Suddenly "Evil"

[Quackmire]

Q is a year old. She turned one on July 1. She is laying, has been for several months now. I take the eggs and pitch them as she lays, as she has not shown interest in them. The last two eggs, she laid in her bed during the night/early morning and I've found her sitting on them in the morning so I've allowed her to keep them. Her bed is downstairs, and she is upstairs with us all day. She doesn't seem to care that she leaves them, but then when she goes to bed at night, she sits on them all night.

For the past 5 days or so, her voice and demeanor has changed.....she has been the poster child of pure, unimaginable EVIL INCARNATE.

She puts her head to the ground, pops up her little headknob and chases my poor 10 year old. This is the same boy that she has always gotten along with, and he is now terrified of her. And rightfully so. Her bites leave deep bruises and she definitely means business. I wish y'all could see the look in her eye. If duck looks could kill, several of us would be pushin' up daisies.

Q is a houseduck, and always has been. This change in behavior, I am REALLY hoping is hormonal, and temporary. Is this the behavior of a broody duck? Would it be best to continue removing her eggs, and will that lessen the aggression?

She also has HUGE poops every morning. I assume this is because she is not pooping in her 'nest' and saving it up til she gets out of bed. Not really relevant to the situation, but worth mentioning, cuz it's pretty nasty.

 

[MysticScorpio82]

She sounds broody to me!

 

[Amiga]

Yup, Q is broody. You called it - raging hormones. It is temporary, but I do not know just how long it will last with her. I hope some other muscovy keepers will be able to give you more details.

She is lovely, by the way, broody or not.

 

[adrian]

It's hard to say what to do. If you keep removing the eggs and she keeps laying more, you are putting her at risk of being eggbound because excessive laying depletes calcium and stresses the body. But if she is allowed to go broody, for about a month or so she will show this aggressive behavior.

 

[lovesduckies]

i have a friend on facebook who has a inside scovy too. she just rides out the broody on her own. she takes the eggs though, and puts faux eggs in place. she tried stuffed animals to try to trick her duck into thinking the stuffed toys were her babies, but we all know scovies are smart little things. i'd let her ride it out. she will get over it. if you can try to put her in like a corner or something away from people for while, that will help too.

i know the look you are talking about too. LOL i have a broody as well. she is sitting on a ton of eggs (fertilized). she hates when i go in the pen to give her food LOL. she peeps her loud get out of here peep, shakes her tail, and burries her beak in her wings. LoL. she used to be my sweet little baby who would sit on my lap and watch tv with me.

good luck!!


ohh and don't gorget, the eggs might explode, try to replace her eggs with fake eggs

 

[sourland]

Nothing "evil" about a broody acting normally under abnormal conditions. Be aware that this may go on for 5 weeks or more if she is the muscovy in your avatar.

 

[Quackmire]

Quote:
Glad to hear it. I don't want it to be a permanent attitude!

Yup, Q is broody. You called it - raging hormones. It is temporary, but I do not know just how long it will last with her. I hope some other muscovy keepers will be able to give you more details.

She is lovely, by the way, broody or not.

Thank you! We adore her.

It's hard to say what to do. If you keep removing the eggs and she keeps laying more, you are putting her at risk of being eggbound because excessive laying depletes calcium and stresses the body. But if she is allowed to go broody, for about a month or so she will show this aggressive behavior.

Maybe we'll just deal with the behavior. She has not shown this behavior toward me, only toward my son, husband, and other animals in the house. So as long as she is handlable by me, it's tolerable, and better than risking egg binding.

i have a friend on facebook who has a inside scovy too. she just rides out the broody on her own. she takes the eggs though, and puts faux eggs in place. she tried stuffed animals to try to trick her duck into thinking the stuffed toys were her babies, but we all know scovies are smart little things. i'd let her ride it out. she will get over it. if you can try to put her in like a corner or something away from people for while, that will help too.

i know the look you are talking about too. LOL i have a broody as well. she is sitting on a ton of eggs (fertilized). she hates when i go in the pen to give her food LOL. she peeps her loud get out of here peep, shakes her tail, and burries her beak in her wings. LoL. she used to be my sweet little baby who would sit on my lap and watch tv with me.

good luck!!


ohh and don't gorget, the eggs might explode, try to replace her eggs with fake eggs

Her bed is away from people, so she has all night to sit alone. During the day she is with us, but has free roam of the entire house, so if she wants some alone time she's welcome to do so. I do put her in a room by herself a few times during the day when she really gets to threatening people/animals

A "ducky time out". Yep, your girl sounds a lot like what Q is doing. lol

Nothing "evil" about a broody acting normally under abnormal conditions. Be aware that this may go on for 5 weeks or more if she is the muscovy in your avatar.

I know she's not "evil". Yes, she is the scovy in my avatar. Actually, 5 weeks doesn't seem all that terrible. I have had parrots for years and their spring hormonal rages seem to go on forever in some birds. 5 weeks will be a piece of cake.​

 

[sourland]

5 weeks or more. She may go longer if she doesn't hatch any ducklings. Unrequited hormones!

 

[Quackmire]

I've noticed her keel feels slightly more prominent than normal. She is eating less, because she is brooding her eggs. I assume this is connected. I physically *remove* her from the eggs and put her up to eat, drink, and poop, and she does.....but then she goes right back to the eggs until I remove her again a few hours later. This can't be good for her. Should i continue to do this several times a day, or let her continue to obsessivly sit on these eggs? Or should I consider taking them completely?

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

Thats completely normal for a broody chicken or duck. Most of the time a broody will only get off their eggs once maybe twice a day to eat, drink, and poo. Thats IT. Brooding is exceptionally hard on an animal - they lose a good bit of weight, their feathers get dingy, and they get mean - but give her a few weeks after brooding and she'll be good as new.

If you take the eggs away now - she'll start the behavior right back up again. You'll have to resort to putting her in a wire floored cage off the ground for a week possibly to break her of it - or risk her going eggbound. Just let her sit it out for awhile - she'll be good.