Muscovy owners please help!!

[Amykins]

Don't get him neutered!!!! that's not okay, male ducks run on testosterone their male hormones, well do everything, if u get him castrated he will get super fat and lazy and u won't ever have the same duck ever again, his emotion will go away and all he will want to do is sleep and eat. That's what people do before they cull them they neuter their drakes to get them super fat, and it makes the meat more tender, it's disgusting

Have you ever had a neutered duck in your home, Buck?

 

[duckies1230]

If your drake is the same then bravo, many don't find a reason to do anything anymore and yeah, it's sad to watch that transformation

I didn't get him nutered i got him a mate. I was only saying what other people advised me to do. I didnt have the extra money but not everyone has the option to do that. I'm sure if she didn't feed the duck 24/7 he wouldn't gorge and become fat and lazy. I've never heard of anyone having a bad experience. Plus, no one on BYC has ever led me in the wrong direction!!!!!

 

[Buck Oakes]

I haven't so I really shouldn't question it but my only duck friend local duck friend , much older than me, he's 60 and his family has raised ducks, he has had experience and he showed me one of them that was still alive and, I really felt bad for it, it's a khaki Campbell and he is super big and can hardly move, but then again it's about 8 yrs old, but other males around that age were still running around and mating but he could barley stand up sooo.....

 

[Amykins]

I haven't so I really shouldn't question it but my only duck friend local duck friend , much older than me, he's 60 and his family has raised ducks, he has had experience and he showed me one of them that was still alive and, I really felt bad for it, it's a khaki Campbell and he is super big

and can hardly move, but then again it's about 8 yrs old, but other males around that age were still running around and mating but he could barley stand up sooo.....

As a house duck I doubt Wobbles or the OP's scovy would have that problem as their food intake is controlled. If Bean and Wobbles don't have babies this Spring, I have no qualms neutering him. My vet has 30 years' experience, and her own drakes were okay.

 

[Fergusbeakley]

Okay first things first, u know he's not meaning to hurt u, he probably doesn't even see y'all as males since u did raise him, hes not being aggressive XD he just wants to love u all night long if u get my drift, something U can do is actually get another house duck around his size, but mallard derived that way they won't really have babies and u can have 2 lovely duckies I mean the chance of a fertilized egg between them is 60% and not even 60% make it because they're bodies are developing in different ways inside the egg that don't really correspond with one another, so having babies wouldn't be a problem and yeah, all my males start that when its get around the time to get frisky, but I just pick them up and stroke them and they calm down, u just got to be way with them

I'm so glad you understand. I wasn't sure how to explain it and my partner thinks I'm crazy when I tried to tell her but I know what you mean when you say he isn't being aggressive. These moments usually start when he is hyper excited to see me. Usually in the morning or when we go outside and sit in the sun together he starts playing and then all of a sudden his wings are puffed out and his head is down sussing out an opportunity to latch onto me. My yelps of pain are often met by more excitement and a gleeful wag of his tail and every reaction he gets just seems to encourage him. It's like my retaliation is all part of the game and he doesn't actually understand he is hurting me.
I've tried spinning him over like a turtle, picking him up and whispering to him which normally calms him down but he just gets more and more persistent on getting a reaction from me.
He does have an unnecessarily strong fear of plastic bags so I'm going to try chasing his advances away with the bag today and see if this fear can help him realise that he is crossing a line. I shall report back later tonight. Thanks everyone for your advice.

 

[Fergusbeakley]

Welcome to drake ownership. Wobbles is the same way; when he first came into season it was bite, bite, bite! Keep in mind, neutering may or may not fix his aggression. It will probably reduce it, but it may have not much of an effect at all. Also, a lot of vets either don't know or won't perform the procedure due to lack of experience. Barnyard specialists are pretty rare, certainly in my area, at least. I'm lucky to have a vet who specializes in ducks and chickens, but you may have to do some searching to find someone you feel comfortable enough with to entrust them with your scovy's well-being. 

