Ducks & Chicks Together

[birdsofparadise]

I volunteered to brood 50 chicks for a local Charity Fund Raiser Auction. When I got the paperwork from the organizer, I found out that they ordered 5 White Pekin ducks also.

I regularly brood chicks and sell started pullets, but have no idea about the ducks. Can I let them share my brooder? Its 4ʻ x 4ʻ x 24" tall with shavings for litter. Can they eat chick starter? Will I have to run a second brooder since I hear that ducklings are messy?

HELP!!!

I only need to hold them about 10 days, but I donʻt want to risk getting the chicks sick or contaminating my brooder. Any ideas?

 

[streemers]

the ducks need unmedicated feed. they poop ALOT so you might wanna run a 2nd brooder.

 

[snewman]

As the other responder said, the ducks will need unmedicated feed, but I raised my chicks and ducklings together (both on unmedicated) and they did just fine for the first couple of weeks. After the ducks got a little bigger and more interested in playing in the water, things got messy. I came back from a weekend away with someone else taking care of them, and the poor chicks were all soggy and caked with damp bedding. That said, I just made sure to set up in an old horse water tank with a drain on the bottom. That way, most of the moisture drains out and they don't all sit in it. If there are only four of them, I would probably raise them together with the chicks to save the hassle of taking care of two separate brooders. If it was the other way around, a bunch of ducks and four chicks, I'd say no way, those poor chicks would probably drown in the mess!

 

[austinhart123]

the other two are right, they will get messy, so plan accordingly

 

[ChickenToes]

I would have use separate brooders, ducklings are just unbelievably messy. They not only splash water everywhere, but they dip their wet bills back and forth into the feeder and eventually the feeder gets gummed up. At least that's what happened with my quart jar feeders.

 

[birdsofparadise]

Thanks everyone! Two brooders it is.

Iʻll just write all the extra electricity off my taxes as a charitable contribution! I just wish I knew about their plan to include ducks before I agreed to get involved. Some cattle rancherʻs wife probably thought duckies would be cute for Easter and had no idea about what was involved when she convinced the organizer to order them too.