A death left me with 2 ducks and a lone chicken.

[Jeskimely]

Two months ago I went out and bought 2 ducklings, a Rouen and a Pekin, and 2 chicks, both Golden-Laced Wyandottes (I think).

Today, I was refilling their water when I noticed my older Wyandotte had broken her neck; I'm not sure how it happened, but I suspect the Pekin may have accidentally crushed her.


Anyway, while that's all very sad, none of it's particularly confusing; just a bad accident. But it does leave me with another problem:

Now that I only have a sole chicken, will she be alright with the company of the ducks, or does she need another chicken to keep her company?

 

[wyliefarms]

If they have been raised together, they should be fine.

Sorry for losing one.

 

[Jeskimely]

Thanks for the info.

 

[SilkiesAndSuch]

Birds that are raised together usually consider each other part of the flock, whether the birds are the same species or not. She shouldn't be lonely with the two ducks. So sorry about your loss....I hate it when I lose a bird...

 

[Siler]

Geese and ducks are more aggressive than chickens. When mine were all young last spring I raised them separate but close. I kept the ducklings in a tote by themselves mostly because they were messy. I found it much easier to clean a rubbermaid tote then wipe the mess off my walls by hand.

They should be fine for now, but I'm learning almost a year later that my lone drake mallard is extremely aggressive towards the chickens. He was fine until he wanted to breed this season. This is something to keep in mind for when they get older.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I know that would have been really hard on me to discover.

 

[Jeskimely]

I have noticed that since the one died, the remaining chicken has spent a lot more time with the ducks. They used to separate into two groups, but she just seemed to go, Oh well, and now they're one big flock. So that fixes that.

I've also noticed the aggression. I'm thinking that I should get a couple of Australorps (it being Arizona) and just separate the flocks when I'm not watching.