Can chicks & ducks stay together?!

[kaylove]

i have baby chicks..and im wondering if i could get a baby duck and put it in the same box together?? i thought it'd be adorable! and fun to also raise a duck.

 

[BeccaOH]

Ducklings are adorable and fun, but do some research before you get yourself in too deep.

I would only brood chicks and ducklings together for a week max. After that the ducklings will be playing in the water and constantly emptying it, which gets the bedding wet and makes life for chicks miserable.

If you get a duckling, get two. They need a buddy to be raised with. Set up a broody area where water can be somewhat contained away from their "sleeping" area. Right now I have my youngest ducklings in a plastic tote tub. The floor is covered with a puppy pad that I change daily. The waterer sits inside another dish with a low lip that they can crawl over but which collects some of the spilled water.

My older ducklings are now in a rabbit cage with wire floor. The drip pan catches the mess of water (as they constantly play in their waterer) and also the watery poo.

You may be able to keep adult chickens and ducks in the same area. Mine share a run area. But again any water in the coop is bound to be spilled, emptied, and messed up by ducks.