Bad Gander?

[rainplace]

Rommy, my untufted roman, has started grabbing one of my ducks by the neck and putting her head under water. He isn't trying to mate her (I don't think) He'll grab her from the side of the pond or in the pond. He doesn't try to mount her anything, he just holds her head under water. I'm very worried about this behavior. Should I be? And if so, is there anything I can do to get him to stop?

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
He is just trying to kill her so unless you want dead ducks you should be worried! It is learned behavior so I suppose it can be unlearned with proper training. However I have no training method that I know works
I had two ganders, each had its own method for dealing with rodents eating out of their feed ( you would be surprized at the speed and reach of a long necked goose) one would grab the mouse by the head and with a whip of its neck kill the mouse. The Other would grab the mouse and go to the pool and hold it under until it went limp in death. I got sick of fishing the mice out of the pool but nothing I thought to try prevented this behavior.

 

[rainplace]

Oh, Rommy. I'm crying.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
If he is just doing the one duck that he hates for some reason you can 'rehome' the duck. If he hates all the ducks it sounds like life in confinement may be in order. Of course I could be wrong, I am just reporting my experience. Sorry for the bad news. I thought you needed to know.

 

[rainplace]

I appreciate your answer. I'm going to put out a couple of emails and see what else I can find out. I had thought about rehoming the duck. I'm going to spend the next two days in the yard and see what else I can observe.

 

[rainplace]

new observation:

The duck in question is my first duck to start mating like behavior. She keeps squatting and bobbing around to everyone else. He seems to drag her head under water when she's acting this way to him... like he's annoyed?

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Could be annoyed, could just be confused if this is his first time "up to bat" You insisted it wasn't mateing behavior so I ruled that out without giving it the consideration I should have. I had one gander that was so confused that he was always mounting backwards untill another gander pulled him off and proceeded to "do it" right. without a working example around to be followed I forgot how confused it could be. Instinct is not a great teacher! (most of my geese were brought up by parents and they aren't shy about the act)

 

[rainplace]

Well Rommy hasn't exhibited any mating behavior, and it was my husband who noticed that the duck was. Earlier yesterday when I told him we may have to rehome Rommy he sat out there for a few hours to see what exactly was going on (for a man who didn't want ducks or geese, he's sure protective of them now). It's his favorite duck that Rommy is trying to drown.

So if it's a mating thing, should it go away (the drowning issue with Rommy) as more of my flock matures? I have 11 ducks (3 drakes, 8 hens) and two geese (1 gander, 1 goose).

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Darned if I know, Anyone that claims they know what a given goose is going to do in a new situation, knows more than I do.

 

[rainplace]

indeed.

Thanks for your input, Goosedragon. I guess I'll wait and see for a bit more and if it gets worse, then I'll decide what to do.