Ducks Trying to Hatch Mixed with Chickens

[GreenMountainChicks]

Hello all!

I am new though over a year into having both chickens and ducks and have lurked on the forums over that time. I am reaching out as we just discovered one (or possibly both) of my female Rouen appear to be trying to hatch their eggs. We are still not clear if they are both switching out or the other female is just keeping the other company as they usually do. I will say we hatched our own ducklings from the same pair in the fall (males are Cayuga) and ended up with 3 males and 1 female so we are a bit uneven with 6 total males to 3 females. though thus far the males have not been too bad with the females in terms of mating aggression.

now the thing is my chickens (7) and ducks (9) all share a coop and we have an electric fenced in free range area during the day but they all go into a tighter fenced in run and coop at night. and everyone crams into the coop- ducks on the ground and chickens on their roosts. And the duck nest is in the corner of the coop.

When we hatched our own ducklings we only introduced them to the larger flock when they were about 6 weeks and that was in a dog cage in the run. Once we took them out everyone seems to have blended nicely together. It was actually interesting as one of the boy ducks fell into our pond when it was colder and couldn't get himself out and we had to rescue it and after that the older boys tried to keep them away from the pond until they proved they could actually get in and out. So the older males were quite accepting which I did not anticipate. The chickens (all female) pretty much ignored them.

So my question is has anyone had their ducks hatch their own eggs with chickens and had any issues with chickens being aggressive to the littles? Should we pull them if they do hatch? Part of me wants to let nature take its course but of course in nature chickens and ducks would not be hanging out in the same house!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Hello all!

I am new though over a year into having both chickens and ducks and have lurked on the forums over that time. I am reaching out as we just discovered one (or possibly both) of my female Rouen appear to be trying to hatch their eggs. We are still not clear if they are both switching out or the other female is just keeping the other company as they usually do. I will say we hatched our own ducklings from the same pair in the fall (males are Cayuga) and ended up with 3 males and 1 female so we are a bit uneven with 6 total males to 3 females. though thus far the males have not been too bad with the females in terms of mating aggression.

now the thing is my chickens (7) and ducks (9) all share a coop and we have an electric fenced in free range area during the day but they all go into a tighter fenced in run and coop at night. and everyone crams into the coop- ducks on the ground and chickens on their roosts. And the duck nest is in the corner of the coop.

When we hatched our own ducklings we only introduced them to the larger flock when they were about 6 weeks and that was in a dog cage in the run. Once we took them out everyone seems to have blended nicely together. It was actually interesting as one of the boy ducks fell into our pond when it was colder and couldn't get himself out and we had to rescue it and after that the older boys tried to keep them away from the pond until they proved they could actually get in and out. So the older males were quite accepting which I did not anticipate. The chickens (all female) pretty much ignored them.

So my question is has anyone had their ducks hatch their own eggs with chickens and had any issues with chickens being aggressive to the littles? Should we pull them if they do hatch? Part of me wants to let nature take its course but of course in nature chickens and ducks would not be hanging out in the same house!

As you say, these conditions aren't natural, and even if they were separate, it's not often a good idea to let "nature take its course" with domestic animals in captivity. They are our responsibility at the end of the day, its on us to keep everyone safe and happy.

Anyway, personally I wouldn't chance it, especially if these broodies are first timers, it's not far fetched to think a chicken, or one of the drakes, could hurt or kill one or more ducklings.
I'd say it's safer to move the broody and her eggs to their own separate housing.
But this is just my 2 cents, I haven't personally been in this situation personally.

Just another thought though, what is the plan once they do hatch? If, say, 50% are drakes, that could badly imbalance your ratio and that would put your chickens in a lot of danger once they're mature. (If a male duck tries to mate with a chicken hen, they can kill them as they're not at all compatible).
Just a thought, do be careful whatever you decide

 

[Miss Lydia]

I agree with @BelovedBirds better safe than sorry.