Charging Rouen drake

[MarieNC]

I have a mated pair of Rouens, Ella and Sam. They're a little over a year old and Ella has been laying eggs for awhile now. They have a very large coop/run area with a swimming pool and plenty of space to roam, but when I clean out their run I let them out into the fenced in part of their yard. I also let our 6 female chickens out into the yard to explore at that time as well. Recently Sam has started charging me when I go into his run, or even when I walk past it. My response has been to pick him up and carry him around a bit, and sometimes I tell him "no" and he backs off. He also charges my chickens and for the most part they run away, but the dominant hen has recently been challenging him and they pretty much go toe to toe, with Dora (the hen) all puffed up and Sam hissing at her. Eventually Sam will back off from Dora. What I'd like to know is how can I change this behavior in Sam? Or more specifically, can I change this behavior in Sam? I think if Dora wanted to she could kick the crap out of him.

 

[Nyowpotopop]

From years of training animals I'd say it depends on how smart your duck is. I've heard ducks CAN be trained well.
Find something he dislikes and something he likes. With parrots I'd blow in their faces but with a bird on the ground you may need a spray bottle of some sort. Try something like a vingear/water mix... Something they will dislike and will startle them. Even better if you can associate a sound with it.
When your drake charges, stand your ground and spray them (or whatever deterrent method you prefer) and try to have a sound with it. This can even be just saying "no" firmly. When the duck stops and chills out a little give him a snack associated with a different sound like saying "good" in a light coo.

It's basic animal training. And heck, once you have those things down you can train your duck to do just about anything, really. I don't know if it'll ever stop forever but you can put a dent in it if you're patient and consistant. You can do this with any animal frankly. Most "farmers" don't put in that kind of effort to train farm animals. But if you think of it like a cat or a dog ducks can be trained to do all sorts of things.

As for the chicken you may just have to separate them...?

 

[cskotek]

Has she been sitting on the eggs? I know with the canadian geese that nest once the female goes into a certain point of sitting on the nest the male will become more aggressive like prepareing to be a dad kind of way i guess.