Can ducklings and chicks be raised together?

[gryeyes]

I have a Cayuga pair with my flock of chickens, and they are just part of the flock. They eat out of my hands with the chickens. When they were younger, they went into the coop with the chickens and just nested in a corner, but then they started patrolling the yard and not making it into the coop before the auto door closed. I left another coop open for them, and they used that for a while, but now they do not stay in any "coop" - I even made a duck house for them that chickens have taken over because the ducks never used it.

I have four call ducklings I am about to add to the flock, but I think they'll be using a new, smaller duck house. I can hope!

The Cayuga pair really do patrol the yard at night, and since they are black, they are my stealth Ninja ducks. They have a few special spots they settle at night when they aren't on their self-imposed patrol duty.

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

So I noticed in one of the pics, there is a kiddie pool being filled for the ducks and the chickens were present. I thought that the chickens would drown by accident if they got near the water..I guess they can be near it if supervised?

Oh yeah and that stuff about the ninja duck midnight patrol was so cute!

And about the chickens and/or ducks I would have, they would all have to be female seeing as I don't want the loud noise of the male roos or the additional baby ducks from the roos/ducks.

 

[jason_mazzy]

I fill the pool almost daily, and have never had a problem with my chickens. they jump on top of it all the time to drink out of it (though I discourage them by providing several other water containers for disease reasons).

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

oh cool thanks!

 

[Delta3013]

I have a duck that was raised with 5 silkie chicks....he thinks like them, talks like them, and sleep like them, well ..... I think he IS one of them. It's quite funny.

 

[donnavee]

Hillary and friend's eggs :

So I noticed in one of the pics, there is a kiddie pool being filled for the ducks and the chickens were present. I thought that the chickens would drown by accident if they got near the water..I guess they can be near it if supervised?

Oh yeah and that stuff about the ninja duck midnight patrol was so cute!

And about the chickens and/or ducks I would have, they would all have to be female seeing as I don't want the loud noise of the male roos or the additional baby ducks from the roos/ducks.

Just remember, in ducks it is the female that quacks. Some can be pretty loud, especially the call ducks. I some BEI and call ducks after I already had chickens so they weren't raised together. Most of the chickens ignore them, but I have a couple that chase after them.​

 

[gryeyes]

Hillary and friend's eggs :

So I noticed in one of the pics, there is a kiddie pool being filled for the ducks and the chickens were present. I thought that the chickens would drown by accident if they got near the water..I guess they can be near it if supervised?

Oh yeah and that stuff about the ninja duck midnight patrol was so cute!

And about the chickens and/or ducks I would have, they would all have to be female seeing as I don't want the loud noise of the male roos or the additional baby ducks from the roos/ducks.

Kiddie pools are not hard for chickens to get out of if they fall in, whilst perching on the edge to drink. It IS a problem for chicks; I have lost a chick through drowning in one.

Now, about noise... you should know that the female duck is the loudest. Male duck quacks are must softer. It's the ladies that have a lot to say, LOUDLY.

I am very lucky with my Cayuga pair; I had read they were fairly quiet, so that was another reason I got mine. Thelma hardly ever says anything at all other than the quiet gabbling with Louie. Louie is talkative, but he's very quiet. I think in the year I've had them, I have only heard Thelma quack about five times, and that's when she was mightily ticked off about something. No more than three really LOUD quacks at a time, usually ONE big, scary one.

Now, my call ducklings are quite noisy little things. Maybe it's a blessing only one of the four is a girl. Well, until they reach sexual maturity, then I'm gonna have a problem with those three boys.​

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

Ok so before I go buy some female ducks that I may regret, how loud are they in comparison to roosters or laying hens? I want to get magpie, buff, runner, and mallard ducks if the breed makes any difference.

 

[duckking]

I have 4 chickens and 5 ducks all living together very peaceably. We have Mallards and Rouens and RIR's, Delaware, Wyandottes. The ducks can be VERY noisy, but I wouldn't say louder than a rooster. Definitely louder than the hens. Our Rouen drake is very quiet, but then most drakes are. The ducks are usually quiet unless excited. They greet me when I come out with loud quacks and when I bring their treats, but during the day, I rarely hear them from the house and they are close by.

We had them together as chicks/ducklings, but the ducks grew so much faster and were definitely messier, so we split them up. We put them back together when we put them outside and have never had a problem. They established their own pecking orders amongst themselves and between each group. Every now and then my dominant female duck and dominate hen will have a bit of a roust-about, but it's over in seconds with no harm done to either. Even our drake, a huge Rouen, is cool with the chickens and they basically ignore him. They share food, water and the run, but have their own houses at night. Every now and then, the ducks want to sleep in the bottom of the coop, so I just make sure I don't leave any food/water in there when they do.

I have 3 waterers in the run, one in the chicken end and 2 in the duck end, plus a 100 gallon pool. The chickens will sit on the pool edge every now and then, but rarely. One did fall in once and just flew right out. We have separate feeders, but they have the same food in them. Ducks rarely go the chicken feeder, but the chickens are at the duck feeder. They share treats, with the chickens even dipping into the duck 'soup' to fish out tidbits. The ducks will sometimes just nudge them away with their bills or they share just fine. The ducks will go in and forage through the chickens side for scratch and other tidbits they leave behind. We do have a gate between the runs, but we just leave it open.

I love that they are all together!

 

[Hillary and friend's eggs]

Thanks for the info, It is helpful to know.

Now imagine 4 duck hens in a coop about 10 feet away from my house, and 20-30 away from the closest neighbor. The neighbors were fine with the hen's noise, due to the fact that it wasn't that loud and was fairly infrequent. How frequent and loud are the duck hens? Would it be too much for this setting? Thanks.