If my ducks/chickens/geese see a big blk snake they usually just move away from it. We did have a 6 footer in our coop last year and one of my ducks decided to take it on since she was brooding, I am glad I went in and got the snake out I don't think she was making any progress on scaring it off. Had another one about 3' actually get one of my day old ducklings last year and I'm not sure if mom tried to intervene since when I found it the snake had pulled it through the fence. I took care of that one, duckling lived too.
About ducks biting; I can't understand why this is a problem. I have been bitten many times by hens protecting their nests, and a duck bite is NOTHING. Doesn't hurt, doesn't break the skin, feels like a gentle grab by smooth edged spoons. I've amused myself by trying to pick up broody ducks so they will bite, as they try so hard to be protective and are yet so harmless. Chickens and turkeys with their pointed beaks can hurt you, a goose bite is nasty with the power and serrated bill that geese have, but ducks can't hurt you.
My drake has been biting too. He is just recently sexually mature. I have him and one female. I read to hold him down and ruffle his feathers. That didn't work . I will try the mounting technique next but 5 minutes seems like a long time. They both follow me everywhere but he has a bad habit of getting in front of me when I walk. Is this aggressiveness too?
5 minutes, 10 minutes, do whatever it takes! If they're leaving bruises then it's time to take action. As for the leading when you walk thing, I'm not sure, that might be a dominance behavior or something.
Actually,, if you hold your duck to the ground it will cause a lot of internal stress which is not good at all. I have one Indian Runner and two Pekins. The Indian Runner attacks my toes aswell, all I have to do to get him to stop is pick him up so his wings flap and set him down. He waddles away unhappy
I have two male Pekins they are about 20 weeks old and have been attacking my feet and hands for about 3 weeks now. I hold them down but they still attack me. they even chase after me when i am walking away. They even attack my mom, its getting very hard to walk in my backyard they even wait at my back door for me to come out. i am not sure what to do, i had them since they were 3 days old and have been so wonderful until 3 weeks ago....i need help! i dont want to have to give them away. they are the only ducks i have.
I never had to mount my drake; he started off by trying to chest me and drop his weight on me (he's a tiny little call duck!) - I just made sure that when he pushed at me, I pushed back enough to stagger him. He comes up for love these days and preens me like the girls do My mallard girl is another story - she's the centre of the universe and woe betide anyone who forgets it - my fault for spoiling her rotten as a duckling!
I do have 3 Muscovy ducks, one of which was hatched in my hand, once she turned 6 months old I placed her in the coop with her mom and dad. She does attack me and my daughter on a daily basis. I noticed the reason for her attacks are because she wants to be held. So, I hold her for about 15 minutes, then let her down, once I do that, she goes on about her daily business. That's all she is looking for is attention. Now, when she was little, I would lay on top of her to get her to stop biting and attacking, and she did like that. I thought it was because it reminds her of a mommy laying on top of her to comfort her. Now that she is older, I just sit her on my lap and put my upper body on top of her, then for that 15 minutes of time she will actually go to sleep. I find that to be the thing that works for my little girl. SHE IS SPOILED TO SAY THE LEAST. I now have a problem that I don't understand, and would love to have your help with this: My (muskovy) drake is being attacked by his mate, (the one's that gave birth to the female spoken of above). This is something that just started, and I don't know what to do about it. He looks terrible. My daughter and I brought him in this afternoon, and gave him a bath, and put antibacterial cream on the open sores. He stopped bleeding, but he looks bad, and later I went back out to check on him, and he ran to me to be held (something he has never done before). He is literally scared of his mate. What do I do? We thought about separating him from her, but my daughter is afraid that if we do that we won't be able to re-incorporate them back together. The two will be 3 years old this spring. Can I get some advice? I really need this help. My poor little Drake is so scared, and to see that really hurts me. Thank you in advance PADuckrunner