Ducks in the chicken coop

[Lafarmette]

Tonight we came home to find our 4 ducks (2 male, 2 female) in the corner of our chicken coop with our 8 hens who were all up on their roosts. They all free range together but have had their own separate housing for the last year. The duck house is about 20 feet from the chicken coop. The duck house is small but inside a fenced in run that gets locked at night and the coop is basically a 12x12 shed that I just close and lock the door at night. I found it to be odd that they would be together as they don’t hang out together during the day. For now I have locked them all in the coop together since they did not seem interested in leaving and will go out and check on them in a bit. Is this common for ducks and chicken to be housed together?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I wouldn’t recommend it since the ducks get everything wet. Just coax them back to their house.

 

[chickens really]

They probably went in to investigate before the Chickens went in and decided it was a good place to rest. I wouldn't make a habit of it though...

 

[Callender Girl]

My runner ducks have no real interest in hanging out with the chickens. But, when the ducks are out of their shelter, the chickens LOVE to lounge around in the ducks' home. Maybe everyone just wants to see how the "other half" lives?

But, I agree that ducks will muck up EVERYTHING with their water-loving ways.

 

[Kessel23]

I have kept muscovies with my chickens with excellent success, the main reason is because they have different mating habits than mallard derived ducks. Mallard derived drakes should not be housed with chickens during the mating season, you can get away with keeping hens in there and drakes out of season. There are a few measures that you can take to avoid a wet run. I put a board under the water to make it more difficult for them to put mud in the water, I also have wire rapped around it to stop them from swimming.

The wire around the base is cut to be 4x4 inch openings to allow the drake muscovies to head dunk. I also have a rock in there to stop them from pushing the bowl around when water gets low. As you can see the ground is not very wet around the bowl but the water is still pretty muddy so it needs to be changed a few times every day. You can also provide a normal chicken water in the run so the hens can have water that is more clean.

So to really answer your question muscovies can be run with chickens with little to no problem, mallard derived hens can also be kept with chickens without much of a problem, but mallard derived drakes can not be kept by chickens for the majority of the year because of their hormones that give them an extreme drive to mate. There can be problem birds when housing together because the attitudes are different for each bird but in most cases you can keep them together.

One night in the run should do no harm although it is much easier to house them separately than it is to house them together so since you have the space you should try to keep the ducks in their own coop.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My ducks and chickens sleep in the same house and have for years. I don’t put food an water inside. My Runners have their own house separate from the Muscovys and chickens but over winter they all like to sleep in one house. Only my geese sleep separate year round. My Muscovys even roost with the chickens. Once hormones start surging the Runners go back to their own house mainly because the drake harasses the scovy girls.

 

[Lafarmette]

So far the ducks have returned to the chicken coop at night most nights and we have not had an issue. I’ve left them be just because the chicken coop is larger and better insulated for heat. I don’t keep any food or water in my coop to cut down on rodents so I’m not worried about the wetness. Both of my housing units are inside a large barn and we only lock them in at night into the coop for added predator protection. They have heated water bowls and buckets in the barn during the day and any other water is too frozen to be tracked in. The chickens have slept up on the roost and the ducks have nestled into the straw below and they all seem to be content. In the summer the ducks usually stay out on their island house in the pond and I can only assume they will return when everything dethaws in the spring. So far I’ve not heard or seen evidence of bickering but I’ll keep a close eye on them and reseperate them if needed.

 

[Jpat]

my ducks and chickens share when its reaaaly cold out