Mixing chickens and ducks question...

nao57

Crowing
Mar 28, 2020
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So I've got the ducks and chickens mixed.

So far it seems to be OK. They've been like this a couple months already. I don't see too many problems usually. The two chickens are the minority however. They run away faster than the ducks, so being a bit smaller than them doesn't matter too much so far because of the higher maneuverability.

Now when I feed them I have been feeding them all together.

In this process I wonder if this is going to be all right?

Here are some reasons why I was wondering this...

When i feed them its like a feeding frenzy. The ducks have bigger bills than the chickens little beaks. (Both are 4 months old btw). The ducks will take a huge chunk of sprouts in their bill all at once, but the chickens have only this tiny beak where they can only do a bit at a time. This seems to put them at a disadvantage in not being able to keep up with the voracious duck appetites.

The family likes the chickens almost as much as the ducks, particularly my dad; that surprised me. (So I want to make it work to not disappoint.)

Does it work well for others feeding the ducks and chickens at the same time? How do you guys manage it? And suggestions?

However, I don't like chasing the chickens. They follow the ducks around, whenever I'm trying to herd them, lock them up, etc. This makes changing things a bit harder, plus with my health not being that great I want to minimize time used to feed them, check pens, etc.

If a fix is needed, is it good enough to just give the chickens extra snacks halfway through the day?
 
When I was in growing up we had 25 hens 3 roosters and 4ducks all living in the same location, a large semi open coop with 100' x 50' run, in one corner we had a kiddie pool sunk into the ground. To feed them we had to use an open pan for the ducks and a closed metal feeder for the chickens. The feeder holes were uncomfortable for the ducks to eat out of so they stayed at the pan. We also tried throwing the feed on the ground, the chickens could peck it up but the ducks didn't bother too much, but filling the pan would bring the chickens if there wasn't a feeder for them.
 
When I was in growing up we had 25 hens 3 roosters and 4ducks all living in the same location, a large semi open coop with 100' x 50' run, in one corner we had a kiddie pool sunk into the ground. To feed them we had to use an open pan for the ducks and a closed metal feeder for the chickens. The feeder holes were uncomfortable for the ducks to eat out of so they stayed at the pan. We also tried throwing the feed on the ground, the chickens could peck it up but the ducks didn't bother too much, but filling the pan would bring the chickens if there wasn't a feeder for them.
Thanks!
 

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