Keeping ducks and chickens in same run but offer different coops?

[humblehillsfarm]

So we are building a large 20’ x 10’ coop, although about 30% of the interior will be for chicken keeping supplies and a brooding area. The coop is elevated about 24-30” off the ground (some ground areas are lower than others), so the total run area is about 400sq feet, or 20’x20’.

The max amount of chickens I want is 35, but I currently have 17. I want to add three female ducks and maybe one drake. What is like to do is build a small 3’x3’ enclosure within the run that’s on the ground for the ducks to go into at night.

Is this doable? Will the ducks whacky laying habits ruin the chickens?

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

In my experience, kind of.
My ducks, even the females, run the chickens off every time they get close despite having been around chickens from 7 days old, and despite them all free-ranging. It has greatly improved since the ducks finally discovered the pond though.
And now that the ducks are laying, the chickens are starting to follow the example of laying on the floor in the poop.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

In my experience, kind of.
My ducks, even the females, run the chickens off every time they get close despite having been around chickens from 7 days old, and despite them all free-ranging. It has greatly improved since the ducks finally discovered the pond though.
And now that the ducks are laying, the chickens are starting to follow the example of laying on the floor in the poop.

oh yeah that’s the kind of chaos I’m worried about. I want ducks so bad but not at the expensive of messing up the good things I have going on with my chickens

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

We are in the process of making a separate area for the ducks but it may never get completed. I think they would do fine if maybe you did the separate house and maybe a little additional run attached to the current one??

 

[RobertaD1]

Amen to that... hence why I'm going to build a whole different area....

oh yeah that’s the kind of chaos I’m worried about. I want ducks so bad but not at the expensive of messing up the good things I have going on with my chickens