Duck hates chickens

[Jadecinadr96]

Our 2 Fawn and White Runner Ducks HATE our chickens. The duck actually gets all big and shakes and runs/darts at the chicken and then "bites" the chicken. At this point we were able to quickly grab the duck away, however wondering if this is normal? We plan to keep separated from now on... but kinda interesting.

 

[sourland]

How old is the duck, and is it a drake or a hen ?

 

[Jadecinadr96]

How old is the duck, and is it a drake or a hen ?

51/2 weeks old. Do not know gender yet. Thinking female.

 

[sourland]

I was concerned that it might have been an adult drake exhibiting misdirected mating behavior. Hopefully your chickens have enough space that they can readily get away from the ducks. Generally both species can cohabit the same area given enough space and feed/water stations.

 

[AquaDuck]

I've found ducks of both genders to be big personalities. Stubborn, tough, direct, confrontational. They wear their feelings on the outside and react big, whether it's happy flirting, jealousy or aggressiveness. I have one duck who's taken claim on one of the drakes as her boyfriend. She'll even chases the other drakes away from him!

If they're only 2 months old, they'll probably learn to live peacefully with the chickens eventually. Might be a good idea to separate to "see not touch" for a while and try again later.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My ducks and chickens cohabit fine but I know I could never pen them up together. My ducks can be bossy but they haven’t ever injured anyone. Like @sourland says plenty of feed and watering stations set up.

 

[sourland]

My ducks and chickens cohabit fine but I know I could never pen them up together. My ducks can be bossy but they haven’t ever injured anyone. Like @sourland says plenty of feed and watering stations set up.

And @Miss Lydia's experience is the norm. On the flip side of the coin, I had a RIR rooster who insisted on picking fights with my Muscovy drake. One day the drake finally had enough of it and killed the rooster. Sadly Big Red asked for what he got.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You know that’s sad. My roosters are Bantam one is game / game Bantam and would you believe my Muscovy drake and ducks are scared of him the only things here the rooster can’t push around are the geese. He will be 10 yrs old Aug 1st and still going strong

 

[chickens really]

Hello..My Ducks absolutely hate my Chickens too. I have total separate pens and free range areas because my Ducks will chase the chickens away.

 

[Mademoiselle_JubJub]

My original trio of ducks detest chickens. Part of the reason they became mine was because the original owners had enough of them picking fights with their 10 Buff Orpingtons. However, a friend is able to keep her chickens and ducks without any issues. The ducks actually get upset if they can’t sleep on the chicken roost floor. In both situations the ducks were introduced after the chickens and were mixed genders.