The typical animal that people use as guard animals are dogs, dogs have been trained for years to protect your other animals as well as attack when needed, but how about ducks?
This article looks into whether you can train a duck to attack
Can you train a duck to attack?
Ducks can be trained to do a whole variety of things including perform certain actions when given a command.
We’ve seen ducks being trained to go into their hen houses when told a command but have not seen ducks be trained to attack on command.
However, they will attack and protect when they see themselves as guardians of a flock.
The ducks will protect smaller members of the flocks as they see themselves as guardians of smaller birds in the flock, even if those birds aren’t ducks themselves.
Ducks are also very territorial not only with land but with members of their flock as well.
Ducks will protect members of their flock by flapping their wings at the intruder, biting the intruder, and chasing after the intruder.
While this is all well and good it’s important to know your duck’s limits.
While a duck can protect against some predators, your duck can only do so much and thus won’t be able to fend off or attack larger predators like big cats or coyotes.
Your ducks will however be able to protect against smaller animals like slugs, rodents, and weasels. You can generally expect the ducks to protect against animals smaller than them.
Waterfowl that are usually used as guard animals are geese. This is because geese create louder honks and are bigger and stronger than ducks, but if you only have ducks at your disposal then they will do.
Using added measures to keep your other animals safe will also be helpful when using ducks as guard animals.
Picking the right duck which has the most protection potential ie: Indian runner ducks, is recommended.
In addition, predators will be less likely to want to come onto your property if you’re keeping a whole flock of guard ducks.
The ducks will likely keep to themselves and be engrossed with themselves in a flock but the flock will more likely keep predators away.
A single duck will be more of a guard animal but predators will more likely attack a single duck
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Do Ducks Love Their Babies?, Duck Biting Other Ducks Neck, How To Care For A Single Duckling, How Do Mother Ducks Protect Their Young, How Do Ducks Know Their Babies?, Abnormal Duck Behavior, Why Is My Duck Making Weird Noises
