Drake charging me

crc310

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New to ducks. Long story short. We adopted friendly 5 Yo drake a few months ago. Adopted 2 females for him a 1-2 months ago. 1 hen was killed by a coon a few weeks ago. Since then, he fans his tail, head down and charges me when I walk away. He never makes contact, just charges and back away. Is this something that will get worse? Or that I should be concerned about? How can I correct this behavior? I’ve been searching for adult hens with no success for months (was lucky to come across the 2 hens). Still seeking more hens asap! We r building a pond when the yard dries up this summer.
 

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I had a Muscovy drake do that to me too As soon as I would turn to walk away I could hear his webs coming behind me. I'd turn and he'd stop and look around like what? lol

He never made contact. One thing you can do is when he does this turn around and lean over like your going to pick him up as your walking towards him, most likely he is going to turn tail and run. Just keep coming at him like your going to scoop him up and snuggle that may help him to realize your the dominant one not him.
 
I have been reading on drake behavior as well. One thing I gathered is not to back down/walk away when he charges. You don't want him to think he successfully chased you off and is winning. Easier said than done since you are walking away anyway. Mine does this too sometimes. He will charge toward the gate as I'm closing it behind me. Maybe they just like to feel important and pretend they are good protectors and chased us off :confused:
 
If he's charging at you when you're nearby and basically not making contact, he could be viewing you as a threat to his remaining girl. Drakes are the 'protectors' of their hens, and while they aren't very good protectors, they take this pretty seriously. When they lose a girl to a predator that remember it, and, at least mine, got very aggressive following the event.

Personally, I kneel down in his face and if he tries to bite, I 'bite him' by giving him a good one or two finger smack on the bill. If you've ever seen ducks fight you'll notice that they grab the skin on their back of each other's head (or even front) and yank. You could try that, but gently, because these are ducks, not people! Remind him that you're not only the dominant duck around here, but also not a threat to him or his remaining hen.

Hopefully you can find more hens! It's so sad losing one...
 
My favorite drake used to do this to me constantly when I only had one hen. Nothing would stop him and it was almost comical. Then his lady went broody and he was the best dad ever, I once saw him charge a raccoon and chase it off and he was just a small runner duck.
I made me think it was almost like having a working dog who had nothing to do all day - the little guy just needed something constructive to do.
More hens would probably help. They're hard to come by here too - people seem to really like their ducks. :)
 
Thank you! I’ve been actively searching on several sites, rescues and FB groups in the area. I was hoping the “Easter” ducklings would be needing homes soon.. I need ladies!
 

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