In need of some advice on introducing my ducks to my chickens in order to cohabitate

[shanz7619]

We have 6 chickens that we got in March, just a straight run buy. We ended up with 5 hens and one rooster (I know very lucky!!). They are a mix of breeds. One is a black sexling, one is a red sexling, 2 are Rhode island reds and the other 2 I cannot remember for the life of me the breed. The one I do know, who is my Bertha girl, is a breed that gets larger and matures faster. All egg layers.
Now a little over a month ago my husband and 5yo were sent for a bag of feed for the chickens. They came back with the feed (surprisingly) but also with a male and female duckling and forgot to check on the breed!!
So I do not know what breed my ducks are although I have done some googling and had it narrowed down because of the color they were when babies but now they are trumping that conclusion as they are not getting the colors we thought they would.
But my question is whether or not it is too late, seeing they are apart a good ways in age from the chickens, if I can SAFELY introduce them to the flock without any harm coming to any of them?? We wanted to try and save some money and not have to build another coop but if need be we will just so I have that piece of mind that nobody is being hurt or bullied lol.
I did go in with both ducks yesterday into the run of the coop and let the flock just walk around me and my initial thought was I was going to have to fight off my rooster but he showed little interest. It was actually my Bertha who started getting closer and making defensive noises.
I also know that the drake could possibly take advantage of my hens since there is only one female duck.
Any and all advice or guidance is greatly appreciated!!

 

[chickens really]

I actually built a pen for my Ducks. Ducks are messy with water.
Chickens like it dry.
My friends Drake was actually swinging her Chickens by the neck so she now has a pen for her Ducks too.
I thinks it is a hit or miss situation and depends on the birds, set up ,space...Free ranging seems to work but housing together not always easy.

 

[shanz7619]

I'm actually going to let them all out in the yard here for a little bit and see how it goes. I just don't want them together at first in an enclosed space where I can't get to them easily in case it escalates lol. I try to let the ducks out once a day to play in their pool but if it's cold and raining they pretty much stay in the shed which I know is horribly boring for them. I'm just going to open the run door and put the pool close to it so the chickens can come out and socialize a bit with the ducks. If it doesn't go over well then another coop will be getting built this weekend. The ducks are just too messy to stay in the shed cuz with the heat it starts to make the shed smell.

 

[chickens really]

I'm actually going to let them all out in the yard here for a little bit and see how it goes. I just don't want them together at first in an enclosed space where I can't get to them easily in case it escalates lol. I try to let the ducks out once a day to play in their pool but if it's cold and raining they pretty much stay in the shed which I know is horribly boring for them. I'm just going to open the run door and put the pool close to it so the chickens can come out and socialize a bit with the ducks. If it doesn't go over well then another coop will be getting built this weekend. The ducks are just too messy to stay in the shed cuz with the heat it starts to make the shed smell.

I bought a 10x10 dog run and the house is a Dog house with vent holes and a door.
Perfect for ducks. I just shut the door once I herd them in. Safe for the night.
I have Chicks this year that have not met the ducks except through the fence.
I am not worried though to free range them once the Chicks are ready too free range.

 

[chickens really]

I bought a 10x10 dog run and the house is a Dog house with vent holes and a door.
Perfect for ducks. I just shut the door once I herd them in. Safe for the night.
I have Chicks this year that have not met the ducks except through the fence.
I am not worried though to free range them once the Chicks are ready too free range.

Ducks are tough buggers.. No need to lock them in when its rainy. They love rain and will seek out shelter if they need it.

 

[alrosenb]

For introducing new animals, I keep a small pen in my barn that I put the new animals in and then the old animals can look at them and get used to their presence before they actually have access to each other. I usually keep them that way for a week and then by the time I let the newbies out, they are all completely used to each other. So far it has worked perfectly. My ducks do sleep in my chicken coop.

 

[shanz7619]

For introducing new animals, I keep a small pen in my barn that I put the new animals in and then the old animals can look at them and get used to their presence before they actually have access to each other.  I usually keep them that way for a week and then by the time I let the newbies out, they are all completely used to each other.  So far it has worked perfectly.  My ducks do sleep in my chicken coop.

See we did this with the rooster we had. We kept him in a pen and let the flock walk around outside of him and he actually got over the 4 foot fencing and attacked my big hen. We have since gave him to someone else because about 2 weeks later our one Rhode island started maturing and turned out to be a rooster lol.
The flock knows they are here. They have gone in and out of the shed while I let them range a little bit but I'm just afraid they will fight or something. The other rooster didn't like me very much after I literally had to swat his butt to get him off my hen.

 

[chickens really]

Roosters breed hens multiple times a day.
Hitting him will not change his mind and will only have him acting more aggressive towards you.

 

[chickens really]

Roosters breed hens multiple times a day.
Hitting him will not change his mind and will only have him acting more aggressive towards you.

Roosters have only two things on their minds. Protecting the flock and breeding.

 

[shanz7619]

The problem was he was being introduced to the flock we already had. We actually kept them separated for a couple weeks until somebody wanted him because he also tried going after our other rooster. The 6 we have we got as chicks and were raised together. So before we knew Rocky was a rooster we were actually told they were all hens. Right after we got mclovin is when Rocky started showing his wattle and comb. When mclovin went after Rocky is when we knew they couldn't be together at all because it is Rockys flock as he was raised with them. We tried everything to get mclovin off my hen including turning the hose on and all he did was latch down harder on the back of her neck and make her scream more. That's when I had to do a light swat and knock him off balance for him to let go of her.