adding ducklings to existing chicken flock?

[ARose4Heaven]

Sorry, but I couldn't find an existing thread about this...

I have quite a few large 16 week old chickens. I just got 9 adorable week old ?rouen? ducklings.

I have set up a new run with a large pet carrier for night and weather protection for the ducklings for now. Can I eventually integrate the ducks with the chicken flock, or Do I need to build a separate Duck House?

I do have a nice pond, but it is quite a way from the house. I really want them to be within sight distance from the house so the dogs will alert me of predators (other than themselves) My golden lab has a taste for the same things I do, so I doubt that unsupervised ranging is practical.

 

[hikerchick]

I keep mine all together. They ignore one another.

 

[jvls1942]

you cannot just toss them together and expect them to get along.. sometimes new comers are just ignored. other times they will be killed.. It has a lot to do with size difference and even color difference.. I put a small white turkey in with 50 buff orpingtons.
the chickens freaked and ran.. the turkey just stood in one spot and looked around like,"what th'" then I tried 2 smaller buff chickens and the larger ones did their best to kill them..

You just have to play it by ear, kiddo.....

 

[ARose4Heaven]

I did put the duck run right beside the chicken yard to kind of watch how the chickens reacted to the sound of the new comers. They can't see each other because of the plywood that is around the bottom of the chicken yard.

They are curious, but I will definetly wait a while before I try face-face introductions. I had a rooster try to kill a kitten the other day, so I may wait until the roosters are in the freezer next month, then carefully introduce the ducks during the time the flock is reorganizing itself.

 

[racuda]

The ducks will make a wet soggy mess and your chickens will be unhappy. The drinking water will also be impossible to keep clean longer than about 15 minutes.