Chicks and ducklings

[Sricher91]

So I have 8 chicks and 2 ducklings, all hatched the same day. They all arrived by mail a little over 24 hours ago.

They are kept in 2 separate brooders (I know about messy ducks/not feeding ducks medicated feed etc) my chicks are doing great but my ducks seem scared all the time. Haven’t noticed them eating/drinking much at all and not really pooping. The few times I have seen them drinking they haven’t made any type of mess yet (actually they seem cleaner than my chicks).

Anyways I added 3 chicks into the duckling brooder just to see what happened. It seems the ducklings follow the lead of the chicks - when they ate the ducks ate, when they drank the ducks drank, now they are all napping together.

I’m not keeping them together because my chicks even though they are much smaller than the ducks seem to be little bully’s lol.

Is this behavior normal?

 

[HNB23]

My ducks also follow the chicks. The chicks always run up bc now they expect me to have them something, but like you said the ducks seem shy and hang back until the chicks start going crazy for treats. They've only been together close to 2 days bc i need a new light. When they were alone they were in the back of the cage tying their best not to be touched. Its almost like watching the chicks be trusting they are coming around.

 

[chickens really]

The Ducklings just need time to adjust. They will be fine and will begin to move around once they settle in..
Best wishes..