Breaking my duck of BAD habits!

[fifenashia]

We have a darling Khaki Campbell duckling, I am not sure if she is 3 or 4 weeks old at this point (forgot to ask at the store how old they were when they arrived) and as she gets bigger she is starting become more......assertive. She has actually developed the BAD habit of biting. She was sitting in my lap last night and I can tell in her eyes she is about to attack, but before I could move she bit my NOSE!

and then she went after the skin on my arms and then my eyes and my chin. It actually hurts at times!

Is this "normal" duckling behavior (my Mallard is over a year old and never behaved this way) or is this something I need to attempt to "nip in the bud" before it gets worse? If so, HOW?

Thanks for ANY help!

 

[fifenashia]

Her FIRST bath

 

[Crayonsmom]

I don't think it's normal... None of our ducks have ever acted like this. I mean, if I let the ducks get too close to my face they'll nibble around my face, but not aggressively. Our ducklings used to nibble on our fingers too. I never had a problem with it, but my dad wasn't really a fan. So when Haystack used to nibble his fingers, Dad would grab his bill and gently shake it. That solved the problem without traumatizing the duck. Perhaps you could try that?

 

[fifenashia]

Thanks! That was what my husband suggested. I just wanted to see if others experienced this.

 

[Crayonsmom]

Yeah, maybe she just needs to be reminded that biting hurts.

You could also add a very meaningful "no" when you grab her bill.

 

[fifenashia]

Quote:
I don't know why I didn't think of classic training methods first, sometimes I think since they are birds it wouldn't work the same... I'll try this tonight, thanks!

I wonder how mom ducks discipline ducklings for rough play?