Can I raise chicks and ducks together??

[mygroomshop]

I am getting 5 chicks and a friend wants some ducklings, can I start them together for about a month? I dont know much about ducks but have been researching tonight. I cant find anything about them together. Thoughts? Thanks, Lori

 

[Dtrain28]

I have many times......I'd start by having them in separate brooders due to the ducks tendency to get super messy at times with water , food, etc....with young chicks that might be tough..... after a few weeks though they should be fine.....

 

[al6517]

Sure people do it all the time.

 

[mygroomshop]

Can they eat the same food? Do they need the same temp.?

 

[stargazingmommy]

I had mine in seperate brooders, side by side rubber made totes with a screen frame on top and a heat lamp in between them. until they were about a month old. Then I stuck them all in the coop and run together.
They still live together.
I tried separating them and they all threw major fits.
I did lost 1 chick to the ducks pool.
As messy as the ducks were, constantly spilling their water, I would keep them separate. That or build a raised bottom in the brooder so when the duckies spill no one ends up standing in water, wet bedding, etc.

 

[RaZ]

I have 5 chicks that are 3 weeks older than the 5 ducks.
They were raised in different brooders to start but then about 4 weeks ago they went out to the coop together.
Now that the ducks are twice the size of the chickens, they decided to spend their nights outside while the chicks go in to roost.
Both chicks and ducks have the run of the yard and are doing fine together.
They both get the same starter food and treats and whatever they can forage.

Hope that helps.

PS The only problem I see is that after a month, you will not want to give the ducks back to your friend.

 

[Whiskey Bay]

Ducks cannot have medicated feed. OTher than that the only problem ducks pose is super nastiness. Make a good choice for watering,because even at day old ducklings,they make the most horrible messes...lol...I no longer allow ducks with my chicks.I made hubby build his own brooder strictly for his ducks.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i would brood them separately. Ducks are super messy with their water and you don't want soggy chicks. Also, as Whiskey Bay mentioned, you don't want to give ducks medicated chick starter. You'll want Mazuri Waterfowl starter or Purina Flockraiser for the baby ducks.

 

[Taylorhens]

I raised a day-old duck I consider a "rescue" (from a screaming child at a flea market -- what are parents thinking?) with my week old EE chicks and she is still with them months later. She ate the medicated feed and did fine. She thinks she is a chicken. She won't go near the pond, tries to roost (impossible on her webbed feet) and screams like crazy if I try to take her away from her chicken friends. She does get the water dirty, though.

 

[stargazingmommy]

Quote:
My ducks eat medicated chick starter.
I asked about it in the Duck section https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=512059