is it safe to put week-old ducklings in with day-old baby chicks?

[tazzy]

we have four ducklings that are about eight days old. we bought them last Tuesday at TSC. there are new chicks in at TSC today. so they're about six to seven days younger than our ducklings.

is it safe to put ducklings in with chicks that are a week apart in age? or will they peck the chicks?

also, there's the food issue - we feed non-medicated feed to the ducklings, and the chicks would need medicated feed.

it would just be a temporary set up, until this evening. would everyone be safe or should I not buy the chicks?

 

[jvls1942]

go ahead and get the chicks. withhold the medicated feed until you separate the ducks and chicks.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
Not safe for chicks, ducks spill water around and make mess, chicken need dry environment.

Keep them separate.

 

[tazzy]

thanks! the chicks will probably huddle together in a corner of the brooder. the ducks water is in the opposite corner, six feet away. we have a big brooder!

I would wait, but TSC sells out FAST and our local one just got in a big new shipment.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Get the chicks. Because you want them.

Yes, duckies make a lot of (water) messes. I put my duck water in a large shallow container to help keep the water confined. You may need to keep them seperated. As time goes on you will figure out how to make it work. My issue right now is trying to find one product to feed my duckies, chicks and pullets. Have fun!!

 

[tazzy]

okay, I bought 15 pullet chicks today. and put them in with the ducklings. but the ducklings started pecking on them! The ducklings are about three times as big as the chicks, so I worried they might hurt them. I went ahead and separated them myself, instead of waiting until my husband came home from work.

so, all is fine in the brooder world on our little mini farm.

here is a pic of the dudes together, before I separated them. they were so cute together. the white pekin laid down in the center of them, so I thought they'd be okay together, but it would stretch its neck out and peck at any chick it could reach! and then the baby mallards chased one particular little dark chick around and had it cowering under the duck's water jug, so I decided that wasn't good and I put a stop to it. The ducks are now in their own brooder and the chicks are in theirs.

 

[TheDuckCrew]

so cute!! too bad they didn't get along.

 

[tazzy]

yeah, but it's okay. we had a separate brooder ready to go, but it wasn't cleaned out yet and didn't have a brooder light installed. so I cleaned it out and got it ready to go. I didn't put the light in yet, but it's a warm day here and it's warm inside the second brooder. once my husband is home in another half hour, he will add the brooder light to it.

 

[melissastraka]

I have read that ducks peck at chicks which i find is weird. I have turkeys with my chicks and all is happy in brooder land! Good thing you had another brooder. I would love to see pics of it.

 

[tazzy]

oh, the second one is nothing fancy. it's a big wooden box that my husband converted to a makeshift brooder by adding a mesh front and a sliding lock.

after my husband got home tonight, he added a divider to the first brooder and he put the ducks back in that one, on their own side, since that's the better brooder. once we get our extra 37 chicks in next week, we'll move the ducklings back to the smaller brooder and give the others the full run of the bigger one.

here's a pic of our regular brooder, which my husband made a couple of years ago:

And then here is the spare one, in the background: