Help! Chickens attacking ducks

[Bantamboys]

Hi there, in response to all these questions.... I had two ducks and two chickens. one of both died. The duck and chicken became best of buddies. That being said, I now have 8 hens, 1 year old. Just bought two ducklings. They are not that old yet, about the size of a big black bird. So I took them out and let them in the coop with the chickens. All was well until today, they both were pecked and pecked and lots of blood.

I took them out, birds stress easily and go into shock and die quickly. Went to TSC and bought some spray for the wounds.

Long story short, if they survive, I'll put them back in with the Chickens. They all do well together - especially when the ducks grow as big as the others.


good luck

 

[DuckDuckSook]

Hello there! I had 4 chickens (3 Black Star chickens and 1 Brown Isa) and then we got 4 Indian Runner ducklings. I had the ducks inside for nearly 10 weeks before bringing them outside to live with the chickens. We had introduced them several times by using an exercise pen near the chicken run. Then, I separated the chicken run using the exercise pen and it went well. However, once the separation came down, our Brown Isa hen was not nice to the ducks at all. She'd go after them relentlessly and chase them. The ducklings were so stressed. My 3 Black Star hens were fine and just ignored the ducks. We put our brown chicken in time-out and had her in our basement for a few days to try to help the situation, but it never got better. We ended up selling her to another farm. All of my black chickens and ducks get along now. I plan on getting more chicks next spring and adding them to the mix after they get a little bigger. I don't know how that will play out, but we will see. I think it depends on the chickens and their personalities.

 

[McChooky]

Ducks lay bigger eggs,have waterproof feathers, scoop their foot and need access to water to eat for their digestive system .They must be able to dunk their heads in water to clean their faces and eyes too. Unlike chickens they sleep on the floor and chatter at night which keeps chickens awake .Animals that don't have more in common will only tolerate each other at best and shouldn't be housed together unless raised together. Some people have learned to accommodate them both and successfully house them together.