Help! 12 week old Muscovy Drakes & How to Curb Aggression?

[Miss Lydia]

This was great advice - thanks so much! I just went out with the broom to walk around and initially they kept approaching me. One of the guys got so close that I raised the broom and he resisted and then attacked the broom. Once he realized that attacking it was doing it nothing, he got scared and ran away and now they are both running when I wave the broom near them! This may not solve everything but it certainly helps me get the upper hand back for now. I know that I can't be scared and I wasn't until the last two big attacks that seemed to come from nowhere. They're just so unpredictable and crazed right now. I'll keep you updated! Thanks!

Happy to hear you have already seen a change just remember you can't let your guard down one time, when my drake started acting like a crazed sex fiend with me I was devastated, I came on here and some told me to kill him, That was not an option, but I did get pretty tuff with him. Please do keep me posted on how it goes..

 

[Zombified]

I'm just wondering... Is there any way to do this /without/ being so physical?

I know that dogs and ducks are VASTLY different, and my knowledge on training really focuses strictly on dogs and cats, but my training doesn't involve physical or verbal correction. I wouldn't say my training is hands-off, but punishments never involve pinning, pushing, or hitting. I personally am not comfortable with that.

Has anyone tried anything else? Perhaps using a marker to mark calm behavior in the drake and only ever rewarding or hand-feeding when said drake is calm? If the drake does value the person being around, could walking away be a valid punishment?

In my Mallard, Pyrrhos, I've never noticed any of this physical behavior, but it is very obvious that she is the flock leader(at least, of the hens). The others respect her space very well and tend to follow her around.


EDIT:
I just read the thing with the broom. I know this could be painful, but if they aren't biting too hard, would it be possible to stand still while they peck, eventually realizing that it's doing nothing? All of my birds pull(lightly) on my clothing and I just sit there and let them do it.

I have a friend who kicks(I say kick, but it isn't hard enough to injure him) her drake when he aggresses at her. Her drake is over a year old, she's had him since he was a week old, and it hasn't stopped his aggressive behavior.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I'm just wondering... Is there any way to do this /without/ being so physical?

I know that dogs and ducks are VASTLY different, and my knowledge on training really focuses strictly on dogs and cats, but my training doesn't involve physical or verbal correction. I wouldn't say my training is hands-off, but punishments never involve pinning, pushing, or hitting. I personally am not comfortable with that.

Has anyone tried anything else? Perhaps using a marker to mark calm behavior in the drake and only ever rewarding or hand-feeding when said drake is calm? If the drake does value the person being around, could walking away be a valid punishment?

In my Mallard, Pyrrhos, I've never noticed any of this physical behavior, but it is very obvious that she is the flock leader(at least, of the hens). The others respect her space very well and tend to follow her around.


EDIT:
I just read the thing with the broom. I know this could be painful, but if they aren't biting too hard, would it be possible to stand still while they peck, eventually realizing that it's doing nothing? All of my birds pull(lightly) on my clothing and I just sit there and let them do it.

I have a friend who kicks(I say kick, but it isn't hard enough to injure him) her drake when he aggresses at her. Her drake is over a year old, she's had him since he was a week old, and it hasn't stopped his aggressive behavior.

I am saying push said drake or lift the drake up off the ground with the broom as in letting him know his aggression isn't something that will be tolerated. Not hitting the drake or kicking him, If you've never been bitten by a Muscovy drake they can draw blood. When a drake is climbing on you because he wants to mate you can't just stand there and do nothing, My drake I had this problem with was our baby raised in the house from hatch because mama duck wanted to kill him, But he was confused to say the least when he because mature and It was up to me to convince him that his behavior was not allowed. Now that we got through that part of his growing up we are the best of friends. He still comes around for pets and will pull my pants leg when he wants to eat out of my hand, I don't think I harmed him in anyway. Also putting broom between drake and person they are showing aggression towards is stopping it before it happens. I have had to do this with my gander also.

 

[Zombified]

I wasn't trying to be offensive or anything, Miss Lydia. As I said, I know ducks and dogs are very different. That's why I was asking if anyone has tried anything else, because it isn't something that I'm, personally, comfortable with doing.

