housing chickens and ducks together?

[watchdogps]

I started a thread on remodeling our coop/room here, you can see what I am working with
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=573868
Now, I'm looking for thoughts on how to house hubbys four ducks in there too. I dont forsee problems now, but in the winter, the water mess the ducks make...I'm not looking forward to it. Should the ducks stay in a pen outside, or is there a way to keep them inside and sanitary? We have plenty of room, and could make a pen within the inside coop, but not sure if thats the best idea.

 

[nickie]

Personally, knowing the mess ducks make, I would house them seperate. Plus, how well do they get along with eachother? I have a duck and a roo that stinkeye eachother at every possible moment, enclosing them together would be a bad idea. if everyone gets along and the splashing won't be an issue then go for it.

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
No idea how they like each other, the ducks are new and are separate for now. I'm thinking duck tractor.

 

[nickie]

Ah, I see, well I guess I can tell you that I let my ducks roam free all the time. I have white pekins, and if you don't know they are a flightless duck. When they were small we kept them closed up in a crate during the night and when I went to work, after a few weeks only at night, the we converted an old outhouse with a concrete floor into their house where I keep their feeder and waterer. They come and go as they please. The chickens have their own flashy new coop with a run, I let them freerange during the day while I'm home so they clean up the spilled food in the duck house (ducks are slobs about their eating) and walk around the little duck pond I put in. They don't like eachother much, but they have an agreement on chickens clean up their house, ducks share their pond for thirsty chickens.

Edited to fix autocorrects silly word usage.

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
They will be free soon, but we just moved here and the permanent coop isnt done, we just have some pens set up. I didnt want to risk putting the ducklings in with groups of chickens and get beat up on, plus the pens are too small to house two groups together. I think I will end up free ranging everyone together, but when they are housed they will be separate.

 

[nickie]

That sounds best to me, ducks are made for water year round, chickens are not.

 

[CT]

I've been thinking about this very thing, since I do hope to add ducks to our homestead maybe next spring. Since I'm new to any of this, take everything I suggest with a grain of salt, but here's what I've been contemplating.

I have a barn, and in that I have built a chicken coop. The barn itself is not quite as big as yours. I know one dimension is 20', the other is probably about that too. I built the coop in one corner on top of a 4x8' table. The chickens can go out through their own pop door (actually a window) into a yard (soon to be enclosed), but can't go out into the rest of the barn.

But I still want ducks, and ideally I want them way the heck in the back yard where the pond is. But I do NOT want to hike out there in the winter to feed them. So I was thinking I might build the duck house on wheels so I can move it with the tractor. In summer, it can be by the pond. In winter I can haul it up near the house, perhaps inside the chicken yard or the barn. I probably won't provide a swimming pool during freezing weather, but just let them enjoy the snow.

Some folks who I know keep both ducks and chickens together do so by giving them shared night housing where no food or water is provided. Since all birds are free to go to yards (or wherever food and water are kept) all day, the lack of it during strictly sleeping hours isn't a hardship. With no food at hand, the ducks don't need water. During the day, the ducks can splash away, because the yard is big enough for the chickens to just avoid them.