he will come over and immediately start nipping at legs, hands if he can get them, and once my eyelid. i used to get duck hello as we called it, where as soon as i got in i would bend down, and beep woudl gently run his bill over my face to say hello. one day he decided to take a chunk out instead!!

i can't make up my mind whether i'm putting human emotion into animal form by thinking his nose is out of joint about the dog, or whether its just a case that he has no fear of man having been raised by them.

does anyone have any idea what to do wiht an aggressive duck? i don't want to eat him before it's suggested!! do i split him up for the females? they have always had free roam of the garden as soon as we are home but at the moment its just not possible.

our previos male would have a bit of a chase behind us, but the second you turned around to face him he nochalently started eating grass as if to pretend he hadnt been trying to see you off and never once attacked anyone.

any suggestions greatly appreciated!! he's a campbell white if that makes any difference!

doganjo · « **Reply #1 on:** March 20, 2009, 12:11:33 am »

Quote

does anyone have any idea what to do wiht an aggressive duck?

Sorry if this offends but my attitude is the same with dogs as well - there are far too many goodnatured ducks/dogs/cats/sheep/goats or any other species for that matter, to hold on to the vicious ones. Get rid! Your girls don't need a mate to lay eggs. If you don't want to do that you will somehow have to teach that damned duck who is boss and how you do that I have no idea except what i did with cockerel once. I picked him up as he was intent on killing my wellie boots, tucked him under my arm and walked about the yard doing all the usual things with him still there. Then turned him on his back, still held tight, Gave him the biggest talking to ever, looking right into his eyes but not close enough to get bitten, then threw him on the ground. He never attacked anyone again. That may not work with Beep, but good luck whatever you decide.

Hilarysmum · « **Reply #2 on:** March 20, 2009, 12:32:06 pm »

If you really cant get rid of him perhaps you could try adding a few more females to his collection, keeping him busy, it may be that more sex might reduce his hormones enough to stop the aggression.

If that doesnt work then duck a l'orange.

doganjo · « **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2009, 02:43:14 pm »

Now why didn't I think of sex

The recognised rate in Khaki Campbells is about 10 ducks to a drake I believe so my boy hasn't enough wives. But I think he's getting on a bit so he isn't at all aggressive.

Hilarysmum · « **Reply #4 on:** March 20, 2009, 05:16:16 pm »

Well not sure now of the male to female ratio, it used to be 3 : 1 then the kids started happening . I have noticed the Aylesbury drake will have a go at anything as long as it moves. Heaven help the coypu.

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2009, 04:32:47 pm »

Depends how attached you are to him as you raised him. There's always the chance "The Wild" comes out in any tame animal...I think he treats you as his own kind as you were close when he was little and now sees you as threat to his domain. Can you just treat him like a domestic animal (use a stick to ward him off), not like a pet, ignore it all and let the ducks get on with whatever they are doing? If not, I would try to find a new home for him or let someone have him for the pot. You don't need a drake to get eggs, just if you want to breed any more ducklings. I think one drake can have up to 6 girls. But saying that, we have 2 drakes (we could just not agree on which one to keep lol) and 5 or 6 girls (one's not certain yet) and they do get along alright and don't come near me!

katrina4068 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 28, 2009, 11:57:23 pm »

for me getting rid of him isn't possible. i had him hatch in my hand, slept in the conservatory with him for about a month after he was born and cooked every night with him on my feet!!
will try the tucking him under my arm trick though! thank you for all suggestions!

jameslindsay · « **Reply #7 on:** March 29, 2009, 09:09:07 am »

Katrina, does he behave like this all year? I used to have an Aylesbury drake who was the most loving wee boy but during the mating season he became vicious. He would chase us around the garden, nip our skin and would not let go. We had to endure this every year and as he got older it seemed to last for longer but he always went back to being a sook after the breeding season was over. Good luck.