Integrating Chicken into Duck Flock?

[kenzietee]

Hey guys! Very long post incoming!
I am a newbie when it comes to raising ducks and poultry in general. I have a flock of five ducks, all females. When our first two were about three months old, we started integrating our younger three in with them. The older two bullied them a little, but wouldn't do any more than shove them around and chase them very occasionally.
Fast forward a bit, and now our ducks are all between four and five months old. We have a female bantam silkie chick that is about three to four months old. I know that chickens and drakes are a bad combo because they will hurt them by trying to mate with them, but from what I understand, female ducks are okay.
We have been trying relentlessly to integrate the chick in with our flock and it is becoming very stressful. We tried putting them on neutral turf, and the ducks all chase her and pull at her feathers, and she will do her best to get out of the fenced area and away from them (understandably!) which makes her prime hawk chow. She greatly enjoys hanging out in the ducks house though when they aren't in it. We added a nesting box/shelf and a roosting bar for her today that the ducks can't get to, thinking that she would use them to get away from the ducks when she needed to. I left them together in the house supervised for twenty minutes and watched her use the shelf to get away as planned. However, after a few minutes she jumped back down. The girls all swarmed her and got her halfway pinned under the house from their run, and were pulling out her feathers so bad that she's bleeding a bit. I stopped it as soon as I could and moved her back into the garage, but I'm really looking for ideas or suggestions as to how any of you did this?
Is it even possible at all? I'm getting very discouraged. I know most birds have a pecking order but the older ducks definitely weren't this hard on the younger ones. I really don't want to build a separate house for her specifically, and she is having a good time in her brooder in the garage, but cannot have time outside to be a chicken unless supervised at all times and I just simply can't be out with her from sunrise to sunset.

 

[chicknmania]

Can't you get her a couple of chicken friends? I think it would help if she had some to hang out with, and maybe the ducks would leave her alone more. I have a friend who had a lone Silkie hen and a few female ducks and a drake, and they all got along with no problems, but the chicken was lonely when the ducks went in the water, she had no one to hang with, and she was a target for hawks as a result. Not a good match.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Bantam Silkies are small too. I don't think it is a good combo at all. Why not get about 3 more silkie chickens?
If it is stressful on you, think how stressful it is on the chick. She needs the same species to hang out with and do chicken things with.

 

[kenzietee]

I have been thinking about getting another hen or two to hang out with her, both of smaller breeds. A LOT of people have suggested that actually and I've thought about it but wasn't sure how much it would help. My county fair is going on right now and I'm going tomorrow so I'm really hoping to get either some pullets or find someone who can help me out with getting some. I'm sure she's very stressed and I feel very bad about it honestly! Do you guys think if I get a few other smaller hens for her to hang out with that it will alleviate the duck issue? I'd still like to house them together as we have space in the house for more nesting boxes and whatnot. I'm worried that if I have more of them, the ducks will just have three chickens to pick on rather than one. I know of a ton of people who house theirs together and never had this issue (it's usually the opposite, chickens bullying ducks it seems) so I'm guessing it's just a size thing. Our two ducks that bully her the worst are both smaller runners and are actually our most tame ones so I'm almost positive the size is the issue.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Once you get your hen some friends then temporarily fence off an area of the run and house for the chickens and let them all live side by side for a while. Probably going into fall when hormones are waning the integration will be easier. Yes even females get hormonal think of it as PMS

 

[kenzietee]

I actually figured part of it was hormonal, considering it's summer and they're just now old enough to start laying. I'll try the fencing off for sure because it allows them to see the chickens but not actually hurt them. Thank you!

 

[harmonymw]

Birds, like people, get braver in groups, so yeah some more chickens will help. And it increases the chance that you’ll get a chicken who will peck back and teach the ducks a lesson.

 

[chickens really]

Best advice is to house the two species separately..
My Calls absolutely hate my Chickens..

 

[Miss Lydia]

I actually figured part of it was hormonal, considering it's summer and they're just now old enough to start laying. I'll try the fencing off for sure because it allows them to see the chickens but not actually hurt them. Thank you!

My Chickens and ducks sleep in the same coop and respect each others space except during mating season my Muscovy's can grab tail feathers if the chickens get too close.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

My ducks attack my chickens - it becomes a kung fu fight extravaganza. I believe it is because they are muscovy and have no fear of the chickens. I also think, I separated them too long - I should have let the chickens meet the ducks when they were ducklings, but I was a afraid the chickens would be too mean.
They are only separated by welded wire which everyone can stick their head through, so you would think they could all get along. Maybe someday I will let them all out into the yard and see what happens on the open range.