chickens and ducks

[pekinduck<3er]

Hi everyone,


my dad FINNALLY let me get chickens... but I already have 2 ducks (male and female cayuga)... will my ducks get along with a chicken i get?? and when will the chicken lay?Also will my chicken run away? if i get it to imprint on me will it run away becuase i dont have a fenced in area and have neighbors nearby.. also i live very close to the woods.. the ducks coop is in the woods... so will that be abd realy the ducks stand it nothing can get into the coop so thats good....but will the ducks be fine with a hen? im only etting one becuase i dont have alot of room.... but also when should i put the chick in the coop with the ducks....

 

[Keene's coop]

you should be fine, at least that's what everyone on here keeps telling me. good luck

 

[Aglaboost]

I currently have 6 week old silkies in with my ducks every night, they really don't seem to pay any attention to each other.


....except when the ducks drink all their water.

 

[keyt1969]

pekinduck<3er :

Hi everyone,


my dad FINNALLY let me get chickens... but I already have 2 ducks (male and female cayuga)... will my ducks get along with a chicken i get?? and when will the chicken lay?Also will my chicken run away? if i get it to imprint on me will it run away becuase i dont have a fenced in area and have neighbors nearby.. also i live very close to the woods.. the ducks coop is in the woods... so will that be abd realy the ducks stand it nothing can get into the coop so thats good....but will the ducks be fine with a hen? im only etting one becuase i dont have alot of room.... but also when should i put the chick in the coop with the ducks....

I have 40-some chickens and 22 ducks of all shapes, sizes and ages. Let me do my best to answer your questions.

Will the ducks and chickens get along? - Yes, most of the time. But it all depends on ages really.

When will the chicken lay? - Most breeds lay between 6-8 months old.

If you get it to imprint - imprinting doesn't apply to chickens as strongly as some wild animals. SOME will get attached like they'll know when you're the only one that feeds them, etc. There's a lot of mixed info on that, but I've had this discussion with numerous farmers and they say it rarely happens.

Will the chickens run away? - Yes they can, but in most cases they stay where they know the food is.

Will the ducks be fine with a hen? - All my ducks and chickens lived together til recently. I didn't want the smaller chickens falling into the pond I had for the ducks because I almost lost one that way so they are now separated. A hen is certainly better than a rooster. My roos try to mate with all my ducks...and hens are less likely to upset your neighbors lol

When should you put the chick with the ducks? - Rule of thumb is chicks and ducks shouldn't be put in with the general population until they are all feathered out. But again, it depends on what size (breed) it is.​

 

[pekinduck<3er]

thank you all for the advice!