ducks and chickens

[chickengirl1193]

So I have had my chickens since October, started with POL pellets then hatched out my own.chicks from shipped eggs! My entire flock is thriving and ive read many many books on chickens so I feel pretty confident about my management. I feed FF and all my birds are doing great
So I was wondering if I could add two ducklings to my flock?
Could they eat the same fermented start and grow chick feed?
Would a kiddie pool be goodenough for them?
Could they live in the coop with my chickens?
All advice is appreciated even if you.think.its not a good idea!

 

[Kevin565]

It would be possible but since you already have hens I would spend the extra money on sexed ducklings.
They can eat FF but they require more niacin then chicks do when growing up.
A kiddie pool will be sufficient.
Many people have housed the two together.

 

[chickengirl1193]

Okay and just get two females? Why wouldn't straight run be okay? What feed do ducks require? Because where I live they market the starter feed for ducks also. I could always house them separately but give them the same run/free range area as the hens(I do have roosters from my hatch.and I may only keep one)

 

[Finny]

You want two females because the male ducks will try to mate with your hens which can seriously hurt or kill them. Ducklings can have UN-MEDICATED chick starter feed until they are 8 weeks old, UN-MEDICATED chick grower feed until they are 6 weeks old and then chicken layer feed after that for girls or game bird feed if they are boys.

You may be able to get males if you build a separate house. How big is the run? How long would they be staying in the run with the chickens? If they have lots of room the male duck and male chicken may not fight, and if you get one male duck and one female, the male may not try to mate with the chickens, and the male chicken may not try to mate with the female duck.

Putting ducks and chickens together is always a risk, but if you are really determined to have both, lots of room and separate houses would be a good start .

 

[chickengirl1193]

Okay thank you very much for the info! We have to relocate my birds to another part of the property but.the run.is going to be pretty big and I have 2 separate coops. So I think ill have enough room but if problems arise ill be able to separate them.
I was originally thinking of getting 2 ducklings from TSC but after seeing that they dont sex the birds or tell you the breed I decided against that and will look for a local breeder or go in on a hatchery order with someone

 

[Finny]

Sounds like a good plan! Good luck!

 

[chickengirl1193]

Thanks!

 

[TLWR]

I had initially intended on housing together.
My ducks and chickens avoid each other. So they have separate night housing.

One of the chickens decided to claim the duck hut one day to lay an egg and she hung out in there with it and was still there when I put the ducks to bed. The ducks were not thrilled. They were piled on top of each other in the furthest corner from that chicken!

Chickens roost to snooze and poop.
Ducks sleep on the floor.

Can be done, but you need to make sure you can protect the ducks from chicken poop. Both my chicken and duck house have water. Duck house is soaked in the morning. Chicken hut is dry.

 

[chickengirl1193]

Okay thats good to know, I think we will make it so the ducks live separately in the backyard or at least have separate sleeping areas. And we will only get 2 or 3
Will ducks eat all the grass like chickens?
And.will they get along with dogs, if the dogs are trained not to chase them? (My dogs do fine with the chickens)

 

[Kevin565]

Okay thats good to know, I think we will make it so the ducks live separately in the backyard or at least have separate sleeping areas. And we will only get 2 or 3
Will ducks eat all the grass like chickens?
And.will they get along with dogs, if the dogs are trained not to chase them? (My dogs do fine with the chickens)

Ducks will eat some grass but mine seem to do more damage by trampling it with their feet then actually eating it.

If your dog doesn't chase them then there is a good chance they will get along fine.