Housing, pond and other questions

[whisper237]

We have a brooder house that we used/use for the chickens. It was suggested to us to keep our show ducks on cement and in researching I have seen some keep their ducks in houses w/runs on stands. Do we need to do this or can we just use our brooder house? My plan is to either split our brooder house in half (chickens get one side) and ducks get the other. Or can they all be in the same area? I would like to put down some pea rock/river rock and either dig in a some water area for the ducks but don't want the chickens to drown. Is it ok to have pea rock/river rock in the chicken area

What we have done with the chickens my son shows in 4h is, we give them their bath a week before the fair and then put them in cages in the garage to stay clean.

Thanks for your help, we are awaiting our very first call ducks and are working on obtaining Cayuga (sp) and the chicken order goes in tomorrow.

Spring has sprung.

 

[larkflying]

The brooder house should be fine for living space - show people might be able to tell you more about their set ups, but I'd think the ducks would be healthy at least. They do make a MESS though, and they are gluttons and will eat ALL the chicken food they can get. I'd have separate areas just for the chickens peace of mind : ) And so you don't have to refill the waterers because the ducks have played in them.

I can't think the rocks would harm the chickens -- they will eat small rocks for digestion anyway.

We have a toddler wading pool for the geese and ducks and the chickens will perch on the edge and drink - even though there is cleaner water in their waterer. I think the ducks and chickens would be fine unless you have too many drakes (one drake to 5 or 6 female ducks . .. ) I sold off all but one drake because they were making the female ducks lives miserable, and I didn't want them chasing the chicken hens around and trying to mate with them. Not sure how you manage that with show pairs -- might need some small houses with separate living quarters for the bachelors . . .

Can't answer the show questions, but if you do a search for showing ducks you might come up with some helpful links . . . Enjoy the ducks! I love ours -- they are so funny - definately the clowns of the chicken yard.

Be sure you have separate brooding space for the ducklings and the chicks -- the chicks are a lot more fragile then ducklings and need heat longer . . .

 

[whisper237]

Thanks, after talking more to my son I don't think we will be getting chickens this year. We are going to talk to a person that has several varities of ducks and some we are interested in. So we are gettin excited as he was willing to show us his place and answer questions. I bought the next larger kiddie pool for the dogs last summer that I was planning on using for the ducks.