Can Ducks And Chickens Share A Coop?...

[kysilkies]

We have 6 Silkies and 4 ducks that grew so fast, we didn't get a 2nd coop up in time(and still can't for a short period of time), can they be cooped together without fear of fighting?!?!?!...Of the Silkies, only one is a Roo and IMO, he's protective and 2 hens are laying consistently, not broody though, just lay it and go...

 

[jadeflower999]

We kept some of our extra roosters in with the ducks and they all got along. I guess it depends, but if they grew up together I think it will be ok as long as it's not over crowded.

 

[Wildsky]

I have 6 muscovies in with my chickens, and they do just fine.

 

[kawonu]

Yes they will be fine together.

 

[hankus]

Mine are fine together, but the chickens don't like it too much when they fall into the duck pond.

 

[TarzantheChickenMan]

the silkies are really prone to getting a chill when wet their feather lose their insulating value. so duck and silkies are not always a good mix but i depend how cold thing are getting your in Ky so im not sure if i tried tht mix in Northern MN i would have silkie pops in the morning

 

[kysilkies]

Quote:
That's funny! I love how ours look with wet-head! This is only to be a temporary situation, they just grew up a lot faster than we thought...We only had Silkies to compare to and found there's no comparison! LOL

We're going to try them tomorrow while it's nice out and if we have to, they can come back in house at night until we get other coop done...

 

[jaboo81]

That is a good question. My son wanted to get a few ducks. But I did not know if they would get along with the hens, and Rooster.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I think it depends on the set-up and amount of room you have in your coop, but in general it seems like ducks and chickens get along fine! I keep three large ducks with twenty-three of my mostly-bantam chickens, and while the ducks are pushy sometimes, they don't hurt anyone either. The worst thing that's happened so far with the mix of ducks and chickens is that one of my drakes thought our EE hen was a female duck for some reason and tried to mate with her.

She's since passed on, and for some reason he's never made a pass at the Buff Orpingtons although they're a similar size. (Perhaps because the two buff girls are more concerned with thinking they're guinea fowl...)

I would definitely watch the ducks at first with the silkies to make sure they're not being too pushy (as silkies are fairly timid in general), but if there's enough space for everyone to live comfortably and avoid each other if they'd like, there probably won't be any problems. My ducks aren't perfect gentleducks to the chickens, but they don't hurt anyone either and never have in the three years I've had my ducks and chickens together. Just prepare to clean the chicken water a lot!

 

[kysilkies]

It's 4'x8'(with a 2nd floor, sort of) and will have 10 birds in it, that's 3.2sqft a bird(plus the upper area), I hope that's enough LOL...Is it?