Ducks in with chickens

[porkchop48]

Can you put ducks in with chickens?

And if so is there a better kind of duck to put in with the chickens?

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

When I first got my 2 muscovy ducks in Sept. I kept them in the hen house with the chickens, then in about Feb. a friend gave me two more muscovy hens and I kept them in as well with the chickens. They got along fine with the exception pecking the hen or rooster out of the way when it got in the way of the feed. They just made a HUGE mess and smell...something I was not used to with the chickens. So make sure you have plenty of ventilation and a huge run...my hen house has a run and a large opening to get to the run, but it didn't matter. So just keep that in mind....lol

 

[Totes Quackers]

I have a Khaki Campbell duck in with 6 chooks, I did a gradual introduction, the chickens were about 20-23 weeks when I got the duck. I let my chooks out to 'free range' in the afternoons and I'd put the duck inside the chook run, the chooks would come over and look at the duck through the wire but weren't overly fussed, I did this for about 3 weeks. There was some pecking when they eventually came beak to beak but now they are all happy. Ducks are wwwaaaayyyyyyy messier then chooks so definately need a big area, my duck prefers spending her time with my dogs but come evening she waddles back to the coop with the chooks to sleep!

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Our Khaki Campbell ducks and chickens (and turkeys and guineas) get along fine. Each species more or less keeps to themselves but they share food, water, and coop space with only an occasional nip or peck. I think a lot of this has to do with keeping a low stress environment and plenty of space so they don't get on each others' nerves.