Do you have a mixed flock of ducks and chickens? Are you planning to? You’ll need some tricks before you start. Having a mixed flock can be tricky at times. The difference in food, egg-laying, sleeping can all be problems coming from someone who has a mixed flock! So here we go!
Food Problem:
The difference in food can be a trouble with two different birds, especially ducks and chickens.
Ducks need a higher amount of niacin than chickens do, chicken feed doesn’t have as much niacin then duck feed does. Ducks need enough niacin for their bones and legs to grow strong enough, you can tell if ducks need more niacin if they plop down after a few steps.
Meanwhile, if you want a mixed flock, you should probably buy 2 separate brands of food so the chickens and ducks can eat healthily and continue growing strong. Just in case, I would recommend throwing duck food around the run so the ducks can get some niacin just in case.
Egg Laying Problem:
Now here is the problem with egg-laying. Chicken nesting boxes are usually slightly elevated. Even if your nesting boxes aren’t elevated it still could be a problem. Chickens tend to use the nesting box more often than ducks do. If the chickens are using the nesting box then the ducks may lay eggs on the floor and the eggs could be stepped on and crushed.
Also, the nesting box size is a problem. Ducks need 14 by 14 inches for a nesting box. What you should do for eggs is have floor ground-nesting boxes and then elevated nesting boxes with a ramp.
Sure, maybe the chickens may lay in the floor nesting boxes every once in a while, but since chickens usually perch so they will most likely go UP to lay eggs and ducks will stay DOWN.
Sleeping Problem:
Everyone here should know chickens' sleeping situation. Roosting, chickens roost. Chickens have sharp claws and little toes to grip onto the roost.
But, the situation is different for ducks. Ducks have webbed feet and can’t grab ahold of the roosting bar(s). So that means ducks like to nest on the floor and sleep, and chickens like to fly up to the roost so they can sleep.
So you need enough room for ducks to walk around (and chickens in the daylight) and enough for chickens can roost and relax.
Make sure you lay down some hay for the ducks to nest in and make sure the roost can fit all of the chickens!
Outdoor Problems:
So, chickens and ducks have different “tastes” in their runs. Probably everyone knows ducks LOVE to swim and... chickens don’t.
You should add a little kiddy pool in with your mixed flock. Make sure it’s not too deep because chickens... aren’t amazing swimmers as you guys all know.
Say you did buy a kiddy pool for the ducks, they will probably splash it EVERYWHERE and make mud!
This isn’t really a problem for the ducks because it’s what they do. But especially for feathered foot chickens, it would be horrible to walk around in an attempt to walk around and not get stuck or fall into the dirty mud. It would just be depressing for the chickens.
If you want to keep this from happening you should dig out an area and place the kiddy pool inside of it. You could dig a hole where the water comes out and add a pipe to drain the water so that the ground doesn’t become muddy and so everyone in the flock can be happy.
Bullying Problem:
Bullying can be a big problem. Most of the time the chickens are doing the bullying. They will often fluff up their feathers and peck and claw a duck and sometimes hurt a duck.
In some rarer cases, ducks will attack chickens when they are unhappy or maybe even feel threatened by the chicken.
This can be prevented. If you want a mixed flock you should start the ducks and chickens to meet while they are young so they grow up together and will think of each other as brother and sister or something like that at least.
If you already have ducks and the chickens are younger or the other way around that could be harder to deal with since chickens are used to their own kind. You should start off by slowly introducing each other. You should sit in the coop with your ducks and chickens and let them be with each other for an hour to two hours for the first day and slowly let them get used to each other.
After a while let them stay longer together and eventually they will get used to being together and will realize they aren’t a threat to each other.
Mating Problem:
If you have drakes in with your chicken hens that could be a problem. When the males mature they will want to breed, breed, breed! They might start to breed with the chicken hens if they really want to! This would definitely be a problem for the hens.
It would be safer if you had a rooster or two with your hens because they could protect the hens from the drakes. But if you don’t have a rooster then you might have a little tiny problem there.
A drake duck is built differently from a rooster. When a drake tries to mount a chicken hen, he could seriously hurt her. When he mounts her, he could crush her because of his weight and you would be down a hen. Or multiple if he tries multiple times to multiple hens. The reproductive system is also different in ducks than it is in chickens. It could seriously hurt the hen if they breed.
To solve this problem you should probably separate the drakes from the rest of the flock to prevent further injuries to the hens. Hopefully, now you can sleep knowing you won’t wake up to any dead chickens.
Breeding And Hatching Problems:
Are you planning to breed your ducks and chickens while they are in a mixed flock? Hold up. Immediate problem. The breeding will probably go smoothly, but when it comes to sitting on eggs, hatching, and ducklings come, you could have a tiny problem.
Chickens are interested in shiny, moving, bright-colored things. And they aren’t too fond of other birds deciding to join. If your duck is sitting on eggs and gets up a chicken may come over and peck at the eggs because they are interested in the shininess of the egg.
That would not be good. They could crack open and eat the eggs. Even if that doesn’t happen the chickens will become interested in a hatching chick. Maybe some of your chickens haven’t seen a moving egg yet! They might peck the egg once again and ruin whatever you have going.
If that doesn’t happen then the chickens will probably attack the newborn ducklings not knowing why they are here or may not like that newcomers came. That is the case for most chickens anyway.
So, to stop this I would suggest you temporarily separate the mom Duck from the rest of the flock (or maybe keep her with one other duck for company) so that she can hatch the eggs comfortably and nothing bad will happen to the little eggs/ducklings that are trying to hatch.
