Brooding Chicks and Ducklings Together

[saving grace]

Hello! I'm planning on getting some ducklings and chicks in April (they'll be hatched on the same day), and was wondering if anyone has experience with brooding them together. I've read different veiwpoints on the matter, some say it works, others say it's dangerous.

I can definitely do two brooders if it's the better way to go, but I am curious if anyone has had success just keeping them together, since it would save some time and effort.

I was also wondering if a broody chicken hen can raise both chicks and ducklings together without any issues. If one of my hens does go broody, I'm planning to at least let her raise the chicks. (Of course, I know this is all up in the air and animals are unreliable, so I'll always have a back up plan.)

Thanks!

 

[troyer]

Two brooders is better because ducklings are very messy and tend to get the litter wet. Chicks need dry litter to stay healthy and robust and not get chilled.
The ducklings often grow substantially faster making it impractical at best. If the ducklings were a bantam duck, such as a Call, that might make a difference because they wouldn't as quickly outgrow the chicks.

You can try it and see if it works for you, just keep the extra brooder as a backup in case it doesn't work.

Letting a hen raise them would be the same concern because duckling can get wet and not chill, the chicks absolutely need to stay dry.

 

[saving grace]

Two brooders is better because ducklings are very messy and tend to get the litter wet. Chicks need dry litter to stay healthy and robust and not get chilled.
The ducklings often grow substantially faster making it impractical at best. If the ducklings were a bantam duck, such as a Call, that might make a difference because they wouldn't as quickly outgrow the chicks.

You can try it and see if it works for you, just keep the extra brooder as a backup in case it doesn't work.

Letting a hen raise them would be the same concern because duckling can get wet and not chill, the chicks absolutely need to stay dry.

Yeah, those were the concerns I had. I'll definitely do two brooders then, and if a hen does go broody I'll see if she'll raise the chicks and I'll raise the ducklings myself.

 

[Buffbrahmabantam]

We brooded chicks and ducklings once, not by choice, and it went great. The ducks and chicks loved each other. It came about by mistake. We got appleyard duck eggs from Craigslist and as a free bonus, the woman gave us what she thought were call duck eggs (3 of them). We were very surprised when hatch day came 7 days early for those supposed call ducks and they turned out to be chickens! Anyway, after the ducks hatched a week later we set up two brooders side by side because we’d read you shouldn’t brood ducks and chicks together. The first time I had my back turned the chicks had jumped the divider and were running around in the duck brooder having the time of their lives. The ducks (7 ducklings) and chicks (3 chicks) were inseparable and never had any conflicts at all. They were raised together until about 12 weeks. (we were raising the ducks for meat)

When the ducklings went swimming, the chicks happily ran around the edge of the pond scratching in the dirt. The chicks would roost upon a perch at night, above the ducks, and during the day they ran around together and had a blast. What fun times!