chickens & ducks cohabiting?

[chickery-do]

Don't rush off so fast.. I never thought I'd want ducks as much as I do now

When they lace their neck arnd u and it's almost like your child's

Give a shout out to someone here that may be close to you for a visit. Or try craigslist, I'm sure theirs someone close to you, Right now I have Sky on my lap watchn me!

I've been searching for a tablet for more lap room!
My cats and dogs have no problem with them, neither do the girls when we're all outside.
Keep on looking, and if not, then i'm sorry for you cuz you don't know what your missing.
Ot's like a home with no kids

 

[michellemcfeely]

You have all convinced me its OK to add chickens with my ducks. Yeah

 

[Mell62]

My daughter brought home a duck before the chickens, and before the coop was done. Cashew (drake Rouen). They all go along great until he became hormonal. We bought a female Pekin to keep him company. We had to separate them, so the shed became the duck house and had to split the range in half from the coop and duck house. Cashew and the hens are all 6months old. We had a snow storm a few weeks ago so I let them hang out together under the covered part of the range. He is doing great and I only had to put him in the penalty box a couple times. Isis (pekin) loves the chickens and was very happy to be back with them. If anyone has read The Story of Ping, then you'll know that we just wave a stick at him and he leaves the chickens alone. I keep the stick in his view as a reminder. I would definately get more female ducks, well that is if I weren't already over my allowed 'fowl" limit. lol

 

[christiethorn1]

So for you guys who house your ducks and chickens together, do you have any problems keeping the coop clean. We have 4 ducks and 3 chicks that we will be putting into their coop in a few weeks, any advice??? I had them all together, but the ducks were getting a little large and their crate was so damp I had to put the chicks in their own one, the chicks were so sad when I first separated them!!!

We are currently finishing up the coop and I am very nervous about not doing it right since this is my first flock, any coop tips for my duckens would be great!!

 

[GarDenFarmGirl]

There were a couple of things I noticed when I had my chickens and ducks together... I say had because we just finished a "duck house" and my little webbed friends are having a grand time in there now. I had a chicken coop with a pop door that stayed open most of the time as it opened into a totally enclosed (with hardware cloth) chicken run that was predator proof. While everyone, ducks included, had access to water whenever they wanted it, they had to go into the run to get it. The ducks were just too messy with waterers in the coop itself. My hens would roost up high (the roosts are above poop shelves) and then the ducks liked to sleep under the poop shelves (when they slept - they liked going into the run at night to play!). So there was plenty of room for everyone. I did notice that with ducks, the bedding seemed to get flattened out much more quickly. I used pine shavings and the deep litter method. The coop really stayed in pretty good shape, even with the ducks. I did try to frequently rake the shavings to make sure nothing was getting damp underneath, not being exposed to the air. I am not sure my ducks really realized they were ducks and not chickens. They laid eggs in one of the hen's nest boxes and still lay in a nest box in their new house. They still all stick together during free range time.

As far as an area for the ducks, I think what I did in my duck house really helps with their mess. It is an area about 5' by 15'. They have pool at one end, surrounding by smooth round rocks. There is also a separate water container in that area. On the opposite end is a wooden dog house that they can go into to get out of the weather if they want. There are pavers under that third of the area. In the middle is pine shavings with a little sweet pdz. I keep their food bowl and nest box on the dry side. It is as if there are zones - wet, dry and transition. It is easy to clean - the rocks can be hosed off, the shavings can be raked and removed as necessary and the dry side stays pretty clean with minimal raking. And my chickens have a totally dry area and water that stays clean now that the ducks are not co-habitating! LOL

 

[chickery-do]

Hi;
Where could I find that book "The story of Ping" I'd be interested in reading it! Is it in the children's section. Maybe I could find it in the library. I hope in time in pins will be glad to come up and great me. At the moment they just like my Hand when it has food or water in it. Everyone told me their like pets. and love to follow you but I would be to afraid to let them loose at this time. Well thanks ahead of time with the info.
Chickery do

 

[countrygirl74]

Hi;
Where could I find that book "The story of Ping" I'd be interested in reading it! Is it in the children's section. Maybe I could find it in the library. I hope in time in pins will be glad to come up and great me. At the moment they just like my Hand when it has food or water in it. Everyone told me their like pets. and love to follow you but I would be to afraid to let them loose at this time. Well thanks ahead of time with the info.
Chickery do

Yes, you should be able to find it in the children's section. It was one of my favorite books growing up so I now have 2 Pekins named Ping and Yangtze.

 

[cosbackyard]

When I first brought my chickens home the ducks did not like them. Even though they were the same age - around five weeks - the ducks were 3x their size. I free-ranged them together for a while. The ducks would peck at the chickens and chase them around. I often had to intervene. I just finished the new coop and put them all in together. I gave the chickens a high place (shelf plus roost bar and elevated nest box) in case they needed to get away. So far, so good. I don't think there's alot of love between them but they're all doing okay together.

 

[rekkas peeps]

i have 6 ducks mixed into my flock of fluffies....2 Cayuga's that are a year old now, 2 Roen and 2 khaki campbells. all my roos are afraid of my Cayugas which is funny!! the other 4 are mixed in with the babie fluffies we just got this season as the mallard were used as hockey pucks for the sexlinks we have... thay all seem happy with where they are now

 

[chickery-do]

You say your pool has rocks arnd it but is it a kiddy pool or man made? Ours will be getting together soon, the snows just gone, but the nights haven't warmed up much yet. 17 degrees last night. Were working on the ducks house right now. Then it will be the wet section to figure out. Kiddy pool or what we're still up for suggestions! Reading the net,

seems everyone says kiddy pools the easiest.