Good vibrations??

[specTONKular]

My male call duck vibrates whenever he see"s me, I read somewhere that this is a sign that they are happy when they vibrate. Occasionally when vibrating he would jump up my arm. Because of this I began to think that maybe he was becoming aggressive, so I sat down with him and had a good talk to him lol. He has jumped at the cat which freaked her out and now she will do anything to get away from the duck, but Now he still does it from time to time but not the jumping at me.
Then his wifey started vibrating when she sees me and I give her treats or we play hunt then slugs.
Now all 4 vibrate at me!
What is the general thought is it positive to have your duck vibrate at you or not??

 

[KaleIAm]

Well, I have only had mallard derived ducks but my interpretation is that vibrating is not positive in my flock. My ducks have seemed to vibrate their necks at me when I was overstimulating them, or doing something they didn't like. Mostly petting them. They don't really enjoy being touched and were tolerating it. When I stopped petting them, out of respect, years ago they stopped vibrating at me. Now they sit next to me and I enjoy that.

 

[specTONKular]

See thats why I find it hard because mine will vibrate when I am giving them meal worms or other treats! Other times I just have to walk outside and they vibrate on seeing me.
So theoretically at those points I am not giving any stimulation.

 

[specTONKular]

I also think it depends on the duck. My Drake does it to me all the time, but then he come up and rubs his neck and head all over me and begging for a snuggle. Which I give him of course. He lets me know when he's had enough and goes on his merry way.

I found this on an old conversation on vibrating ducks. So I guess the verdict is, only your duck knows why it's vibrating lol typical!!

 

[BelovedBirds]

My male call duck vibrates whenever he see"s me, I read somewhere that this is a sign that they are happy when they vibrate. Occasionally when vibrating he would jump up my arm. Because of this I began to think that maybe he was becoming aggressive, so I sat down with him and had a good talk to him lol. He has jumped at the cat which freaked her out and now she will do anything to get away from the duck, but Now he still does it from time to time but not the jumping at me.
Then his wifey started vibrating when she sees me and I give her treats or we play hunt then slugs.
Now all 4 vibrate at me!
What is the general thought is it positive to have your duck vibrate at you or not??

I find it can be positive, but it depends on the duck. Both of my girls do this, but usually only when they're happy. They love being stroked, and sometimes if I come and sit with them they get SO excited and vibrate up at me, before settling down on my lap and loving the attention. If I play with them gently, one duck does her excited zoomies and then vibrates at me, and jumped into my lap for a fuss.
BUT, they have also done it when scared-
My niece is only 1 year old, and they are pretty afraid of her. I never let her too close or touch them. One of the first times they saw her, I was sat with them. They went quiet, and looked very shy and cautious. Then ran over to me, doing the vibrating and jumping up at me. I comforted them, and they calmed down.


My conclusion:
From my experience, I concluded that they do this when bursting with emotions. Whether extreme excitement, or fear. Any sort of intense feelings like that, they can vibrate and jump up.
One thing I've observed with my girls is that they only do it with me, and are very comfortable with me. They haven't done it with anyone else that they arent sure of.
It's a duck behaviour that they use with people they trust- in my experience.
Your drake doesn't sound aggressive at all, perhaps hormonal, or excited, or over stimulated. But not aggressive.

 

[specTONKular]

I find it can be positive, but it depends on the duck. Both of my girls do this, but usually only when they're happy. They love being stroked, and sometimes if I come and sit with them they get SO excited and vibrate up at me, before settling down on my lap and loving the attention. If I play with them gently, one duck does her excited zoomies and then vibrates at me, and jumped into my lap for a fuss.
BUT, they have also done it when scared-
My niece is only 1 year old, and they are pretty afraid of her. I never let her too close or touch them. One of the first times they saw her, I was sat with them. They went quiet, and looked very shy and cautious. Then ran over to me, doing the vibrating and jumping up at me. I comforted them, and they calmed down.


My conclusion:
From my experience, I concluded that they do this when bursting with emotions. Whether extreme excitement, or fear. Any sort of intense feelings like that, they can vibrate and jump up.
One thing I've observed with my girls is that they only do it with me, and are very comfortable with me. They haven't done it with anyone else that they arent sure of.
It's a duck behaviour that they use with people they trust- in my experience.
Your drake doesn't sound aggressive at all, perhaps hormonal, or excited, or over stimulated. But not aggressive.

He is very hormonal!! My fluffy grey slippers seem to be an attractive prospect for him, they dont feel the same way as they are my old lady slippers lol

 

[KaleIAm]

See thats why I find it hard because mine will vibrate when I am giving them meal worms or other treats! Other times I just have to walk outside and they vibrate on seeing me.
So theoretically at those points I am not giving any stimulation.

I can imagine the anticipation of mealworms being so exciting that they might get overstimulated. My cat's tail gets fluffy (like he's just been startled) when I pick up his favorite treat jar.

But I'm not attached to the idea that it is always overstimulation. That's just what I have observed in my little flock. @SolarDuck told me that he saw wild Muscovy ducks do it to their babies, I think.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I can imagine the anticipation of mealworms being so exciting that they might get overstimulated. My cat's tail gets fluffy (like he's just been startled) when I pick up his favorite treat jar.

But I'm not attached to the idea that it is always overstimulation. That's just what I have observed in my little flock. @SolarDuck told me that he saw wild Muscovy ducks do it to their babies, I think.

wow that's interesting about the muscovies!