questions about raising Ducks with my chickens

whatsup chickenbutt

Songster
11 Years
Sep 9, 2008
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I would like to add a few ducks to my flock. I need to know the differences in raising ducks as compared to raising chickens.
first and foremost:
do all ducks need water, or can it be provided to them occasionally for entertainment. My main question I guess is, can they have a pool all summer, and nothing in the winter?
Are temperaments different between male and female ducks as they are between male and female chickens? What is a male duck called, and are they potentially mean?
Do I need to provide them with their own coop, or do I incorporate them into the two chicken coops I already have?
Thanks,
 
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I dont have any chickens but do have ducks...I can tell you what I know about mine...My ducks have a pool most of the time..Not in really cold weather only drinking water..They dont have to have water to swim but it really helps..Mine would be so unhappy without that pool...My 2 boys mallards they are called Drakes,females are hens..My boys are very tame had them since 4 weeks my 4 girls are tame but dont follow me around like the boys do..I love having ducks but they are so messy,they are put up at night I do not give them water because they will play in it and make more of a mess than I have time to clean up...I am sure someone with both can help better..Hope I helped some.


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I always kept mine with the chickens and they got along great. The basically ignored one another.

Mine swim in the dead of winter, they would be on the little sections of the pond that were not iced over
 
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my chickens and ducks grew up together. they get along great, they have been in the same pen since they were young. BUT now that my rooster and hen are mating, it upsets the drake (male duck), he either goes after the rooster or the hen, but they never fight about it. the rooster just stops. i have a pond in their coop with them. chickens cant swim, but they can fly. my hen fell in and flew right out. I dont know anything about introducing newbies. Sorry!!! hope i helped some
 
My chickens and ducks also grew up together, and one rooster who was sent free (for warmth) with a small duck order seems to think he actually is a duck. He hangs out with the ducks, goes to bed with them in their pen, and tries to breed them. The rest of the chickens go their separate way and seem to ignore the ducks. All the chickens and ducks have totally free range, and access to a coop and an additional pen that I built for the ducks after some fell prey to a raccoon. The ducks (and their rooster friend) go to the pen every night and the rest of the chickens go into the coop. I didn't do anything to make it work out that way, they just do it. There was a period of time during the middle of winter that the ducks went into the coop with the chickens every night for several weeks, then suddenly started going to the pen again. I'm not sure why, but the first night they changed locations they all stood between the coop and pen discussing it very loudly for 15 minutes before they finally decided on the pen. That's where they've been sleep ever since.

What I would suggest about raising them together is, as someone else said, NOT to keep water inside the night coop or pen. Unless you want to slop out the coop every couple of days. Ducks make conditions way too wet for healthy chickens. My chickens and ducks have a kiddie pool outside of the coop with a heater in it to keep it from freezing in the winter. It is a fair distance from the coop. It gets gross quickly so it has to be changed frequently. I also sometimes fill a smaller bowl from the horse tank and put it in the coop for the chickens so they don't have to drink the nasty duck pool water.
 
I meant to add that, even though some of the chickens and ducks grew up together, I have introduced new birds of both species and have had no problems. The chickens didn't seem to notice that there were ducks, and the ducks seemed equally oblivious to the new chickens. Mostly, they don't seem to bother each other. Except my one rooster who humps the ducks.
 
i also don't have any chickens, but i do have ducks. i would say they might need their own coop because chicken coops can sometimes be too small, and ducks can't jump like chickens can. but if the coop works, then thats great. also, my ducks get water all throughout the summer, it really helps them because they get quite hot. so far in the winter, they only get their pool on warm days. male ducks are called drakes and my drakes are different than my hen. they fight a lot, and make a lot more noise, even though my hen is louder. they are much quicker to react to things and normally protect my hen. its quite cute. she likes me much more than any of them do and they are always fighting over her, even though the "king" duck always wins!
 
My 2 ducks(hens) hang around with the chickens 24/7. They had a little dog house for sleeping but as soon as it started getting cold I went out to put the chickens to bed and the ducks were in the coop.So that's where they sleep now. I do have water in the coop all the time but I flipped over the cover of a storage box and put the waterer in that. So if they make a mess its confined to the box top.
If you provide food at night then they need water Miss Prissy said they will choke if they don't have water with their food.
Hope this helped and they are messy but I wouldn't get rid of them for anything they are so much fun.
 
same here, i wouldn't get rid of my ducks! at first, it took me forever to convince my parents and they were worried and they they were mad because they were so messy. but just the other day my mom looked out and said "i'm so glad we got them. they are so much fun. i love them" i smiled at her comment. everyone in my family loves them now, but my sister doesn't. she's a girl in every sense of the word. she said they're too dirty! haha
 
thanks for all your comments.
So, if they were to sleep in the coop with the chickens, and i didnt provide water for them in there, and they swam out in the pool, or pond or whatever I end up doing for them, do their feathers retain a lot of water so they will drag ounces of it in to the coop every time? FYI, in the spring, I will be designating a fairly large corral to the chickens, along with their coops, I will basically open the entire area up. This is when I intended to add ducks. So, when i do provide a water source for them, it will be probably 50 feet from their coop. Will that make a difference as to whether or not they could room with the chickens and how much mess they add? Im definitely NOT looking for more mess in the chicken coop than I already have.
Also, with regards to their inside quarters, do they just sit on the floor, huddle in a corner, do they want a nesting box or what?
Thanks so much!
 

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