Keeping Ducks With Chickens?

[DarkWolf]

I'm just wondering what kind of setup those who keep ducks with chickens have as far as run space and coop. Can you enlighten me?

We'd considered a pair of ducks to go along with our chickens and, well, I'm not sure about ducks at all or what their minimum needs would be.

The coop we're doing is big enough for 25-30 birds, with only 10 making use of it. The run will also be sized for the 25-30 possible, but will be kept low.

So can you shed some light on the subject so I can see?

 

[sweetie54]

my ducks and chickens get along just fine!!!!At first tho i had to seprate them because the chickens were bigger than the ducks and they were peaking at them so i kept them in the same box but put up a see through gate and then when the ducks got bigger i just put them all in the chicken run together and now all is fine!!!Ducks can eat chicken crumbles too so it works out great!!!

 

[DarkWolf]

So they can eat layer ration without problem?

What about water, my understanding is they at least need a kiddie pool or deeper for breeding [which I just want females]?

Will they use the chicken coop to sleep in during the night? What about eggs, a nest on the floor? I could see the chickens fouling that up.

It's easy to find chicken info on this site. Duck info, take huge amounts of digging, especially since the forum search [via google] can not be limited to sections.

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

ive kept chickens and ducks in together before, although it didnt work out all that great for me. they do need more water then just the water can, so that they can keep themselves clean. The problems i had were:

1: ducks are way, super messy!
2: the chickens were always kinda wet from the ducks shenanigans.
3: a kiddie pool or even just a small tub of water is very dangerous for chickens and chicks. I lost at least 5 chicks and even 2 ducklings in it because it was too deep and they couldn't get out on their own. chickens just cant swim

4: it also made a lot of my chickens very sick being around all that dampness and overload of duck poo. I lost quite a few of them because of it, before and even after i separated everyone

 

[DarkWolf]

So basically it's best to separate them entirely. Alright.. I'll certainly back burner that idea for the future when I don't have 50 million other things to do..

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

i keep my ducks and chickens together in the same pen and they like it alot...i just had to make sure the chickens could fly up and roost away from the ducks...but other than that my birds all coexist together really well....bantums, geese, ducks, and reg. chickens...even a call duck...

 

[rudays chickens]

WHAT ABOUT FLYING?? How do you keep a duck from flying away.
I know dumb question but is there a way or do the always have to be in a closed off area?

 

[duck&chickencrazy]

as long as they have food, water, and shelter they wont fly away....i have two mallards and i dont clip their wings and they stay around..

 

[Brickman House]

I normally keep my chickens and ducks separate, but have had my two adult Pekins in with my chickens for three weeks while we were building their new duck house. It hasn't been a disaster, by any means, but definitely messier than normal!

The coop is a 6x8 shed-type coop, which is currently housing 12 hens and the 2 ducks. The hens free range, and the ducks hang out in the 24 x 16 run. I thought I'd open the coop to a horrible mess every morning, and to be fair, that hasn't happened.

But I definitely notice the waterer gets drained faster, the shavings are constantly wet under it, and the coop smells more than it ordinarily does. So while I won't say keeping chickens and ducks together can't or shouldn't be done, I can say I'll be very happy to move the ducks back to their own place this weekend!

 

[poltroon]

I have ducks and chickens sharing a run but not a coop. I have not had any problems.

Sometimes the ducks do fly out, but they always come back and wait around looking sheepish for me to let them back in. I am always left to wonder why they don't fly back in.