are all drakes doomed to be mean??!!

[ChristineR]

Now I'm a little scared, I have a little duckling that may or may not be a blue swedish, that is starting to look like a boy. Guess I better give him/her LOTS of attention just in case!

I think what a lot of people argue is that LOTS of attention makes them aggressive. I see the reasoning in that. I think you need to find a balance between wanting them to be friendly pets (if that what you want them for), but not domineering little tyrants who have zero respect for humans. They need to know that they are ducks, not people.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I adopted what I thought were 3 female ducks from a breeder when they were 6 weeks.
I raised them - like ducks. My expectation of them is that I go into their pen to clean it, and to fill feeders, and change waters. I watch them & spend time in the yard, give them kitchen scraps, but never coddle them. I enjoy having ducks who are ducks. They are cared for as pets, but I don't expect the kind of "pet" relationship I have with a dog, or cat, or rabbit - even.
Of the two drakes I adopted, one was aggressive with me a few times (he was shown it got him nowhere but paraded around the yard & pinned onto the ground) when he was about to reach maturity.
The other was sweet & gentlemanly, not particularly people friendly, but respectful of me & his ladies, until this spring when he began to be sexually aggressive with my chickens.
I will never have another drake on this property.
If I had more space, and a barn, I would consider it- because I believe there are good drakes out there. I have never met one, but I hear they exist.
I would not breed a duck who's disposition I did not like.

 

[PetesMom]

We have a year old Pekin drake that is soon to be moving to a different home. Our fault as he was raised as the only child...he now can't seem to get along with anybody. Picks fights with the rooster, tries to kill every duckling we have and terrorizes our gander thats 5x his size! He grabbed his beak through the fence yesterday and wouldn't let go. He chases the dogs around being nasty towards them (this started a few days ago) when he use to be best friends with them. Chases the 2 boer goat kids around grabbing onto their ears....and he attacked my daughter the other day, which was the last straw for me. Tired of having to rearrange everybody because of him so he's moving to a home where I'm hoping he will be happier.

 

[BarneyChick97]

Wow. A duck that attacks humans might just become dinner at our house!! I know. We have one nasty pekin drake too. We had just only him, and a rouen hen. He was too rough with her, and he chased EVERYONE down---full sized turkey's, our chickens, and us. He'd probably terrorize the dogs too, if I gave him a chance! So I heard everyone say: "get more girls, and that would calm him down". So we did. Now we have 3 hens, and only him...the ONLY male "thing" besides my kids, and my husband! And he's STILL mean!!! He's even nastier to the new hens!!! Everyone else gets along JUST fine!! This pekin boy ONLY likes his original rouen hen-mate!!! That's IT! They are separated by a field fence now all the time. He ended up taking almost all of her neck feathers off. Plus, he's twice her size, and I was afraid he was going to drown her in the water. He's so pathetic though when he's alone. He won't chase us now, only because he has to be right by his mates side---through the fence!! That still hasn't stopped him from coming up to us and trying to nip at us when we are in the coop with him!! He's on thin ice if you ask me!!!!

 

[TeamRetic]

My runner drake is very nice. He does like to nibble, but it is not hard, kinds of tickles because he vibrates his bill fast. He likes to get petted and he likes to follow me a lot. He does get sexual a lot and try to hump my hand if I pet him in the morning.

 

[animalz11]

You've probably just got a mean drake. I have a drake that asserts his dominance (not in a sexual way) over the hens, but when I come to feed them, he is very quite and passive, but is still the first to eat from my hand.
My drake was raised with his 'adopted siblings' he's a Pekin and the other are Khaki Campbells. He only recognised me as being a source of food because when ever he saw me I had food, he would not follow me peeping, in fact, he would huddle to the back of his hutch and peep (Yeah... I called him Peeper).

So I'd say you just have the occasional mean duckie. If you can, don't get rid of him, and if you can't stand him any more, ensure he goes to a good home, with people who speak duck, and preferable people without small children, as if he is attacking people these kids might get hurt

If you do want to show him who's boss, play with the feathers on the back of his neck, you need to do this for a while before he admits defeat. If one of my hens is being silly, I'll fiddle with the feathers on the back of her neck and she'll just sit there and put up with it.

 

[Marwan]

I have two drakes and no hens. There were times when they were very nippy and would bite me and especially my feet. although over time ive found how to tame them down. When they were bad we would lock them up and not let them out. Also when they were with us and didnt bite us they were rewarded with mealworms. My boys now are just the most beautifully mannered drakes and will not bite or show any agression. When the breeding season comes and they become pumped with testostrone and are in a breeding mood they do have more outbreaks of biting but nothing serious. They have been raised around children and constant visits to primary schools so good behaviour has been a must. I think once a duck or drake grows older and hasnt been tamed in a certian way its almost impossible to calm him down. It might not have anything to do with how you raised him and might just be hes a naturally agressive duck but certianlly not all drakes are that way.

 

[polskituft]

Its just his peronality lots of drakes are very sweet .

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Birds that are aggressive and attack and other wise just mean need to not be given away or sold. That makes them someone elses problem which isnt fair. (UNLESS you fully disclose the animal is highly aggressive) In which case you need to know they will be dinner for someone else.

Here aggressive birds goto freezer camp, end of story, we wont breed with them or pass them onto someone else.

With that said, we have had a total of 3 drakes who just couldnt get along with others.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I have about 10 drakes, or more. I've only had one drake (Fawn Runner) that was actually agressive twards me. I no longer have him. All the rest of the boys respect me and are never agressive twards me at all. One of my drakes, Inky, was hand raised inside for a week or so, and usually came in for visits several times a week. He would follow me arond the house and go bonkers if I left him alone. He is still as sweet as he can be. I wouldn't trade him for anything. There are super nice drakes out there.
I also have three Swedish drakes, all as sweet as pie. I have two blue (crested and non-crested), and one black. I'm rehoming quite a few of my drakes, not because they are agessive to me at all, but because I have way too many boys, and not enough lady friends for them all. They are all going to nice homes where they will either be pets, or have their own harem of ducks to care for.

If any of my drakes EVER shown agression to me, I chase them down, and either pin them to the ground or just carry them around with me for awhile until they calm down. It seems to work.

Good luck

~ Aspen