why do some ducks nibble at everything ??

[katharinad]

There is a difference between the checkout nibble and the dominance bite. The checking out out attention getting nibble does not hurt nor does it leaves any marks. This behavior is ok. In a dominance situation it is more like a bite, and the duck is coming with a lowered head. This can also be combined with a charge or a hiss. This will leave a mark and it is not ok. If that happens then you need to mount the duck to clarify who is boss. To mount a duck you need to put one hand onto the upper neck or head and the other hand onto the back holding the duck down to the ground until it stops fighting. You may have to repeat this until the duck gets the point of who is boss. Some owners will sit on the duck holding the head down. Others will grab the duck, and hold it under the arm and carry it around. I had to do that twice with my boy. Now he is the the sweetest duck you can find. He runs up to me chatting in ducky talk. Who knows what he says. The girls do the same. They all will occasionally nibble my clothes. As the owner you need to differentiate between sweet nibble and dominance bite.

 

[gryeyes]

You are absolutely right, Katharinad! After my Cayuga drake simply would not stop with the harder bites, I pushed him down and held him that way, then I picked him up and carried him around a while. When I put him down, I reinforced it with another "mount" for a bit until he stopped wiggling. Ever since then he just nibbles. He still comes running to me in apparent delight, and nibbles, all chatty with me.

A much better ducky, now.

 

[Miss Lydia]

same here just the hens. Now my gander he's another story, if I sit down with him he's got to be nibbling on pants shoes and sometimes bare skin ouch!

 

[CityChicker]

LOL, the day my husband sees me out in the yard mounting the ducks is the day I get a one way ticket to the funny farm. LOL

I know what you are saying about pressing down the back, but if a drake was so aggressive that I had to actually sit on top of him, we would be having crispy duck for dinner. In contrast to the aggression bites, a lot of our more tame ducks give us the little nibbles. I think it is adorable. We call them ducky kisses.

 

[katharinad]

Little nibbles are fun. I don't think I will sit on my ducks either. The two hand press down approach works fine. Mine have never been really aggressive, but the boy did try. It just didn't work out for him and he know better. Last week he was thinking about it and I was reaching for his neck. He got the message right then without having to mount him. Smart little sucker. Today he was all mommy and tried to get in through the dog door.

 

[Wifezilla]

Tweak got carried around a few times. But I wasn't talking about charging from Shelley and Lexi. Those two are obviously just curious. The whole charge and really bite thing is the males trying to dominate you and put themselves about you in the flock. Once you show them YOU are the leader things are usually fine. If not, well, as Dana said, it's time to pull out that crispy duck recipe

 

[MamaChic21]

Quote:
You are too funny

luckily, she doesn't bite I mean it doesn't hurt. I never knew about holding their mouth and never thought to give obedience lessons to ducks. Something new you learn everyday
She just loves to follow me around and being too curious I guess. She loves to check everything out. When the weather was nice out, I would sit next to her pond and just watch them and soon I would realize that she would be under my chair sleeping Other times while sitting on a chair, I would have to rise up my feet on to the chair cause she won't stop nibbling

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

Ducks are like kids, they put everything in their mouth! My boys seem to like the buttons and zippers on our jackets the best. They have never bitten us, but boy are they going through a "phase"! They have been the sweetest little guys right up until Thanksgiving. They freerange with their five sisters (assorted hen chickens) for the most part they get along pretty well. I have one hen (lower on the pecking order) who would bully the ducks once and a while. Due to the weather the chickens spent several days confined to their coop. The other day I let them out and they made a b-line right for the duck dish to eat the "leftovers" (they do this every morning). But for some reason, the ducks were not having it and went berserk! They were defending their dish and chasing their sisters all over. Over the span of a few days, the ducks forgot the routine. And since then, they have been running all over the yard quacking and telling everyone off! Elliot runs around chasing everyone (including me) with his head lowered (but he's too afraid to get very close). It's amusing watching him act tough, just another side of their goofy personalities. They are not aggressive toward eachother, and they have not been mean to the chickens. Just running around throwing tantrums. They don't get aggressive when we pick them up, they just try and wiggle free. However, my partner picked up Elliot yesterday to put him in their pool. Elliot decided to give him a kiss on the lips...I almost dropped Oliver I was laughing so hard. You should have seen the look on BOTH their faces, I'm not sure who was more surprised. It was a soft kiss, but very unexpected. I'm hoping this is just a phase for them. If not, then school will be in session...and they will receive some education. Can't help but love them and their goofy antics.

 

[MamaChic21]

that is so hilarious

, I'm still laughing

That is so cute. Isn't it wonderful just to watch them I absolutely love it. They way they enter act with each other and trying to communicate, priceless... I throws away stress. Let me ask you something, why do 2 female ducks get on top of each other ? First this duck that loves to nibble (Cruz) I thought she was a female, then I saw her on top of another duck, I'm like ok it's a male, then some other duck got on top of her, I'm like what the ..... is going on ? who is who ? But now she's laying eggs so I know she is 100 % female loll but seriously why do 2 females duck look like they are trying to have a baby ?

 

[Muse]

Ducks are very social and loving creatures. If you incubated the eggs they hatched out of, it is very likely that they bonded with you and are trying to get your attention by nibbling at you. If you hold them and the nibbling stops, they just wanted attention, if not, (although they are young and especially if they are males) they may be trying to assert dominance over you in which case do not give them any attention and/or move them away from you. This will teach them to have a healthy relationship with you.