I didn't mean my friend actually kicks her drake, lol. They use their feet to push him away when he comes at them. He's a Rouen drake. To my knowledge, he has not drawn blood or created bruises on their legs, so it isn't very severe or anything. I realize that the Muscovy drakes the OP owns are behaving much more severely, which is why I didn't give any advice on the matter, because it isn't something I've experienced or feel comfortable giving advice about. I only meant to ask if anyone else has tried anything differently.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I wasn't trying to be offensive or anything, Miss Lydia. As I said, I know ducks and dogs are very different. That's why I was asking if anyone has tried anything else, because it isn't something that I'm, personally, comfortable with doing.

I didn't mean my friend actually kicks her drake, lol. They use their feet to push him away when he comes at them. He's a Rouen drake. To my knowledge, he has not drawn blood or created bruises on their legs, so it isn't very severe or anything. I realize that the Muscovy drakes the OP owns are behaving much more severely, which is why I didn't give any advice on the matter, because it isn't something I've experienced or feel comfortable giving advice about. I only meant to ask if anyone else has tried anything differently.

Not sure about what all she has tried but I can honestly say I tried everything I could think of and got a lot of help here, some advise I took some I didn't.

I didn't take it that you were being offensive I just don't think you understand the problem unless you have been through it. I have 3 other drakes besides Opie the one I was having problems with and they are very well behaved, Some just don't get it.

 

[lesander]

I'm just wondering... Is there any way to do this /without/ being so physical?


I know that dogs and ducks are VASTLY different, and my knowledge on training really focuses strictly on dogs and cats, but my training doesn't involve physical or verbal correction. I wouldn't say my training is hands-off, but punishments never involve pinning, pushing, or hitting. I personally am not comfortable with that.

Has anyone tried anything else? Perhaps using a marker to mark calm behavior in the drake and only ever rewarding or hand-feeding when said drake is calm? If the drake does value the person being around, could walking away be a valid punishment?

In my Mallard, Pyrrhos, I've never noticed any of this physical behavior, but it is very obvious that she is the flock leader(at least, of the hens). The others respect her space very well and tend to follow her around.


EDIT:
I just read the thing with the broom. I know this could be painful, but if they aren't biting too hard, would it be possible to stand still while they peck, eventually realizing that it's doing nothing? All of my birds pull(lightly) on my clothing and I just sit there and let them do it.

I have a friend who kicks(I say kick, but it isn't hard enough to injure him) her drake when he aggresses at her. Her drake is over a year old, she's had him since he was a week old, and it hasn't stopped his aggressive behavior.

Sounds like your having some interesting days with your drakes! We've had our muscovies for a while now, but have had great success with them staying friendly, they are about 14 weeks and from 2 different bloodlines.We only have kept ducks, no drakes on my property, our friends keep a flock at their place with the drakes. I as well am a dog person, I just took my dog mentality and put it towards the ducks, my friends and family call me the queen dog whispered LOL! The ducks are on a routine, changed a little lately with daylight changing. And they certainly have boundaries that they have learned over time, I found that staying very calm around them helps. It sounds like yours do not have their wings clipped, mine got into much less trouble and mellowed out once we clipped a wing. Miss Lydia may know if that will help with their aggresive behaviour at all. Our friends drake did start trying to mount his sisters around 12/13 weeks so they might be getting a little hormonal too. we too do not use any form of physical correction with the ducks or dogs (however if I had a very angry duck or dog coming at me aggressively it may change!). we use a one word verbal correction/command with our dogs and have used that with the ducks too, my secret weapon is a bright blue broom handle , I use it as an extension of my arm basically when I need to herd them around. The ducks now know when they see it they move, try and find one certain broom handle, I switched to a bright one so they recognize it. Is their anything they don't have access too that could be contributing to their crankiness?, do they have a pond, warm dry place, access to feed, a place to perch, mine love some old stumps my husband put in the yard for them, every couple days we rotate them and they sit there for ever picking bugs, gives them something to do other than looking for mischief! Hopefully they will mellow out for ya, good luck with your drakes!

 

[houseofknauss]

Hello!

