Chickens and ducks....

[Magda12]

No doubt this question has been asked and answered, but I wanna make sure I have the latest and greatest...

I have 10 chick(en)s right now. I'm a newb. I REALLY want ducks. I will eat duck eggs every day. I want to add two ducks (probably next year).

My question to you lovely fowl experts: do you have advice on raising both together? Separate coops? Runs? Keep them totally separated? different litter methods and such between the two? give me EVERYTHING on chickens vs. duck and chickens + ducks!

 

[aart]

Ducks make a wet mess, chickens don't care for that.

 

[Callender Girl]

Expert, I'm not. But I have had mixed flocks for a while.

Mine run loose together during the day but DEFINITELY house them separately. As @aart said, ducks make wet messes, and chickens need dry sleeping quarters.

Although I aspire to hardy breeds of chicken, I feel like the ducks are much better adapted to changes in weather. They don't mind sleeping outside in rain and snow, for example. I often have to herd them into their shelter in the winter.

Mine also tend to all lay early in the day and without fights over the nesting area -- although some like to make me search the property for their eggs. Unlike my chickens, I have never seen the ducks fight over a nesting area or scream at each other when a nest is occupied.

BTW, duck eggs are delicious. I eat a couple every day.

Hope you get lots of good advice from other BYC members!

 

[DuckDuckSook]

I had 4 Indian Runner ducks living with my 4 chickens (3 Black Star and 1 Brown ISA) and it worked but I wouldn't say it worked well. My ducks were pretty nervous around the chickens. They tolerated each other but I could tell not everyone was happy. I loved my ducks but they.are.a.big.stinkin.mess. I eventually separated the flocks into chickens and ducks and then after a year, I sold off all of my birds and just recently started over with just chickens. I'm so glad I raised ducklings and experienced having a flock of ducks for a while, but I don't see myself doing it again, at least not on our current property. If I had more land (more than our current 3 acres), a pond or stream or both, and less predators, maybe. But keeping the ducks locked up with the chickens for a good portion of the year wasn't ideal.