I fought the duck and the duck won

[Amiga]

Oh, man, what a nightmare! I am glad you are inwardly tough enough to handle it so well. Epsom salts in a warm bath will help you avoid worse ouchies tomorrow and the next day, I think. Don't forget the triple antibiotic.

Yup, I have been hearing reports of hormonal ducks this week from all my contacts in duckdom. I thank the Lord that mine are only a month old right now. Shew.

I think animals can smell our pheromones, and know who's a he and who's a she. And so, yes, I could see that he would consider you competition. Good of you to show restraint.

I agree with what has been written - more females, and fast, is one option. I would put him in some kind of restricted space and decide whether I want more Muscovies (3/31 is the last day before the new Muscovy rules go into effect), or want to get rid of him one way or another. I would consider whether there is a risk that the other, with only one female, might also become aggressive during mating season.

Shew.

It happens with dogs and cats, too - they just go with their hormones. Never happens to people, does it??????

 

[kysilkies]

In hindsight, I'm glad all the cuts are from rocks and not his claws, I'd probably be getting stitches and shots(I HATE shots)...I just used super glue...

 

[lovesduckies]

muscovy sratches definately suck!!!!! i don't hold my drake anymore for that reason. i always had guaze, medical tape, and peroxide readily available when he'd still let me hold him. he did scratch me the other day, but it wasn't too bad barely broke skin. one time was really bad though, i thought i was going to have to go to ER and i don't have helth insurance

luckily i took care of it myself and just indured the pain

NO SCARS THOUGH! the only one i have now is on my thumb from his biting me. it's funny cuz it's in the shape of his bill lol one scratch was on my tattoo on my wrist, i'm glad they didn't mess that up!

 

[Iheart'scovies]

My drake has done this a few times--- very close to what you are describing. I think that you have one of those very dominant Muscovy drakes like I do. My husband read somewhere that like one 1 in 10 of them will have this kind of attitude, lucky us

He is mostly a total angel, but once and a while he gets too big for his britches!

He must be shown who's the boss in no uncertain terms, so what I have found works is to NOT swat him off and retreat. The FIRST time he comes at me like this I grab him and push him all the way to the ground and kind of trap him under me so I am leaning over him completely but holding him tight enough that he cannot swing his head around and bite me in the face. You have to make sure to kind of tuck his wings in as you do this 'body slam' motion, though if he his flapping them around. Then I will sit there with him like this and scold him for quite a while-- a good five minutes or more until he is calm. This is my baby boy, too, so I'm never going to hurt him in any way, just expressing complete dominance over him. You may also find a some other version of this tactic that works better on your boy.

I have found that if I do not shut him down like this right away, he will gain steam from successful shots. As it is, when I let him go he still kettles and grumps a little bit about it, but the 'attack of the killer duck' reenactment is over.

And, don't take it to heart! I think he is expressing that he LOVES you actually.... just maybe not in the way you want him to--- still, be flattered!

 

[kysilkies]

>>>>The FIRST time he comes at me like this I grab him and push him all the way to the ground and kind of trap him under me so I am leaning over him completely but holding him tight enough that he cannot swing his head around and bite me in the face. You have to make sure to kind of tuck his wings in as you do this 'body slam' motion, though if he his flapping them around. Then I will sit there with him like this and scold him for quite a while-- a good five minutes or more until he is calm.

I did that twice but didn't hold him 5 minutes, more like 30 seconds and it seemed to make him more irate...

Do yours sound like steam engines with a leak too?...Only when I get around the males, both their heads start bobbing and the hissing starts...They just slowing work their way over to me then bite my pants...That's how it went until yesterday...

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Please be advised that mating season for Muscovy is anytime the weather is warm! If this was a young drake his behavior when his hormones first kicked might be the worst of his life but there is no gurantee that it will get better. Watch out for him, learn to live with him or rehome him, send him to freezer camp but he is likely to be tough when you invite him to the table. I had one that kiilled fighting cocks, his claws were worse than their spurs!

 

[kysilkies]

They are cooped with 6 silkies who we also fear for now...While I was being attacked, and unbelievable good timing, my wife was out picking up the material for 2 new coops for us to build so we could separate them all, this incident thru that plan into high speed and top priority, they will be out of there tonight...

Again, thank you all for not laughing at me too bad and helping me realize it's his nature and not his heart that's attacking me...And thank you for the tips, we knew taking on new animals(our first silkies will be a year in May), there would be a lot to learn...This was interesting and insightful to say the least!...

 

[Iheart'scovies]

I did that twice but didn't hold him 5 minutes, more like 30 seconds and it seemed to make him more irate...

Do yours sound like steam engines with a leak too?...Only when I get around the males, both their heads start bobbing and the hissing starts...They just slowing work their way over to me then bite my pants...That's how it went until yesterday...

YES, we call it kettleling (because it reminds me of a boiling kettle "who-who-who-who-whooooooooooo") And yes, they all do seem to have a 'thing' about pants. Gotta love those crazy 'scovies. They are nuts, but soooo much personality and sooo much fun comes with that!

Ya, I have found that he needs to be held UNTIL he calms down. Basically, I think that you are trying to get him to surrender, if he doesn't surrender then when you let him go it is just time for more 'courting' And, perhaps I am making my self sound like a weirdo here, but I will also kind of make angry duck sounds at him. Then, he eventually calms down to a quite puffing and I let him go. I stay sitting with him a bit longer to make sure we are friends again (and to make sure he is calm so that he won't do it again as soon as I get up) and then all is back to normal. This usually only happens every so often, so even though it sounds like a bit of an ordeal, it is infrequent so it's not that big a deal. He did do this more when he had just reached maturity and before we had his females, though, so I agree that more ladies may be in order (at least they are always soooo sweet!!). And, to be honest, I would never want to mix Mr. Peeps with another male since he is so nuts. He's lucky he's so cute!


Here's my husband being funny with Mr. Peeps

Seemed to fit this thread!

 

[lovesduckies]

Quote:
Please be advised that mating season for Muscovy is anytime the weather is warm! If this was a young drake his behavior when his hormones first kicked might be the worst of his life but there is no gurantee that it will get better. Watch out for him, learn to live with him or rehome him, send him to freezer camp but he is likely to be tough when you invite him to the table. I had one that kiilled fighting cocks, his claws were worse than their spurs!

it wasn't my drake. my drake lives in my bedroom with me. he's not too bad. he is actually pretty calm most of the time. i would never eat duck. especially mine, they are like children to me. i do refer to them as my children.