Advice needed please!!

[lovesduckies]

I have a Muscovy drake who is usually as sweet as pie that is acting up. I don't know what to do. Here is some back story on how he was raised...

Him and his mate Quackers were raised in my bedroom together for seven months. Every night they went to sleep in a child's play pen. Quackers hatched a clutch of babies. After they hatched Duckie and Quackers went outside to live. He followed me around the yard like a puppy but sometimes he was naughty and would kind of attack. Usually when Quackers was laying eggs and I think also he might hate winter? In April we moved to Norco and Quackers disappeared. I looked for muscovies all over the place and finally got some girls a few months ago. Duckie went the whole spring without attacking anyone!!! He was such a good boy. I moved out in august but still come down to visit and take care of my ducks as often as I can. A dew months ago Duckie attacked my husband out of no where and started after my dad. We put him away. A few weeks later my dad and I went in his pen to change his water and he went after both of us so I hovered over him and held his bill shut. Also a few times he tried attacking me through the pen. Yesterday my dad called me because Duckie attacked yes again! My dad went in to feed them and check their water and he flipped out so much that mt dad had to grab him by the neck to get him to stop.


What do I do?? I can't trust him not to attack people. He used to be so sweet!!!

 

[chookhead]

lol show him who is boss thats the only way
pull on his feathers thata re near his neck but dont pull them out ir injure him wheneva he attacvks pull them until he stops he will eventually lol good luck

 

[duckdad]

Its a drake thing...

Could be about dominence OR he's tense from a mating urge. Either way he's going to have days where hes a peach then others where hes a little butthead. Could be because he's alone. He also wants who ever raised him to be there more often.

This method has worked for others...
when he starts to bite your hand, slide your hand around and under his neck where he cannot get to it. He will try and as he repositions his beak for another attempt move away,. reach again and do the same but each time he tries to bite, say LOUDLY....NO BITING as you move your hand out of his reach. If you are brave enough and feel like you can control him, pick him up and hold him close so his head is over your shoulder....like you'd hold a baby.

He wants attention from you. He wants to know who's the head duck in this yard. He wants a mate or if he has one he wants to protect her or her nest.

You have to learn to play his game. Make it a game. If you run everytime he goes after you, he will keep doing that. He has to know who is boss. He also has to know that when YOU are the boss that you will protect him and give him the attention that he wants. This sounds like some dominence and he's mad because you left him alone. You cannot leave a duck or drake alone. They are meant to live in pairs. They mate as companions as well as for breeding. They stay together as well.

My guess is that if he used to follow you around then he wants attention. He may need to test the waters by biting but thats secondary to his basic need for attention.
Is he alone or with other ducks? A drake (or ANY duck) needs companions. If he's human raised then he NEEDS a human (preferably his) to be near and play with him.

Ducks are NOT dumb toys that crap and eat and you can forget until its convenient. They are pretty intelligent and emotional, social creatures that bond with who ever raised them and they want and need to spend time with that person. They imprint on humans then bond. In other words, they become your child. They will always be like a 2 yr old but they see you as their parent, friend and security.

He's probably just acting out because he's been ignored too long.

 

[lovesduckies]

Okay. He has 2 girls. I know he at least needed 2 girls. I should have looked for white ones cuz his mate was white but they are hard to find out here. And I had a feeling me leaving hurt him. Awe my poor baby. Yes he is like my child. I have always treated him like he is. I can't bring him to my house or I would. I will just try your advice. Thank you!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Okay. He has 2 girls. I know he at least needed 2 girls. I should have looked for white ones cuz his mate was white but they are hard to find out here. And I had a feeling me leaving hurt him. Awe my poor baby. Yes he is like my child. I have always treated him like he is. I can't bring him to my house or I would. I will just try your advice. Thank you!!!

Hey ,I tried the advice DDad gives and listen Opie is about 95% better than he was, he use to attack me and I would hold him down and pretty much ignore him I was so frustrated on what to do, Now Opie comes in the house and hangs out with me and we are buddies again. Now he has about 5% of the time when he becomes that cocky teenager again where he wants to bite me and act like he is being top duck, If he does it in the house I pick him up and put him outside, Sometimes when i am outside he starts his stuff and I have to get tuff with him, like yesterday I bent down to screw the hose on the faucet and he came up behind me and just about climbed on my back acting all hormoney, you get the picture. I just reached up and knopcked him off, he did it again, the second time I knocked him off he went on about his business, I really think we have to let them know we love them but not put up with their behaviour. I thought that I was going to have to put him down he was getting so bad, but he has changed and so have I, I spend more time with him and I think that is most important. He has 3 girls and right now he is mostly intrested in me but I am thinking when spring gets here love will be in the air and he'll be spending more time outside. I hope you can get things worked out, they really are the greatest.

 

[duckdad]

I'm sure it will help, but its really a matter of the time that YOU can give to him. Hens come and go. Other drakes and homes come and go. His human that he has bonded to will never change and drakes can get very emotional and act out. His way of letting you know that he has hurt feelings is to bite you and anyone else that comes close. He's just trying to say that he needs you, but he wants to punish you first for leaving him. They are much smarter than we give them credit for. If you make the most of your time with him and make it a game when he tries to bite then he will learn to look forward to your visits. If you treat him like a small child, and remember how the things that a child experiences shape his behavior as an adult, then all this will make some sense. A kid that was abandoned will grow up anti-social and probably hating his mother or father.They have an inability to trust people and relationships and they tend to want to punish others for what was done to them as a child. Ducks are like 2-3 yr old kids...just old enough to have some smarts, not old enough to use logic or reasoning.

You'll be fine, just try to see the situation from his perspective, it'll be ok once you understand your bird.

 

[lovesduckies]

Oh I know he would love to come in the house but my mean ol' parents won't let him cuz it's their new house blah blah blah lol. I had a feeling part of it was not being able to come in and get warm cuz it's "winter". My poor baby. Thank you for the advice. I will see what I can do. Now I'm really sure my baby misses me as much as I miss him. If I could get rid of these worthless roommates I could have him here but hubby and I are having trouble finding work so we need these suckers to pay rent. That's our income. One roommie has a husky and she is dumb as dirt so ducky has to stay at my parents when it's safe.