Chicken and duck house

[Quailbuddy]

Hi everyone I have yet another question about my coop/ run . . . .
I am building a chicken coop/ run and i also want o keep a mellow and friendly duck with them but can she share the run if she has her own house with them?

Also for my chicken coop i plan on getting 4 chickens so how many nest boxes ?

Also do ducks need roosts or nest boxes like chickens do ?

Will the chickens and duck get along, i plan on raising them as chicks/ ducklings together until the duck gets too big to be with the little fuzzy butts

but will that be enough socialization ? Will the duck think of the run as her if she is there before the chickens and be aggresive ?

I plan on getting three barred rocks and one Ameracauna, what breed of duck will be good with theses chicken breeds ?

thanks everyone

 

[fourfeathers]

I had ducks and chickens together for awhile and the roo thought the girl duck was one of his hens. The boy duck got big and started to think the chickens were his.....it got very confusing for all. The ducks got relocated when it got dangerous for the bantam hens. Maybe if they had more space it would have been okay.

 

[slightlyscrambled]

I have a Drake that was raised with chickens and is now having a hard time being introduced to ducks, he really thinks he is a chicken?. The only problem with being with the chickens is that he makes a HUGE mess of the water!

 

[Quailbuddy]

would it be really stupid if i put a pond in the run? or a mini pool ?

 

[Quailbuddy]

also what breed would be the sweetest ? I am thinking about a female but i dont really know . . . .

 

[slightlyscrambled]

years ago we had a Pekin, named Beepers, she was a big sweetie, she bonded to my then 5yr old DD and would swim with her in the kiddie pool and didnt like anyone bothering her, would even chase the dog away. I have a small plastic kiddie pool in the chicken run for "Cosmo" but we bought 4 new ducks last weekend and I am hoping to eventually be able to put him with them, guess we will see. He is a Rouen, at least I think.


edited to add that I know ducks need water to keep clean, if they cant bathe their oil gland will plug up and their feathers will get "brittle"

 

[Quailbuddy]

Quote:
thank you for your info

What breed would you reccomend ? I plan on getting a all females wether it be chickens or ducks

 

[slightlyscrambled]

that I really couldnt tell you, Beepers was an "accident" that they were going to throw away at the feed store, she had a dislocated hock/knee and we saved her and Cosmo( another rescue) is not really people friendly as he was raised by some people who just put him in with the chickens and that was that.
I really think any breed would be good if you raise it from young and really interact with it alot.

 

[Quailbuddy]

okay thank you . . . i dont know if this is in the right area but in my duck house what needs to be in it ? like chickens need roosts and next boxes but what do chickens need ?
thank you for all the information you have provided !!! you are such a great help i LOVE BYC