Duck chasing my son

[Little witch]

My ducks are 2yo Campbell's and have never had any problem with them being unfriendly. They are not the type to sit on your lap but will eat from your hands and tolerate being held.

Today my son ran out into the garden wearing a superhero costume and the larger more dominant duck started chasing him and hissing. I make sure my children never chase the ducks or scare them and they are kind and careful with them, but do play loudly in the garden alongside them.

My friend and her daughter let them out to play in the garden on Saturday while I was away and may have chased and scared them (the daughter has in the past and was told off for this behaviour)

Do you think the ducks are having an off day or are just becoming scared of children? I'm not sure what to do as my 4yo is now scared to go into the garden without me when they are out there.

Does anyone have any experience of this or a solution?

Thank you in advance
little witch

 

[TheOtter]

I'll admit I'm new to ducks myself, but animals in general are frequently bothered by the unusual. I'm assuming here, but it seems that a superhero costume-wearing child would seem unusual and potentially dangerous, particularly if the costume included a flapping cape.

 

[Miss Lydia]

The flapping cape may have done it, but also mating season is in full swing and if you have a drake he may have felt threatened by your son especially since he is just 4 yrs old and probably not very tall. then again the child on sat may have scared them enough to make them afraid of your son. Hopefully this will pass as you and your son spend time in the garden with the ducks and realize your son is not a threat. could there be a nest close by?

 

[Little witch]

There wasn't a cape on the costume it was a red iron man costume, but the costumes are not unusual either.
They are both female but then bigger one is dominat and shows mating behaviour with the other (gay ducks are common apparently)

She chased my 4yo a number of times when he went into the garden. But with me and my 7yo they walk away from and will come towards us when we have treats. And they are not aggressive towards my cats either.

We all spent most of the afternoon in the garden with them to show them we are not a threat and I did pick the one who chased up and had her sat next to me so the children could feed her treats and pet her (to stop my 4yo being so scared) and she was fine then and showed no aggression. They have a nest in their house which is in their secure pen and that is where they lay all their eggs.

After the incident when my friends daughter chased them before they got very skittish around the kids but settled down after a few days. I hope she was just having a bad day and will be back to normal tomorrow. I will continue to spend time with them and the kids with lots of treats and absolutely no chasing.

Thank you for the replies
LW x