peking & mallard ducklings

[samandmike]

we are trying to find out if we can put them out in the coop before thay feather. we kept the last 4 we have in the brooder till thay wher fully feathered. but this time we have them in a smaller cage and thay are looking crouded. i have 13 chickens 2 mallard 2 peking. that are 1 year old chickens are 2 years. if i put them out earlier will thay want to go in the coop easer? and do you think that the others will pick on them to much? my coop is pretty big i had about 40 chickens in it. but we had a @#$! fox sneeking around that got me to 13 before he was legal to be a decoration on the table. oh thay are starting to get tail feathers and little body feathers.

 

[ksmith]

I was having the same issue. It is a horribel idea to mix they babies with the adults. For one thing the adults can give the babies all kinds of diseases, and cause them to die. And the adults will pick on them. What I did was build a small coop (It only costed me $50 for the supplies) and I am going to move the babies into the small coop, until they are large enough for the big chickes.

 

[Niss]

We have 4 mallards that are 6 wks and 2 pekins that are 5 wks (but much bigger) together. The pekins don't have their feathers yet, but love being in the streem that borders our yard and mucking up the puddles around our yard. Our chicks are also 6wks, but over the weekend we got many full grown chickens, and they all ignored the ducklings (so far).