Ducks and one rooster...

[LittleSquidgenHome]

So we had 5 Jersey Giant roosters that were "given" to us, well they just showed up in our poultry yard with our ducks a few weeks back. We decided to keep them for a while and then send them to freezer camp when we had the chance. Yesterday, with the warm weather, we sent all but 1 to freezer camp. The one we decided to keep is a feisty and fast little guy and frankly we couldn't catch him, so he got a pass. He is a character and I think we might just keep him indefinitely.

He is all by himself and we don't have any other chickens currently. We are planning on getting some in a few months, but I don't want him to be lonely and it will be many months still before our chicks will be big enough to be around him. He is currently in a pen all by himself in the poultry barn, I think he is lonely. I am wondering if we should build him a roost in the duck pen and let him, at least for now, live with the ducks. He has a clean bill of health and has been sequestered from the ducks for more than a month.

My questions are:
Is it a good idea to keep chickens and ducks in the same pen?

Or should we hasten to get him some chicken friends?

Will he be happy with the ducks?

Is there any danger in keeping the ducks and rooster together?

I have loads of duck experience but I am all thumbs when it comes to chickens. Thanks!

 

[Willowbrook]

My ducks live with some chickens in a barn. They really don't concern themselves with each other, but I have enough chickens to feel like they have companions.
I will tell you this, and this may be an isolated incident, so don't base your decision upon this. I have a rooster that was enamored with a Runner duck. He would chase her and eventually catch her because she wasn't as fast as him to get away. Sadly, one day, he dislocated her wing when he mounted her. She is fine, but her wing droops somewhat to this day. He no longer has any interest in her as he's more fixated on his hens.