My duckling is charging me?!?!

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

We have nine Pekins and a blue swede. All ducks are five weeks old and love to come running to me for peas. This weekend they started the "she's going to kill me "run every time I got near them. I've read on BYC that this is normal and they will grow out of it. So this weekend I tried sitting in their pen and hand feeding them peas and while I was doing this one of the Pekins charged me three times. Each time I pushed it back then it would give me the stink eye again. Last night the Pekin did it again and I finally picked it up and held it in my lap until it calmed down.... So, could this be drake? It has a curly feather on its tail but maybe it's just a broken feather since it should be way to young to have a drake feather.

Am I doing the right thing by trying to sit in with them and pushing it back when it charges? These are my first ducks so any advice would be appreciated!

 

[crj]

I'm going through the same thing with my runner ducks. I am the big awful monster coming to attack all of a sudden! I'll sit by there pool and they will play wiith my fingers for a good long time. As soon as I get up....... OMG.... the monster is back!!!

I don't know........ hopefully it will pass. If they hear me coming they will start making their chirping sounds. I only have one that quacks and one that seems to whistle. The rest still squeek. Maybe they are farsighted and I look different close up? Just a thought.

 

[Amiga]

I went through a miserable time with my runners when they turned about three weeks old. Suddenly I was an axe-murderer! It was very Hitchcockian, and I was sad.

Duckyfromoz bailed me out by telling me that ducks become very sensitive to things coming at them from above. So I entered their area squatting, or sometimes on hands and knees. It helped just a little bit, and it prompted me to do more looking into their behavior. Runners, I found out HATE to be cornered, to even think they are going to be cornered. I began to allow them to get farther away from me when I cleaned the brooder (before this, I would sit with them and everyone was happy). They could go into the hall (floor covered with a poop catcher) and wait while I changed out the brooder.

I also began regular pea treats, hand feeding them. After a few weeks, we were friends again, and now they are sweet and gentle and tolerant and fun.

But I had to do quite a bit of patient waiting and undignified behavior.