Chicks and baby ducks?

Howdy,
Really new to the chicken world and this site. I have 19 chicks in the incubator-ready to hatch today. i just got 4 one day old ducks from the feedstore. Can they be in a cage together? Is their feed the same? what should i know about keeping the 2 together?

I am doing this for school with moms help and am going to keep them as pets (the ducks and some chickens).thank you

baby ducks and chicks can be kept together but a few things need to be kept in mind
yes they get along fine i had no trouble there

baby chicks need to be protected from wet and soggy areas which a duck will inevitably turn your brooder into

a duck will splash and dribble all over your cage causing the baby chicks to become wet and cold which could be a problem

the baby chicks need a waterer that they can only get their beaks into so they cant getto wet or drown

while ducks have larger beaks and will require a larger area in the waterer for their beaks to fit

i raised baby chicks with 5 ducks and a baby goose all at the same time they started out in a brooder together they had no trouble getting along but as i very quickly learned the ducks made such a mess out of the brooder that i just seperated them all together..however once they were old enough to go outside they all went in the coop together and they get along just fine with no problems.
oh and yes they eat the same starter feed as the chicks do.did you get pekin ducks?
i guess really it is your preference since they done really cause any damage to one another but if you do keep them together it may take alot of work to keep that brooder dry for the chicks

Chicks and duckllings should never be kept together. Medicated chick feed will kill ducklings because they will overdose on the medication since they eat so much. Ducklings will also make a mess with all the water and create a damp environment which would be deadly to chicks. Ducklings will also grow much faster than chicks and will bully them resulting in injury or death. I have heard of people raising the two together and have tried it once before but I would never do it again and would never recommend it.

It is easy to accomodate both species without much effort. I use plastic storage totes as brooders and han a shop light in for heat. I suggest just buying nonmedicated game bird starter, it can be fed to both species.

I'm sorry for sounding harsh, I just don't want others to go through what I did and have your chicks die. Good luck and welcome!

While in can be done, I would not recommend the practice. Waterfowl and chickens are much better off seperated.

bigzio

i got one mallard and 3 pekin. is that ok? i couldnt decide and only had a small amount of money. Is there a way to tell a boy from a girl? i am hoping for 1 boy in order to raise more. and is it ok to eat the eggs if we want to?

mom set me up and helped with my logo picture. She is more excited then me

i guess we all have different experiences to share im sorry yours was so awful my only real problem with raising the two together as i said before was the mess the ducks would cause in the brooder because of the wetness as i also said was not good for chicks .ducks do grow alot faster than chicks however once out in the coop the size difference wasnt a problem with them.and as far as the feed, i gave them what the feed store told me to give them which was the chick starter they are healthy and happy and about 5 months old now.yes they do tend to overeat i see youre point there.but i was just giving my experience at raising the two as i said before i chose not to raise them together because of the mess and wetness the ducks created making it not good for chicks unless someone knows some magical way to keep that brooder dry with ducks in it i wont raise them in the same brooder again either

i have known people to eat duck eggs we eat our goose eggs and plan on eating our duck eggs when they start laying.as far as the breeds mine are pekin (pretty ducks) as for the mallard ,arent they the ones who fly away maybe someone else on here knows but i seem to remember that was one of the reason i didnt want them however if they are im sure you could clip his/her wings.now as far as telling htem apart there was a site i found that said you can tell them apart from their voices the females are very loud(go figure lol) and the males are quieter that what i read anyway and it has been what i have been going by.the only other way of knowing other than vent sexing which i do not know how to do is wait for eggs.i bought 5 and wound up with 2 boys and three girls

wow the feed store guy told me the medication chick food was ok for the ducks too. My mom even asked them to make sure. now i am afraid to use the food.

I can probably get a plastic bin instead of the cage i have. Should the ducks be in the plastic bin or in the cage? the cage is about 2 and half feet long by 18 inches had a solid plactic bottem and wire sides. It also has a raised wire rack thing that i can leave in or take out on the bottom.

at the feed store i go to they have them in a wire cage with a heat light on top of it however i dont see how the heat stays in a wire cage i suppose if they sit directly under it they can feel some heat but i think the idea is to have the brooder box at an all around comfortable temp which really cant be done in a wire cage.many people do things different ways though.i used a brooder for a short time till the mess got to be just to much for me in such a small space then i experimented and moved them when they were about 2 weeks old to a kidde pool away from all drafts or open doors i wrapped chicken wire around the outside of the kiddie pool so they couldnt jump out and hurt themselves i used the heat light just over the kiddie pool for their heat sorce if they got too cold i would lower the bulb if they got to hot i wouls raise it. i did this succesfully but keep in mind they do need to be away from drafts.i used hay for lining the bottom of the pool however i would not use it again they seem to not be able to walk very well on it im not sur what else to use maybe pine bedding but you may want to ask around about that i may have just used to much hay in the bottom and gosh what a stink to clean out because with the waterer and them being ducks it will get wet.how old are they now?

i have a kiddie pool and light.i will try that.
the ducklings are one day old.