Hello...i am considering getting 2 cute runner ducks...9 months old.. they come from having been housed with chickens... I am sort of hoping to do the same...or is that unrealistic have no experience with ducks... what best advice for the initiation process... I found..with chickens...after..quaranteen... I would put the new ones in the coop...for a couple hours the others would know new ones were there... still...have found it takes about a week for the pecking order to get settled.... what would my dear chickens think of 2 ducks..... am I off my rocker to be considering this...my hubby will think so... but like the idea of green eggs... any advice would be greatly appreciated
I love getting my coloured eggs. I have three currently that lay them with a greeny blue tint, the rest all lay white. If the ducks have come from a place living with chickens already then at least it would be failry straightfoward a move for them- but it would take some getting used to for the ones you currently have. But there are some logistics to keeping them together due to the watering needs of ducks. There are a lot of threads on here about people asking how ducks go living with chickens - here is one recent thread that you might find interesting. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=591975
Quote:And you think that solves the problem? I'll bet the whole flock of chickens will mob those tiny little call ducks. If their wings haven't been messed with they may escape by flying.
Mine are together, but I really don't recommend it. I have roosts up high, and the girls lay in their nesting box. My chickens can't wait to get out every morning and are the first ones to run out the door. Ducks are hogs! They make huge, wet messes.
I started with 2 runners (now 4 months old) and since I have added 4 chickens and 3 more ducks (2 of which leave for a new home tomorrow) and although being the youngest and weighing the least of all the birds they are the king and queen of the run... That being said I started with them and added 1 bird at a time. From my short time raising ducks and chickens together in the same run, you need split the difference between the ducks needs and chickens needs... my setup is most likely too damp for the chickens but they do have a raised house which the ducks can't get into... I started with ducks and they are the reason I have any birds... so if I find the chickens don't like the mud and dampness then I will stop raising them and stay with ducks... for you maybe you will find that the ducks are too messy for your setup and you may have to stick with the chickens...
hummh thank you very much for your replys... maybe I better think this through a bit more... wish I had a huge barn space...but am limited.. maybe though..I better for now just stick with the chickens... didn't realize ducks were as messy... they just looked so cute... but I wouldn't get and animal unless I knew I could give them a happy life... and I know...my last additions to the flock...was a bit of a josteling.. so maybe this would be a bit too much... for them... thanks again for all your replys..much apreciated
