Chickens and Ducks Together???...

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Um...I have tried it...I ended up separating my ducks from my chickens after my Muscovy drake killed my Sultan Roo.

So I now have my coop & run split down the middle, so my ducks have one side & my chickens, the other. My MIL has her muscovies in with her chickens without any problems, but her coop & run is WAY bigger than mine & hers are free range for most of the year.

Here are pics of my set up:

 

[ZykloniaDark-GothikRanchr]

I started my 3 ducks with my 15 chicks, and now all are happy and healthy. They are all freerange, and I do have a large pond in my front yard. The ducks now stick together, and the chickens go do their own thing. The chickens sleep in the coop, and the ducks sleep...well I don't think they sleep!! Every time I go outside or look outside, they are up and running around, or swimming on the pond. I have a little "hut" for them at the water's edge, but I never see them use it, not even when it is raining. They do sleep under the front porch sometimes when it's hot though.... The ducks are messy though, so be prepared to clean the brooder ALOT MORE!!!

 

[mandylovespets]

Thank you everyone for your replies!!! I actually have my 2 ducklings (Pekin&Mallard) in the same brooder as my little chick (White Leghorn I think) and you should see!!! the chick LOVES the duckies!!! He thinks the Pekin is his mama!!! They cuddle sooo cute together

... And when I take one of them out they cry for each other!!! But that's funny that one of you mentioned that the drakes will try mating with the chickens, I was going to ask about that... I plan on letting the ducks free range all day/night and having the chickens cooped up at night and in the run during the day, and letting them out of the run in the evening to free range for a few hours... And I have kept ducks before and know just how messy they are, so won't have penned up w/ the chickens... But for now they are on the same feed (chick starter), which is what I've used for the ducks in the past... I just wanted to know for the most part how they do in each others company, and thank you all for your insight!!! I just didn't know what kind of behavior to expect from them being in the brooder together... But they absolutely love each other, and I clean it often so they're happy! At least now I know, more or less, what to expect as they get bigger being that I'm a first time chicken owner... Which by the way, I'll be getting 2 BO chicks on Monday

...

OKAY I'll hush now lol!!! Thanks again!!!

 

[AdanMtz]

mandylovespets wrote:
I am a new chicken owner... Well, currently I only have one chick, but would like to get a couple more, hopefully Buff Orpington's... I was wondering if chickens and ducks would do ok living with each other???... I have a Mallard duck and a Pekin duck and my yard isn't very big. So, I was wondering how they would behave with a couple of chickens. I plan on letting them roam around the yard during the day and of course the chickens would have a coop to stay in in the nighttime. Also, do you think the ducks will try to go into the coop, or even eat the chickens food?... Any suggestions on keeping chickens and ducks together would be greatly appreciated, for their sake and mine !!!...


We have two ducks with our 19 RSL's in a brooder and they love eachother. The only issue we are having is that the ducks grow so much faster than our chicks. We would like to know when others have seperated theirs. When can a duck be outside of the brooder
(what temperature do they need to be out of brooder) How much do they differ from chicks requirements?

WE wanted to put our chickens & ducks together, but after reading different posts am thinking we may need to have them seperated. We already planned on making them a pond in with the chickens, but definitely something for us to think about. I have had chickens & ducks in the past too, but they stayed seperate all on their own. Our ducks were very sneaky about keeping their eggs hidden is a big memory from when I was a child. Hopefully that won't happen now...lol

 

[jersy87]

I keep mine together. Yes ducks can be messy but they have a big enough pen, and pool that neither care. They all get along fine, and share a house together...

 

[peterlund]

Quote:
Um...I have tried it...I ended up separating my ducks from my chickens after my Muscovy drake killed my Sultan Roo.

So I now have my coop & run split down the middle, so my ducks have one side & my chickens, the other. My MIL has her muscovies in with her chickens without any problems, but her coop & run is WAY bigger than mine & hers are free range for most of the year.

Here are pics of my set up:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DSCN2431-1.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m53/Equibling/DSCN2436.jpg

Beautiful country!!! Nothing like my suburban landscape.

 

[tomingreeneco]

Mine free range together all day. No problems. At night they go into separate coops.

 

[AliciaM]

I have my call ducks and my chickens together in a large pen... And when I try and keep the ducks out of the hen house at night, they get upset... They will go in there on there own in the evening and settle in right next to the chickens..They learned to lay all the way under the nest boxes to avoid getting pooped on..

They even barge there way in at feeding time.. I make sure to have lots of feeders spread out so there is always another one to go to if they get shoved out of the way..

I have one chicken that was raised with some baby ducks and am having a hard time getting her to socialize with the chickens...she prefers to stay with the ducks..

With new chicks, I seperated a chunk of the pen for them until they get big enough that the ducks pool wont be deadly...Then I put rocks in the pool to give them something to stand on in case they do end up in the pool... So far so good.. no one has drowned.

Call ducks are small.. I dont think I would do this if I had larger ducks.. The ducks and chickens are all relatively the same size.

 

[Birdcrazy]

I kept duck and a drake (muscovy) and six chooks together no worries. I had a coop with hay on the bottom where the ducks slept and a ramp and perch (also wooden shelf where nest boxes were) for the chooks to sleep in. I had a pond and a small beak-size only water container that was screwed onto the coop wall chook-chest height. Everybody drank out of it but it stayed clean. Also with clean water the chooks still drank out of the pond. When I let them all out they even hung out together.

Never had a problem

Only reason my chooks and ducks arent together at the moment is because my girl is in the house yard with ducklings due (in a week

) and I've lost my drake.

Good luck with yours

 

[Hunter0704]

I have three Welsh Harlequin ducklings one week old, and yesterday I received four baby chicks. I was under the impression when I ordered them that ducks and chickens get along and in the same coop/run. My question is this: They are on our enclosed porch in separate living quarters, but are next to each other and can hear each other. The ducklings are three times the size of the new chicks and am thinking I should wait a few weeks until they get larger before thinking of putting them in with the ducklings???? Or, should I wait until they all feather out and then when I move them to the coop/run they will meet then? Help!