Anyone have both chickens and ducks? Advice

[Ashleymarie529]

I have both and they even room together!! I currently have 6 ducks and two chickens sleeping in the same coop, free-ranging together, and they're best buds. I started with the two silkie chickens (I actually had 4 but lost two to predators) and then I decided to add ducks. Bought 4 ducklings, long story short, I kept them separate for like 3 weeks and then slowly introduced them. But if you buy chicks and ducklings together you can raise them together as best buds without integration pains. I totally recommend it!!!

 

[TinyBirds]

Ducks make a muddy mess of a big area and smell too, so i think chickens are your best bet to try that first. I would use nylon coated 16 gauge hardware cloth 1/2 inch square mesh for their pen and do it as a chicken tractor to move around.

 

[TinyBirds]

As far as the water in winter...don't people just put a heat source in the tub?  I keep a bird bath all winter and I refill it daily (clean bird poop out and refill with very warm water).  It is heated though so it does not freeze.  But I can see if we go out of town that getting someone to keep the tub clean and filled might be more difficult.

My ducks turn a tub of new water into mud slurry within an hour. For drinking you could use a higher hanging water to hopefully make it drinkable longer but seriously they cover everything in mud instantly. I have a big hoop house i move every other day and the ducks have the area completely turned into mud by then. Chickens dont.

 

[TinyBirds]

Young chickens need dry conditions to avoid coccidiosis death so i would do the chickens first at least getting them 3 months ahead of ducks.

 

[Ashleymarie529]

All these naysayers hating on duckies... but they're kinda right. Ducks are worse than pigs... you have to love them and see past the mud puddles and more mud puddles... and mooooore mud puddles.... it's kinda like cats and dogs. Chickens are cats and duckies are doggies. Chickens are cleaner and more chill like cats. Ducks are little silly feathered puppies that love a good mess and adventure. It's all about what you're lifestyle is. You want relaxing birds that require minimal maintenance as far as cleanliness, or are you up for the mess that comes with duckies? Two ducks can make quite the mess compared to two chickens. I still love the ducks. So much personality!

 

[hilltopchicks77]

My muscovies did not make large mud puddles. Like once a week it jumped in the water and splashed but it was never that bad. And I used a Rubbermaid tub with a horse water heater in it. We full once a day and dump and clean every few days. So I didn't think it was that hard (this was our first winter with them)

 

[Jennn27]

We have both! We currently have about 13 laying hens, one main rooster, 12 new chicks, along with three full grown ducks (one drake, two hens) and one duckling with another getting ready to hatch in a day or so. But we also have 6 acres and hatch chicks to sell. But, I have found that if they are raised together and integrated well, they do just fine together. I have had to replace one duck before since he was mean to my hens, but that can happen with any animal. They all pretty much do their own thing, and get along just fine. You just have to make sure you have somewhere for your ducks to have water play. That is a requirement for happy ducks.

Good luck!

 

[Ducks4us]

All these naysayers hating on duckies... but they're kinda right. Ducks are worse than pigs... you have to love them and see past the mud puddles and more mud puddles... and mooooore mud puddles.... it's kinda like cats and dogs. Chickens are cats and duckies are doggies. Chickens are cleaner and more chill like cats. Ducks are little silly feathered puppies that love a good mess and adventure. It's all about what you're lifestyle is. You want relaxing birds that require minimal maintenance as far as cleanliness, or are you up for the mess that comes with duckies? Two ducks can make quite the mess compared to two chickens. I still love the ducks. So much personality!

Have you had pigs?? Nothing is as bad as a pig!!

We raised to meat pigs and the ground will never be the same!!! Lol they were a nightmare!! Friendly but they rooted up ground like i couldnt beleive. I will never have pigs again! Haha.
Ducks can be messy. But to me the pros far outweight the cons.
Chickens can get into everything. Even with clipped wings. Ducks are soo much easier to contain.
I too love their personalities!!!! And i agree its kinda a matter of which you just like the looks and personality of best.

Chickens are a no less maintance in my opinion. When you add the dust baths and checking for lice/ mites. Etc.. they are actually more.
We have left both home for the weekend and they did great.
If you have plenty of room which sounds like you have lots of room they are easy to keep clean! And plenty of water buckets. And you only have to refil once a day.
And ducks dont waste near as much feed as chickens.
Im shocked at how much less feed i have went thru with 13 ducklings as i did with my last batch of fewer chicks. They cant kick all the food out or fling it out with their beaks like chickens!
I have all the diff chicken feeders, they can drain a 40 lb feeder in 20 minutes!

 

[dekel18042]

We have both! We currently have about 13 laying hens, one main rooster, 12 new chicks, along with three full grown ducks (one drake, two hens) and one duckling with another getting ready to hatch in a day or so. But we also have 6 acres and hatch chicks to sell. But, I have found that if they are raised together and integrated well, they do just fine together. I have had to replace one duck before since he was mean to my hens, but that can happen with any animal. They all pretty much do their own thing, and get along just fine. You just have to make sure you have somewhere for your ducks to have water play. That is a requirement for happy ducks.

Good luck!

We have both chickens and ducks and they get along well together. Ducks will probably stay closer. Depending on the breed you choose, you won't have to worry about them going over a fence. If a fence has wire topping instead of a board or you choose larger breeds your chickens m]probably won't go out either.
That said, I much prefer my chickens and would almost like to rehome the ducks although they are excellent layers. Unfortunately my husband loves them.
They never met water they couldn't muddy up (Unless it is below freezing outside.) in a matter of minutes. The chickens keep the water clean until it is replaced.
The chickens are much neater. We had a nice lawn (We're on acreage.) until we got the ducks. They can dig up and bulldoze and burrow through anything.
So you might think chickens first and if you get ducks don't give them access to near your house. Ours free range but they really stay near.

 

[LeiaLayers5]

As you can see, everyone has their favorites. Personally, my husband and I have both chickens and ducks. We started with chickens because he was curious and wanted to try them. We ended up liking them and expanded our flock. I was pretty happy with them in general myself. I then got it into my head after seeing ducklings that I wanted to try ducks. My husband being the softy that he is let me and even did not get mad when the original 2 ducklings shortly became 5 ducklings. In all honesty, I realized I favor the ducks more. We have a huge run that is encompassing both their chicken coop and duck house. They were originally kept separated but eventually shared the run completely. They get along fine and even free range together. My husband still prefers the chickens just because he hates redoing the water pools for ducks, but really that is his only complaint. He loves our ducks and their quirks as much as I do. I tease that he is a chicken guy and I am a duck lady. We really do enjoy them both, but it is inevitable, that you will probably prefer one a bit more than other. I would say if you go all female and no males, then get a couple of both and I would say kept separate at least for a bit growing up would be good as far as upkeep, but maybe let them try free ranging together so they can get used to coexisting. It will definitely be easier to keep them together later if they are used to being around one another. If you can brood them side by side where they are separate but can see and sort of interact might be good idea too if possible. I think you will be happier having both experiences before you decide between one or the other. I have no regrets about having both at all. They are very different experiences and well worth trying even if you decide later that you prefer one more than the other.

Edit: I should add, that we have had losses in both chickens and ducks. Even though my husband complains about ducks occasionally, he still reacted just as devastated when we lost ducks as he did to chickens. As a result of recent losses, he is letting me get ducklings again to (create a balance in the force haha) and try to counteract some of the sadness we have felt. We enjoyed so much raising ducklings and look forward to that again. The chickens were not quite as fun as chicks to raise, just my opinion and although my husband liked they were less mess, he does agree that ducklings are cuter and more entertaining. Just thought I would add that.