Drake incorrigible?

[Sushiducks]

Hi all,

We've been raising our first Muscovy and gotten good advice from you all, the 4 are about 5 months old now. 1 drake and 3 hens. The aggression from the drake has gotten to the point where I am thinking of getting rid of him.

It's regretful, because he has the most personality and is a really beautiful drake. I have to pin him pretty much every day. Usually several times. I'm just getting fed up. I'm not interested in doing this every day and I know I'm going to start resenting going out there.

He'll come up and start with the head bobbing, hissing and light pecking. If I turn my back he jumps on me, if I poke at him to get him to back off, he does the bite twist. I'll grab him, sit on him with his neck against the ground for at least two minutes.

About half the time he'll come up and want to fight again, hissing away. Other times he backs off and will act like normal, but it doesn't seem to last long. Usually that's when he tries to ambush, flying at me from across the yard when I turn my back.

He will do this to my wife and son too, I'm just the one most often out there. It's been going on seriously for maybe two weeks. Is this something that he just has to get into his skull or are there some that just aren't manageable? Honestly at this point, unless someone has some advice, I'm going to give him until next Saturday to shape up and then he's gone.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My drake is the same way with my husband he hasn’t flown at him because I intervene to keep my dh from over reacting. He thinks of my husband as a threat I believe and feels he needs to get rid of him just like Muscovy drakes do to each other. I watched for many years my drakes chasing each other all over the half acre they occupied finally after having to keep 4 drakes separate from each other I decided it was time to get down to only one. Muscovy drakes are fighters and defenders of their territory as you have found out. My drake when he became around 4 months old (2011) would fly up on my back try and climb my legs or arm until I didn’t know what to do. None of my other M drakes had done this. So members here gave me advise some said cull (kill) others said pin and hold as many times as you have to till you get the point across that you are the dominant in his world I chose to treat him like I am dominant drake. I also used the broom bucket or poles to keep him as far from me as I could I always stood my ground though and would never walk around him but made him get out of my way using the broom to push him out of the way. I also became the aggressor by coming at him at times leaning over acting like I was going to pin him down or pick him up that usually makes him turn tail and run. I can understand your frustration they can surely be a pain in the butt once hormones take over their brains just don’t function normally. When my drake is acting hateful ( that’s what I call it) I just ignore him as long as he isn’t going out of his way to attack me. He has been going through a hard molt this b last month and didn’t even want to be touched so I haven’t tried. This guy usually doesn’t mind being petted. So if you want to rid yourself of him of course that’s your decision but I can tell you from experience if you can take on the dominance roll for a while longer you might convince him you warrant respect. Always up to you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

@casportpony

 

[casportpony]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/geese-training.561849/

 

[Miss Lydia]

Maybe there is something in the thread @casportpony shared the link to. I have an incorrigible gander to and have to use these techniques with him too. He was hatched here same as my drake and going on 13 yrs it’s an every breeding season thing with him

 

[chickens really]

I don't keep human aggressive animals at all. Too many well behaved birds looking for homes.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Think of it the other way round: Having a protective drake may help your ducks survive a predator attack. I had a mildly aggressive Indian Runner drake (Donald) whom i had to pin down during almost every day early mating season this year. He was just doing his job, protecting the girls from everything. I guess he even tried to take on the Coyotes which got him one afternoon. None of the other ducks was even injured…

 

[Slash3]

Think of it the other way round: Having a protective drake may help your ducks survive a predator attack. I had a mildly aggressive Indian Runner drake (Donald) whom i had to pin down during almost every day early mating season this year. He was just doing his job, protecting the girls from everything. I guess he even tried to take on the Coyotes which got him one afternoon. None of the other ducks was even injured…

Awww, thats so sad, but he was a hero. Died protecting his girls. :'(

 

[sourland]

In my experience Muscovy drakes develop a plan of interspecies interaction, and once that plan is decided upon they do not change for the better. They are strong birds and can cause damage with their biting and wing slapping. With a wife and child involved I'd be having Muscovy for Christmas dinner. They are great eating.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Any updates on what you have decided with your drake?
@Sushiducks