Duckling with chickens?

[spicegirlchicks]

Hi! I am quite a newbie here... I just got into backyard chickens for the first time this spring. I have four (4) 3-month old Easter Egger hens out in a coop, and recently got three (3) new chicks (1 Orpington, 1 Australorp, 1 Brahma) a week ago. I recently acquired a little duckling and it now resides with the new chicks in the brooder. I think everything is going well... The chicks are currently a little bigger than the duckling and no-one seems to be picking on anyone so far.

I can't help but wonder how this is all going to work out in the big picture. I was already a little nervous about introducing the new batch of chicks to the old ones (when they are coop-ready), but now this duck too? Can it live with chickens in a coop? I wonder how it will do with the chickens (especially the older girls). Will it be lonely or grow up to think it's a chicken? Anyone have any advice on this?

 

[Pyxis]

It will do fine with the chickens. I have my welsh harlequins housed in with my flock and they do fine. One of them believes she is a chicken and hangs out with the younger birds. However, I wouldn't advertise that you have her. It's illegal to take a mallard from the wild unless you are a licensed wildlife rehabber. Also, she will need to be kept forever if you keep her. They cannot survive in the wild after being raised by humans because they do not know how to find food in the wild, a skill her mother would have taught her. So if you hang on to her you are going to need to keep her wings clipped so she cannot fly away. You could also try finding a wildlife rehabber in your area that could take her.

 

[spicegirlchicks]

Thank you for your advice!

 

[jgfetter]

My duck lives with my 7 chickens. The Silky Bantam has adopted the duck and now they are inseparable. Everyone gets along.

 

[Speceider]

Just a cautionary note. You do realize you made a terrible biosecurity error? Bringing an unknown bird that may be sick, and immediately putting it in with your chicks place them at risk. If the duckling does have a disease, you have now exposed the chicks.

Clint

 

[Mashallaharabia]

Clint is absolutely right, as is Pyxis. I would have let nature take its course. If that duckling was having trouble when the others were not, there may well have been a reason for it. Leave wild ducks in the wild! If it died, no great loss. The hen had other ducklings, possibly healthier than that one. Not worth a possible health risk for your chickens.

 

[spicegirlchicks]

Thank you!

 

[Pyxis]

Well, my advice to you at this point is either to keep it forever and clip its wings, or find someone else to take it, because by deciding that you will not keep it forever and allowing it to fly away when it's older dooms it to a much crueller death than drowning. Now if you let it go it will starve to death over time, instead of just dying relatively quickly by drowning. It's nice that you saved it, and honestly I probably would have too, but now that you have it's your responsibility, and letting it go later is akin to animal cruelty. It will never, ever be able to make it as a wild duck.

Also, Clint does have a good point. They can carry diseases without showing any signs and pass them to your other birds. Sometimes it can take up to a month for the signs to show up, so keep a close eye on them.

 

[spicegirlchicks]

Thank you for your advice!

 

[spicegirlchicks]

Thank you for your advice!