2 Drakes - Aggression advice......

[Duckdown]

Hi Guys,

I've got 2 drakes (they were given to me as a male and female pair at a young age but turned out to be 2 males) and now Spring is here, so is their ego and hormones. True to drake style they are chasing and annoying everything in sight. My poor dogs can even no longer roam the the block without being hassled.

I've noticed over the past few weeks they're getting more and more picky with each other - this afternoon they spent a good 10 minutes chasing each other around the pen trying to pin one another down. Is this aggression likely to get worse ie: are they likely to hurt each other?

And I've got my Silkie Bantams in with them at the moment and apart from the odd pick and harrassment here and there, it's been fairly quiet between them all however is this also likely to degrade and they'll start really attacking my 'girls'?

Grateful for any advice,
Cheers.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Drakes can at times live happily with no females around- but it sounds like your guys are at the peak of their hormone levels right now. It may be a good idea to move them away from the silkies for a while- as if they do try to mate with them- they can do some internal damage due to the difference in anatomy.

They may settle down again as the summer draws on - I know my boys do, but do you have any plans to get some females at any stage? Maybe trying to swap one of the males for a ducks could be something you can consider. It can be hard to rehome a pet you have raised - but in the long run they may both be happier with some female company.

 

[Duckdown]

Thanks for getting back to me.

We'd entertained the thought of getting females but aren't quite ready to expand to the numbers I understand we'd need (3 p/male = 6 in total). I'd be really loathe to re-home one of them - they've become part of the family - albeit a little insane at the moment.

I'll take your advice and move them away from the Silkies though until the Spring hormones work through their system.

Thanks again!