Yeah, I raised my 4 hens and 1 Pekin drake (who wasn't sexed so I was skunked out of a female) together from the time I brought them home. They were all very fond of each other, in fact Paul wouldn't go swimming unless he could see the chickens nearby
The hens sort of idolized him and would follow him everywhere, he would even walk up into the coop with them at night. About a week ago, however, he began going through ducky puberty and tried to get randy with my hens. The morning he got my Ameracauna by the neck it was time for him to go. Luckily for me, a lady at the local hatchery he had origianlly come from wanted him for her home duck/goose/chicken flock in the country, so I knew he was going to a good home. It was sad to say goodbye, he was a fabulous, friendly and handsome guy. I agree with m.kitchengirl, more often than not I have read stories about even the sweetest drakes terrorizing chicken hens. And they WILL cause serious damage, and they will NOT stop or grow out of it. Duck plumbing is a lot different from chicken, and the neck grabbing is a good way to pull out feathers, not to mention stress the heck out of your laying hens.
I have ordered 2 more ducks from Metzers that will be here in about a week that I am SOOOOO excited for though! My real question here is, is it okay to keep female ducks with chicken hens? I have heard even two females with engage in mating behaviors with each other, but will they play nice with the chickens? I'm not so worried about the chickens giving them trouble since they have been around Paul all their lives and are used to ducks. I have a very docile flock besides. The only trouble maker might be the new Silver Laced I introduced last week but she still is not very aggressive, she's older than my pullets but she's mostly a loner. LOVE ducks though, they have such great personalities and I miss Paul's quacking around here. 