I have 2 Muscovies who are now 12 weeks old. I have hand raised them since they were 3 days old. I believe that they are drakes due to their large size, large feet & deep hissing (with no indication of any pipping). Up until about 2 weeks ago, they were not showing any signs of aggression & would just approach me (they free range) to say hello & get treats. Now they approach me & seem to be challenging me by deep hissing (as opposed to their regular hissing), and a lot of tail wagging and neck extending (in comparison to 2 weeks ago). They will eventually calm down and take treats but if I try to touch them, they will focus intently on the arm petting them & they nip it. Infrequently, they get so worked up that they start vibrating uncontrollably.

There is so much conflicting information online and really not that much comprehensive info on Muscovies. I have been searching for help for these past 2 weeks but nothing seems to help, so I am asking if there is a way for me to nip this blooming aggression in the bud? Since they are not near puberty yet, I do not believe this is hormonal yet? I did mount one of the males today though, just to see if it helped. I have been attempting a zero tolerance policy and as soon as a duck nips me, I pick him up and carry him around for around 5 minutes. The ducks seem scared of me afterward but it doesn't seem to deter them later on.

They still eat politely from my hand and will come to my call and follow me if I try to get them to. They don't seem to be aggressive with each other yet. Some sources I have read said that it is fine to have two males, as long as I don't add in any females. Some sources said to get them some females but add no more males ever and still others have said that no males will ever get along with each other. So there's that.

These are my pets and I will try anything to keep them. I do not and will not eat them.

Is this just part of their maturing? Are they just distancing themselves from their "mother" (it is around this age that the mother Muscovy would stop caring for them)? I totally don't mind just having aloof ducks hanging around the yard (as in, I don't need to pet them) but I'm just worried that they may start attacking or nipping when unprovoked.

Thoughts? Advice? Thanks!

well, I had some muscovies--I had 2 males, big daddy and junior---I had 4 females. one was sick when I got her and nursed her back to health only to have a fox get her. the 2 boys ganged up on one of the other girls and humped her so much I had to separate her from them for a week while she recovered. well, lets just put it this way. muscovey males are very ruff. I ended up with just the 2 boys left with the remaining of my flock of pekins, runners, rouens, and mallards. they were good boys, but I just think they are ruff. I gave daddy and junior away to someone who use to raise them and handle them. he is home with them all day long and watched them. he never saw them mate with the other ducks (not muscovey) surprise, he has some eggs hatch that were mixes.(very interesting)---

my advice--muscovey males prefer muscovey females and I would have the ratio at least 3 or 4 to one. I would not choose to have muscovey again after having for 8 months. I couldn't trust the fact that I could put my whole crew in the same house for the winter without there being problems (even tho these guys came over and ate out of our hands and followed us into the garage and stared at us.
full grown they have a huge wing span. I couldn't see a red tail hawk trying to get a hold of one, they would be in for a surprise.... good luck!
ps big daddy would pick on junior. we fed them seperately

 

[houseofknauss]

psps
they make some of the most interesting noises I have ever heard when they are happy and talking, they wag their tale like a freakin dog!

 

[Zombified]

Not sure about what all she has tried but I can honestly say I tried everything I could think of and got a lot of help here, some advise I took some I didn't.

I didn't take it that you were being offensive I just don't think you understand the problem unless you have been through it. I have 3 other drakes besides Opie the one I was having problems with and they are very well behaved, Some just don't get it.

That is true. This is my first time with ducks so I am still learning, too. My drake, Erebus, is actually at the bottom of the hierarchy(though I was told that would change as they continue to mature and begin mating). He's pretty flighty(no pun intended) but still relatively calm. He did get aggressive when I had to bring him in, but I was never bit to the point of bleeding and as soon as he was back outside, he was back to his normal self.

I wonder, then, if it has to do with drakes being indoors for an extended period of time? But then, Erebus would still be behaving that way... Is it really just Muscovy drakes that get so aggressive? Do you think there's a genetic link, since it doesn't appear that all Muscovy drakes behave in this way?

This is really interesting now, lol.

Anyway, MelanieS, I'm happy that your Muscovy drakes are no longer attacking you. I'm sure that was very difficult to have to go through.

 

[Luminide]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/398814/how-to-train-ducks-not-to-attack-and-bite

Gonna link this here- it seems to work! Good luck.