Biting?????

[4 ever Orpington]

Yah sorry when I said smack I meant tapping his beak usually with a finger or two and I never hit him like super hard I’d never do that. But if that’s the case I’ll stop doing it! I’m still going to push him away if he goes after our other duck though. I don’t want her to get hurt. We have two ducks including him, so only one other and it’s a female mallard. Big size difference there @chickens really

I’m speaking as a chicken owner. I had a young rooster that would grab my finger. So I returned the favor and grab his beak for about ten seconds. I applied this three different times. The behavior immediately stop. My not work on ducks.

 

[Duckworth]

Also I’m not going to stop loving on him? I love on Billy and she’s 10 months old... not going to stop showing my pets affection when they are so important to me. That’s just not right.

You see him as a pet and he sees himself as a young drake. You may find that meeting his need to live peaceably in a small flock takes showing your affection for him in ways that he doesn't misunderstand as an escalating power struggle or worse.

I don't have any drakes, so I don't have any practical suggestions for how to curb behavior that worries you. Some or all of the behavior may be perfectly normal in ducky society and trying to curb it may cause things to end up even worse. I don't know, because I have only female ducks. What I do know is that as much affection as we may feel for our pets, we have to learn to understand the ways they are wired and the ways that their animal social systems work. They don't have our ability to think through a complex problem and adapt accordingly. They are limited to their own capacity to understand and adapt. So if the ways we show affection say something different to them than we intend, we are the ones most capable of adapting so that our pets hear our care for them, but not an invitation to escalate undesirable behavior.

You have several voices of experience offering information and suggestions. More will probably chime in to help out. I don't know which solution will work best in your situation. I'm hoping that you will find one that allows you to continue to enjoy your ducks and to show them your care and affection in ways they understand as you being in charge and caring for them.

 

[DuckMochi]

He’s only a month and a half old. I’m expecting him to grow out of this biting phase

 

[Duckworth]

He’s only a month and a half old. I’m expecting him to grow out of this biting phase

I'm hoping with you for the same thing!

 

[DuckMochi]

He’s the worst when him and Billy are in the bath together. He tries to bite her face or will grab onto her leg and won’t let go so I usually have to keep him at one end of the tub so Billy can enjoy her bath on the other. But he follows Billy around all the time outside and sleeps next to her... I just don’t want Billy to get hurt since she’s so much smaller

 

[Duckworth]

BTW, @DuckMochi, I'm a Tempe High School Buffalo, class of '78.