2 Muscovy Drakes & No females

[NonFeatheredMum]

hi there,
I live in Ontario, Canada and recently became a new mum to 10 chicken hens (who are the sweetest girls ever!!) and two Muskovy drakes this past summer. The drakes were a total surprise one night as they were going to be slaughtered the next day if we didn’t take them in so my step-son rescued them. It’s just been the two boys since July (Oliver and Otis) and they are the best of buds! They hang out all day side by side and sleep together every night in their large shed, they forage and swim and sunbathe. Oliver is the dominant, and Otis just goes with the flow. When we got them we had a large male Newfie Lab mix dog who would “rule the roost” so to speak and the drakes were always friendly and pleasant to have around. They are totally free range along with the chickens in our backyard which is half an acre with a pond, totally fenced in and they sleep in a large shed with a chicken coop inside for the hens. The yard is shared with our 3 indoor/outdoor cats as well. Everyone seemed to get along just dandy...

Then unexpectedly our sweet dog passed away a month ago and ever since Oliver has become quite aggressive and mean! I understood immediately he was claiming his dominance now that the large goofy dog who would put him in his place was nowhere to be seen, and after reading a fantastic and hilarious article last night on misbehaving Muscovy Drakes here on backyardchickens.com I realized I was doing Everything on the “what not to do” list!! (I am not looking forward to straddling “Over Reactor Oliver” and pinning him down when he tries to attack me next, but I’ll be adorned in my snowsuit of plush armour! Wish me luck!!)...

Now, My real question in all of my babbling introduction above is…Do I need to have female Muskovy’s or can I just have the two drakes if they continue to get along??
Will this become a problem or threat to Otis if Oliver is sexually frustrated?? Or can drakes live a happy life without a wife??

Thanks for your input!
I appreciate it!

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. In the spring the drakes may turn their 'affections' towards the chicken hens. This could cause serious problems for the chicken hens.

 

[NonFeatheredMum]

Welcome to BYC. In the spring the drakes may turn their 'affections' towards the chicken hens. This could cause serious problems for the chicken hens.

 

[NonFeatheredMum]

Understood! The girls have access to private quarters where the drakes can’t get to them in the warmer months, so hopefully that is already rectified! Thank You!

 

[Fishkeeper]

Keep a very close eye on the drakes, and stop them immediately if they go after the hens. Ducks are one of the few birds whose mating involves any, ah, tab-in-slot action, and chickens are not. Bad news for the hens.

 

[NonFeatheredMum]

This is my first winter with them. Here is their current set up. I took this when I locked them up for the night

 

[Miss Lydia]

How many hens in there it looks crowded? Can they roost?

 

[NonFeatheredMum]

10 little hens, and it goes all the way to the back wall. Lots of room on their 3 roosting bars. I think they were still picking spots when I took the pic. I find the more dominant ladies like to be upfront. I asked some local chicken savvy friends and they assured me they have plenty of room. I was worried about that too!
They also have the whole back corner of the shed where it’s hard to see with lots of daytime roosting bars and laying boxes.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Looks like you have it covered literally. Beautiful Muscovy drake too I love my Muscovys!!

 

[chickens really]

You may need to set up a separate pen and possibly get rid of a Drake. Yes, getting him 3 Hens will help hormones..