Hard to read behavior of my Indian Runners

[RamblinLizard]

Hello I'm brand new to this site and this is my first year owning runners. I bought a penciled, gray and white as ducklings bout 6 months ago. I was unsure of the sex of them and thought the gray was drake and other two were females as my gray has a very quiet, muffled quack and the others are very "talky", Well i just read about the curly tail which all 3 possess. So first question is there's no way they can be female and have curly tail right?
which leads into my second question, my runners are my lil babies and will follow me round the yard and my penciled and white have always eaten out of my hand, my gray will come close but only (I believe) cuz his "girls" are by me. The point is at least for the 2 is that they seemed pretty people-friendly and I considered them tame. They last couple weeks their behavior has changed. For my wary gray guy he will run up to me when I hold out treats for them, and ignoring the treats will proceed to attack my fingers and hand, he went from shy to aggressive and my first thought was--his girls are gonna start laying and he's getting protective of them, which confuses me when i found out about the tail-curls. My white runner is the only one that acts "normal" but my penciled started acting really weird too. He/She always followed me around but now when i walk he will jump at my legs, stand on my skirt, stand on top of my feet as if to prevent me from walking, he/she doesn't bite me like the gray one does, and when i stand still he'll be calm, as soon as i start walking he flips out, quacking and jumping on me. Has anyone dealt with this behavior before? Is it a territorial thing? Is she just really excited to see me? (They run up to my car when i pull in driveway) Oh yeah and they've always stayed just at arms length when they come to snack outta my hand but since they've been so bold and weird lately i can just reach down and pick em up, no prob. I had cayuga ducks last year and they never acted like this.

 

[Amiga]

Hi!

It all sounds very hormonal to me.

Could you get a few photo's for us to take a look?

Do any of your ducks lie down in front of you with their necks extended, kind of flattened to the ground?

I have eleven runners. They are all girls. At three weeks they decided I was a monster. We got through that. At around ten weeks they all started getting ready to breed. We got through that. Now, they are just over five months old, and things are pretty calm for the most part.

 

[MysticalMom]

I agree with Amiga. Sounds hormonal to me. Pics would help. And if they are indeed all drakes, maybe they need just some girlfriends?

And

 

[RamblinLizard]

Well I have a video I made that shows my penciled being crazy, but of course my gray duck refused to attack me as he has been doing lately. (He just wanted to look good for the camera) No i have never seen them lie flat in the position you described. The penciled will act like this to my husband but not as intense, like he won't step on him like he does to me. If it is hormonal, is there a way of appeasing them without having to get more ducks?

video:

 

[MysticalMom]

Omg.

I think he's trying to mate with you.

 

[duckyfromoz]

That is very similar to what my Monty does. But he is now alot worse than your boy. He was doing that in January- and I had to keep turning him onto his back to teach him I was dominant- and my feet were not to be messed with. It stopped for 6 months- but now the hormones are gearing up again and its happening all over again. I cant step a foot out the back door without him charging over and going for my feet. Oh..and he is an Aylesbruy- and a very big boy.

To get him to stop you need to pick him up and carry him around a little while each time he tries that with your feet- I would suggest turning him on his back - but dont know how a Runner would go with that. I have never had to do it with mine as they have plenty of girls between them and leave my feet alone.

So sorry you ended up with three males- they are very lovely though.

 

[Amiga]

It appears you are the object of their affection. It will likely ebb and flow with the seasons. I think duckyfromoz has some good suggestions. No need to be rough with them, I think they weigh about four pounds each. Just need to demonstrate who is in charge in the flock. They are beautiful!

 

[JJchiknshak]

They are GORGEOUS! I think they are all boys though. They sound just like my Archie. He's a chocolate runner drake.

 

[RamblinLizard]

Well thanks for the advice and the compliments! I will continue to try to not step on him when I'm outside. I'm not sure if putting them on their back will help cuz I will occasionally hold them on my lap like a baby so they don't scratch my legs. I think mystical mom's comment is funny because when he does that to me it reminds me of a yappy little dog trying to hump my leg.