Novice Alert! 2 hens and a duck.

[hrharkin]

Hi All,

I'm Hannah from Nottingham, UK. My family and I have been toying with the idea of finally fulfilling a life long dream of my mum's and getting hens, hurray! We bought a coop a few months back and set it up the best we knew how, waiting for the right time to get some chickens.

Well, the time has come! Due to circumstances a friend of the family said they would have to give their chickens to a rescue centre - next thing you know we've agreed to adopt them! The very next day they arrive at our house and we instantly fall in love. To add to this, along with the 2 hens we also aquired a duck (I believe it is a Pekin?). Now, we didn't plan for this and we're not sure if she's staying but, quite frankly, she's adorable so we'd like to make it work.
HOWEVER! I'm a worrier and I want everything to be perfect for our new family members, and being a complete novice at keeping chickens any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Will the chickens and duck be okay living together? Will the duck need different feeders/waterers? Does the duck need constant access to water source? What is the most efficient way of cleaning a coop/keeping a coop clean?

Any advice and tips welcome!
Thank you,
Hannah.

 

[Habibs Hens]

welcome to BYC from London


firstly go over to the learning centre and see there loads of info there and also the stikies

i have hens ducks and geese

teh water fowl are fine togetehr but my hens are too agressive to new commers so i keep them away from teh ducks


alot of people have kepts them together no probs but for me i cant

the ducks have a bill so a normal chicken feeder waterer is no good

i use buckets and that is fine they use that no issues

drinking water no matter what animal should be available all the time, if you mean swimming water then a small paddling pool is fine or a large tub

i have a paddling pool and they love it


soon to be building a propper pond for them ibrought an ubbink 250 and that should be sufficiant


hope that heps

 

[Kevin565]

. Hope you'll join us down in the section

 

[hrharkin]

Thank you for your reply. As far as I'm aware the duck and hens have grown up together and seem pretty comfortable with each other - infact, you get the feeling that the duck is protecting the hens most of the time. I just wondered if keeping hens and ducks in the same coop is advised against or not?

With this happening in such short time we have not had time to create a proper 'run' area for them, but we are planning on fencing off a section of the garden using chicken wire for them to use during the day when we are around to keep an eye on them. When we aren't around to watch them we thought they would be okay in their coop (link below) but now I'm concerned this is too small for the duck. Any thoughts?

I'm sorry if I sound completely clueless, I kind of am!

I believe this is the same coop we have: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-2012-...t=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item3f1afcd71e

 

[Habibs Hens]

i would get them a duck house as ducks are grond dwellers and to me that looks like they will be siting in chicken poop as they wont go up to the upper levels

 

[hrharkin]

That's a good point, thank you. I think I'll be speaking to the previous owner more tomorrow to get a better understanding of how they lived before, ha.

 

[weimarmama]

&

from Alabama. Glad you joined us. Congrats on your new additions and good luck

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

I believe Kevin meant join him in the Duck section

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Hi and from Ohio. So glad to have you aboard.

 

[downsm75]

Thank you for your reply. As far as I'm aware the duck and hens have grown up together and seem pretty comfortable with each other - infact, you get the feeling that the duck is protecting the hens most of the time. I just wondered if keeping hens and ducks in the same coop is advised against or not?

With this happening in such short time we have not had time to create a proper 'run' area for them, but we are planning on fencing off a section of the garden using chicken wire for them to use during the day when we are around to keep an eye on them. When we aren't around to watch them we thought they would be okay in their coop (link below) but now I'm concerned this is too small for the duck. Any thoughts? 

I'm sorry if I sound completely clueless, I kind of am!

I believe this is the same coop we have: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-2012-...t=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item3f1afcd71e

I have my ducks and chickens together, but plan on building a duck run. I have 10 chickens and 6 ducks... Your duck may get lonely if you separate them. I'd keep them together