Coop for our ducks AND chickens

[strid8]

I just got 6 chicks and 4 ducks day before yesterday. I am brooding them together and everything is going along fine. The chicks love to clean up the ducklings sloppy beaks (I imagine them saying, "Oh, you have a little schutz on your face; here, let me get that for you.") and they all sleep in a jumbled mess. They don't seem to really know that they're two different species; yet anyway.

We will be converting part of our shed in to a coop for all the girls. Does anybody have thoughts or advice on this? There are a lot of plans for chicken coops or duck houses; but I haven't found any designs or even pictures for combined housing.

I am intending to steal a design feature from a friend's coop--she put a washing machine overflow pan under her roosting poles with a chicken-wire 'awning' set at an angle over the overflow pan; nobody can get under the roosting poles, so nobody gets pooped on AND the pan makes if really easy to clean out!

Beyond that I'm at a loss.

Thanks in advance for your consideration and advice.

Best,
Astrid

 

[tweetysvoice]

I just use a dog house for the coop for my ducks, so maybe you can incorporate that into the bottom of a chicken coop. Our ducks have 24/7 access to a small 10x10 run all the time and have only actually seen them in the house a few times. They'd rather sleep outside under the stars (or under the chicken coop) LOL. I"m sure they'd be happy with just a space on the floor, depending on how big the coop is.

 

[strid8]

We've been having coyote problems here on the suburban North Shore of Massachusetts, so would be really afraid of letting the girls stay out all night. But, I may not have a choice (I have a feeling that the ducks might be a bit more like teenagers and the chickens, but we'll see). They will have an enclosed run and access to a stream. We plan to free-range everybody when we're home (that is, once they are old enough and imprinted on the coop).

Thanks for your input.

 

[BirdyMe]

One thing I've learned from experience: if you're going to house ducks and chickens together, provide two waterers. One on the ground for the ducks, and one up higher for the chickens- where the ducks can't get to it and make a mess out of it.

 

[jessiduck]

Keep them together! They've known eachother since the beginning and you so far if you haven't seen them exhibit any signs of
vicious attacks towards eachother they'll be fine!
Just keep them in a big enough space! Enjoy them!!!

 

[m.kitchengirl]

Just a warning - as male ducks approach mating season they can get very aggressive with chickens, often with deadly consequences.
Not saying all drakes are like this, but it is common, and something you should have a contingency plan set up for when those hormones kick in if you plan to house them together.
My sweet, shy, gentlemanly drake turned into a chicken hunting psychopath when he hit about 8 months old. It was not fun for anyone.

 

[jessiduck]

I agree, monitor the males if you have any, but its more likely that you will have more docile drakes since they were raised with your chicks . Try and see!