Do ducks & chickens get along?

[1MrsMagoo]

My ducks are okay with chickens. That could be because one of their flock who thinks it is a duck IS actually a chicken. One of my splash Ameraucana pullets was being picked on earlier this spring. The only extra space I had was an old rabbit cage that was out by where we had set up temporary housing for our ducks. Now, SweetieBird will not leave them and we are putting an apartment for her in the "upstairs" of the ducks new house we are building. She is at least smart enough to cut the line at trying to swim and keeps with wading in the water.

Here she is (left side top) with her flock today at their pond....

 

[duckking]

What a great pond, Mrs. Magoo! Did you put it in?

I have 8 hens, 2 roosters, 3 Mallards and 2 Rouens living together quite happily. They do have separate houses at night and they all go into the respective places at night by themselves. I also have 2 ducklings who are 6 days old in the brooder to be introduced in a cage within the enclosure in about 6 weeks. I have had no problems at all, except my Rouen drake will harass the roo's every now and then, but nothing vicious.

I do have 3 separate feeding stations and numerous waterers (6) all about the enclosure and 2 pools for the ducks. When it's treat time, they are all in it together. I spread treats around all over the place so there is no concentration of creatures in one area.

Works for us! Good luck.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Quote:
Yes, we just put that in a couple weeks ago: We are still waiting for the fountain pump to arrive. Lucky for us we have very heavy clay soil, so my husband would get the front end loader on the tractor after it for a few hours each evening. He isn't quite happy with the shape yet, but has to rent/borrow a backhoe attachment to finish up.

Up till then we had two kiddie pools: One 18"x8' and one 12"x5'. I bought a filter for the bigger one and it was pretty easy to keep clean, but the smaller one was a nightmare. Plus, for safety reasons (since everybody was still pretty young) we put them and their pools in a fenced yard by the garage and dubbed it camp duck. Oh boy did that whole area turn into a bog and quick....lol. Mess or no though, I wouldn't trade them for the world: I love duckies.

 

[lizi.beth915]

Awhh. I have a couple baby Americaunas myself.

That pond looks awesome. Wish we could pull something like that off up here.

A relative of mine has always had a few Khaki Campbells && has always had good experiences with them. So I'm considering getting 2-3 of them && just letting them go swimming in a kiddie pool when I let everyone out of the coop to free-range.
I really hope we don't have any problems with them.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

[kankunkid]

I have a lone duckling had to rescue him from the egg 12 hours ago so far he's slept a bunch, drank some, eaten a bit also, but seems lethargic, my worried is he's alone, though I have 2, 10 day old turhens and one 10day old leghorn, I want to put the leghorn in with the docky to keep him company and for snuggling, all under heat lamp seperat boxes, today I just introduced them yhier card board boxes have mosquito net windows and they seemed to chat it up real fast, the duckling even moved from where he was nestled on a warm pillowcase to go see what the fuss was with the neighbors, any advice, oh one last question dose he need his webs hydrated?

 

[Krazyquilts]

I have a lone duckling had to rescue him from the egg 12 hours ago so far he's slept a bunch, drank some, eaten a bit also, but seems lethargic, my worried is he's alone, though I have 2, 10 day old turhens and one 10day old leghorn, I want to put the leghorn in with the docky to keep him company and for snuggling, all under heat lamp seperat boxes, today I just introduced them yhier card board boxes have mosquito net windows and they seemed to chat it up real fast, the duckling even moved from where he was nestled on a warm pillowcase to go see what the fuss was with the neighbors, any advice, oh one last question dose he need his webs hydrated?

You might want to get another duckling or two to keep your lone duckling company. Make sure you give your duckling extra niacin - ducklings need more than chicks do. While you don't have to provide bathing water, your ducklings will be a lot happier if they do have access to some. I used a new paint tray for mine, or a plastic Chinese takeout tray. At the very least, make sure ducklings have access to water to clean their nares (nostrils).

Good luck!

 

[kankunkid]

Thank krazy quilts, what is naicin for I just read that it's a viatim b compound, can you elaborate a bit please

 

[Krazyquilts]

Brewers Yeast is a good source of niacin. I bought this one on Amazon but I think you can get at a health food store. Just make sure you get regular not slow-release. I can't remember what it's for, but a niacin deficiency will cause some bad leg problems.

 

[kankunkid]

Sunny day, took the bby duck out,we chilled watching TV while he ate n drank , then I got hungry , put him back in the box, he got out of a small hole I made so he could stick his head out, stopped eating put him back in, sealed it up, went back to eat, he didn't stop calling me I had to eat fast, came back brought him to chill n watch TV with me , considering he called me and didn't let me eat n peace I think I created a monster he's pecking the screen n nibbling my fingers while I text,