As for what to do in the here and now, well, he wants to mate. Period. There isn't much to deter him from that, other than separate him in a separate pen until his hormones die down, which obviously is not only tough to do inside the home but it can be traumatic for a lone imprinted duck. Have you thought about getting a female for him? That's the only thing I could do, in the end. I couldn't leave Wobbles alone because he'd get so upset when I left that he'd work himself into a frenzy and overheat. That can be deadly to a duck. So I got him a girlfriend.

As for stopping him from attacking you, lots of stuff seems to work for different people, kind of like hiccup cures: Everyone has a surefire method that only seems to work for them and no one else! With my Wobbles I was told to mount him...didn't work. Bill-tapping? Nope! Grabbing him by the neck? He takes that as a challenge. Throwing water on him? The jerk likes it! The only thing that's worked for me is when he goes to bite my foot, I gently flip him onto his back. He's like a turtle, he can't right himself. He hates it so much, and usually he'll go right back to bite mode when he gets onto his feet but after a few flips he'll stop an inch away from my skin and hover, weighing the pros and cons of it all, LOL!

I have taken him out to a friends farm and let him roam around with other ducks and he chickens and the poor thing nearly had a heart attack. We put him in with a few other Muscovy females for a few hours and when I came back he was hiding in the coop, his little heart was pounding and he was shaking. I kind of hoped that given a few hours he would of become social and done his business with one of the females so I'm not sure what to think of getting him a mate. If he is away from us for a night he usually just chills out and entertains himself but other ducks/chickens freak him out. I'm sure that if we isolated him for a while the shock of not having his peas, baths followed by a blow dry and his beloved grey blanket would get to him. Yes he is too spoilt. I'm scared we may have domesticated him a little too much. Anyway I was saying in my other post that he seems to enjoy the reaction from biting and whatever I do he just gets more excited and persistent.
I plan on trying a few out of the box ideas to see if I can't scare him into drawing a line at playtime and not getting too carried away. Getting another female will be a last resort I think. He poos enough as it is.

 

[duckies1230]

I miss only having to deal with his poo. His new mate goes a lot! And its so much! Its gross. Mine was only aggressive towards other ppl, he chases my toddler but I don't believe he would ever hurt her. They still do it, they both think its a game. If he is better off by himself and u can't find a solution on your own to stop the aggressive behavior, it will only get worse the older he gets and the more his hormones kick in! Lol typical male..sorry but I would neuter him, it will be for the bst and I honestly don't think any harm would be done. I trust others advice, no one wants to hurt a duck. Everyone I heard that from belonged to the house duck thread and we all baby our beloved pets! Good luck in your decision! And Muscovy ducks are great pets I understand, mine are pekin but I plan on getting two Muscovy hens this summer. They are already reserved, hopefully it all works out. And your Muscovy his gorgeous!

 

[Fergusbeakley]

Oh don't get me started on his poo. One night while I was in bed he jumped up on the bench and got into an open Milo tin. I don't know how much he ate but the next day he was covered head to toe and his water was Milo sludge. His poo was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen haha.

Thank you for your advice. I'm optimistic now that I have some ideas to try. You have some lovely pictures up of your ducky friends too.

 

[Fergusbeakley]

Ok guys I feel very silly right now but it appears that Fergus may actually be a Fergy. He/she is making nests!!!

I swear that Fergus had ticked every single box of male behaviour and now this!! Is this normal? I didn't know females acted so aggressive. No eggs yet but we have found 3 different nests in 5 days. She seems to make them over night. Do I have a gender confused duck or is it more likely I am just a fool who had sexed her incorrectly!?!?

 

[Fergusbeakley]

I've actually successfully stopped the naughty behaviour by turning him, her, whatever, upside down until I get calmness then she, him seems to settle. So thank you for that.

I've uploaded some photos of Fergus on outside and one of him/her on her belly scratching a nest out of paper. Tell me what you guys think.