Hi everyone. I've been browsing all week but just joined today. Last week, we found muscovy duck eggs in my parents back yard. I was in the process of documenting the journey from egg to duckling when on day 5 there was a pretty bad storm and the momma stopped laying. Day 7 something took one egg and by day 8, all 3 remaining eggs were cracked open and eaten. We had been talking about eventually getting a few chickens for some time, but now we've decided we want about 3-4 chickens AND ducks after doing research on the muscovy eggs. We have two toddlers (girls) and 4 small dogs (maltese & maltipoos), so hopefully there won't be too much going on in our backyard. We want to have our coop mostly built before we order any chickens and ducks that way they'll have a nice home when they're ready for the outdoors. It gets very hot here, so I want to make sure that there's plenty of shade for them. We're still trying to figure out how to house them and if there can be a shared space or if they need separate areas. They'll be mostly in their run/coop during they day, but we plan to let them free range in the yard and garden when we are outside supervising. I'm excited to learn more about raising ducks and chickens and can't wait until we get that first fresh egg!
Head for the Learning center - which should cover most of your questions. Then put "Duck thread," in the search box so you can ask your duck specific questions. Third post on your state thread so you can find out what breeds ducks & chickens can handle your hot weather etc., and what kind of coops/shelters they need. Finally
In addition to all the good advice you've already received, I'd add be careful with the dogs around chickens and ducks. Even small dogs can cause a lot of harm to poultry.
Thanks for the welcome and advice everyone. Our dogs are indoor dogs, so we're hoping that the coop will keep them out when they go outside to run around. We saw a few things about putting blocks or bricks around the exterior and interior in addition to putting mesh cloth underneath to prevent animals from digging underneath. We definitely need to research more before building and bringing any chickens or ducks home so that all our animals will be safe.