Thank You Very Much For Reading I Hope You Do Well With Your Mixed Flock!!
Food Problem:
The difference in food can be a trouble with two different birds, especially ducks and chickens.
Ducks need a higher amount of niacin than chickens do, chicken feed doesn’t have as much niacin then duck feed does. Ducks need enough niacin for their bones and legs to grow strong enough, you can tell if ducks need more niacin if they plop down after a few steps.
Meanwhile, if you want a mixed flock, you should probably buy 2 separate brands of food so the chickens and ducks can eat healthily and continue growing strong. Just in case, I would recommend throwing duck food around the run so the ducks can get some niacin just in case.
Egg Laying Problem:
Now here is the problem with egg-laying. Chicken nesting boxes are usually slightly elevated. Even if your nesting boxes aren’t elevated it still could be a problem. Chickens tend to use the nesting box more often than ducks do. If the chickens are using the nesting box then the ducks may lay eggs on the floor and the eggs could be stepped on and crushed.
Also, the nesting box size is a problem. Ducks need 14 by 14 inches for a nesting box. What you should do for eggs is have floor ground-nesting boxes and then elevated nesting boxes with a ramp.
Sure, maybe the chickens may lay in the floor nesting boxes every once in a while, but since chickens usually perch so they will most likely go UP to lay eggs and ducks will stay DOWN.
Sleeping Problem:
Everyone here should know chickens' sleeping situation. Roosting, chickens roost. Chickens have sharp claws and little toes to grip onto the roost.
But, the situation is different for ducks. Ducks have webbed feet and can’t grab ahold of the roosting bar(s). So that means ducks like to nest on the floor and sleep, and chickens like to fly up to the roost so they can sleep.
So you need enough room for ducks to walk around (and chickens in the daylight) and enough for chickens can roost and relax.
Make sure you lay down some hay for the ducks to nest in and make sure the roost can fit all of the chickens!
Outdoor Problems:
So, chickens and ducks have different “tastes” in their runs. Probably everyone knows ducks LOVE to swim and... chickens don’t.
You should add a little kiddy pool in with your mixed flock. Make sure it’s not too deep because chickens... aren’t amazing swimmers as you guys all know.
Say you did buy a kiddy pool for the ducks, they will probably splash it EVERYWHERE and make mud!
This isn’t really a problem for the ducks because it’s what they do. But especially for feathered foot chickens, it would be horrible to walk around in an attempt to walk around and not get stuck or fall into the dirty mud. It would just be depressing for the chickens.
If you want to keep this from happening you should dig out an area and place the kiddy pool inside of it. You could dig a hole where the water comes out and add a pipe to drain the water so that the ground doesn’t become muddy and so everyone in the flock can be happy.
Bullying Problem:
Bullying can be a big problem. Most of the time the chickens are doing the bullying. They will often fluff up their feathers and peck and claw a duck and sometimes hurt a duck.
In some rarer cases, ducks will attack chickens when they are unhappy or maybe even feel threatened by the chicken.
This can be prevented. If you want a mixed flock you should start the ducks and chickens to meet while they are young so they grow up together and will think of each other as brother and sister or something like that at least.
If you already have ducks and the chickens are younger or the other way around that could be harder to deal with since chickens are used to their own kind. You should start off by slowly introducing each other. You should sit in the coop with your ducks and chickens and let them be with each other for an hour to two hours for the first day and slowly let them get used to each other.
After a while let them stay longer together and eventually they will get used to being together and will realize they aren’t a threat to each other.
Mating Problem:
If you have drakes in with your chicken hens that could be a problem. When the males mature they will want to breed, breed, breed! They might start to breed with the chicken hens if they really want to! This would definitely be a problem for the hens.
It would be safer if you had a rooster or two with your hens because they could protect the hens from the drakes. But if you don’t have a rooster then you might have a little tiny problem there.
A drake duck is built differently from a rooster. When a drake tries to mount a chicken hen, he could seriously hurt her. When he mounts her, he could crush her because of his weight and you would be down a hen. Or multiple if he tries multiple times to multiple hens. The reproductive system is also different in ducks than it is in chickens. It could seriously hurt the hen if they breed.
To solve this problem you should probably separate the drakes from the rest of the flock to prevent further injuries to the hens. Hopefully, now you can sleep knowing you won’t wake up to any dead chickens.
Breeding And Hatching Problems:
Are you planning to breed your ducks and chickens while they are in a mixed flock? Hold up. Immediate problem. The breeding will probably go smoothly, but when it comes to sitting on eggs, hatching, and ducklings come, you could have a tiny problem.
Chickens are interested in shiny, moving, bright-colored things. And they aren’t too fond of other birds deciding to join. If your duck is sitting on eggs and gets up a chicken may come over and peck at the eggs because they are interested in the shininess of the egg.
That would not be good. They could crack open and eat the eggs. Even if that doesn’t happen the chickens will become interested in a hatching chick. Maybe some of your chickens haven’t seen a moving egg yet! They might peck the egg once again and ruin whatever you have going.
If that doesn’t happen then the chickens will probably attack the newborn ducklings not knowing why they are here or may not like that newcomers came. That is the case for most chickens anyway.
So, to stop this I would suggest you temporarily separate the mom Duck from the rest of the flock (or maybe keep her with one other duck for company) so that she can hatch the eggs comfortably and nothing bad will happen to the little eggs/ducklings that are trying to hatch.
Thank You Very Much For Reading I Hope You Do Well With Your Mixed Flock!!
