Brooding Chicks with Ducklings

[Broodica]

I am a total newbie - both on here and in chick/duckling raising. We have 5 chicks and 2 ducklings set to arrive Sept 3. My husband is building the "Palace" and I am taking care of the brooder. We are planning on having the chickens and ducks hanging around together. We have quite a large open area, so we are building separate houses for them within the coop and the ducks will have a pool area tucked away from the chickens, but they will share the same run area during the day.....

Consequently, we would like to ensure that the chicks and ducks are brooded together so there are no 'issues' when we put them together in the coop. From what I have read, most people say do not brood them together because the ducklings are so messy and the chicks need to remain dry and the ducklings grow faster and bigger and could overwhelm the chicks. Not to mention they need different food when younger. So what we are thinking is....

Building a brooder that is big enough for the chicks and ducklings and then separate them with 4 mesh hardware cloth so they can see each other and interact, but are physically apart. We thought we could put the heat light over the meshseparation area so when they cuddle under it, they could sort of be huddled together. Food and water would be kept at the opposite ends of each side.

Waddaya think? Would this work? Any comments/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[incubatingisfun]

i wouldnt do it the ducks will splash water and make the brooder wet and chilling the chicks

 

[woodmort]

I've done that successfully but, as pointed out above, the ducks will splash water and, in general, make a mess of the brooder plus they are bigger and grow faster. The best way is to, somehow, isolate the ducklings from the chicks to control the problem and be vigilant so you can clean up the wet areas. The nice thing is that ducks, because they get less elevation, are easily "fenced" into an area with a low barrier.