Raising ducks with chickens? How was your experience?

[Yardmom]

I have 2 ducks in my chicken coop. The first because she imprinted on chicks. She learned to climb the steps to get to her friends in the coop instead of following her own kind to the pond. I added a Drake recently. I free range and keep food available at all times. This is the first I had heard of ducks overdoing it. I seldom see the ducks by the feed when the pond is open. My duck hen is just one of the flock the Drake is a khaki and tends to just stay out of the way. Remember ducks need head dunking water. This doesn't seem to be a problem for grown chickens, but be careful with peepers. Also if you have a pond getting ducks into shelter of any sort is a challenge. My chicken imprinted duck is the exception, luckily my current Drake wants to be where she is.

 

[casportpony]

Would ducklings do ok in the same brooder I use for baby chicks? No chicks will be in the brooder of course lol.

I brood ducklings in the same brooder I use for chicks, and sometimes brood them together, though I keep a close eye on them because the ducklings grow very quickly and make a wet mess of the brooder. When this happens, the chicks can get chilled.

 

[BullChick]

Would ducklings do ok in the same brooder I use for baby chicks? No chicks will be in the brooder of course lol.

Same brooder, with the chicks. They do grow faster, but I think this pair that decided to brood the chicks (and 3 poults a few days after these pictures were taken) is proof it’s okay.

Ducks free ranging with chickens.

The ducks go in with the chickens at night. On a rare occasion, I have to herd them in. The Muscovy roosts, and lays her eggs in a chicken nest box.

 

[Pyxis]

My farm vet I had when I first got ducks was the one who told me never to feed the medicated feed to my ducks that is can kill them.

Did they say what medication specifically? Feeds are medicated with all kinds of things, and most of the medications used are totally safe for ducks. When people say medicated feed, most commonly they are referring to feed that contains amprolium, which is not actually a medication. It's used in the control of coccidiosis and is a thiamine blocker, not a medication or antibiotic. Amprolium is entirely safe for ducks and is in fact sometimes used to treat them should they develop coccidiosis themselves.

 

[Pyxis]

I was thinking of having their water outside only. Maybe a kiddie pool? Can I keep ducks without a drake?

That's how I do it No water in the coops, because ducks will make a giant wet mess around their water. I just keep kiddie pools and water buckets outside in the run for everyone.

You can definitely keep ducks without a drake if you would like. I personally like to have a drake because they tend to be prettier in some regards than their female counterparts, and of course I breed and show, so I need them for breeding.

 

[Kelsykin]

Did they say what medication specifically? Feeds are medicated with all kinds of things, and most of the medications used are totally safe for ducks. When people say medicated feed, most commonly they are referring to feed that contains amprolium, which is not actually a medication. It's used in the control of coccidiosis and is a thiamine blocker, not a medication or antibiotic. Amprolium is entirely safe for ducks and is in fact sometimes used to treat them should they develop coccidiosis themselves.

He never said which specifically. Just told me no medicated feed for the the ducks. But from what I understand medicated feed is set for chickens eating habits and metabolism, not duck or other poultry. Just like anything too much of anything can cause an overdose. Animals like people can overdose on a variety of things.

 

[Pyxis]

He never said which specifically. Just told me no medicated feed for the the ducks. But from what I understand medicated feed is set for chickens eating habits and metabolism, not duck or other poultry. Just like anything too much of anything can cause an overdose. Animals like people can overdose on a variety of things.

I was wondering if they told you which one, since it sounds like they also told you the old myth about the ducks eating more and thus overdosing themselves That myth actually hales from the days that medicated feed for the control of coccidiosis was actually medicated with arsenic-based coccidiostats. Ducks have a lower tolerance for arsenic than chickens, so when fed those feeds, some ducks would die. Nowadays of course we aren't using arsenic-based medications to control coccidiosis.

There are still a couple feeds out there that might contain arsenic-based medications, but these are feeds that are medicated for the control of blackhead, so as long as you aren't buying turkey feed for your ducks, you're very unlikely to run into them.

Something like this, though, if you couldn't find an unmedicated version, would be perfectly safe to use. It's a medicated all flock feed, made with ducks and other poultry in mind, and is medicated with amprolium for the control of coccidiosis.

 

[Kelsykin]

Something like this, though, if you couldn't find an unmedicated version, would be perfectly safe to use. It's a medicated all flock feed, made with ducks and other poultry in made, and is medicated with amprolium for the control of coccidiosis.

I trust him over anybody. He never would suggest I do or not do something that would harm my animals. I don't medicate unless I see a sign of illness. Be it animal or human. I still call him and his office for animal advice even though I live 800+ miles away.

 

[Pyxis]

I trust him over anybody. He never would suggest I do or not do something that would harm my animals. I don't medicate unless I see a sign of illness. Be it animal or human. I still call him and his office for animal advice even though I live 800+ miles away.

Oh, yes, definitely no need to medicate for no reason Ducklings are usually much more resistant to coccidiosis than chicks, and in fact the organism that causes coccidiosis in ducks is different than the one that causes it in chickens. So there's not really a need to feed them feed with amprolium in it.

But sometimes in some areas all you can find is feed with amprolium in it, and in these cases I was just meaning that it's safe to feed that to ducklings and you don't have to worry that they will die if you do I don't feed my ducks medicated feed because I have access to unmedicated feed. But if it ever happened that all the unmedicated feed was sold out, I would know I could buy the medicated stuff to feed them temporarily and not panic about it. And since it's not really a medication, I wouldn't worry about over-medicating or creating resistant bacteria or anything like that either.

 

[Yardmom]

Some keep their water outside. I do this In warm temps only. Snow and cold will keep my chicken hens from going out to drink. One day it was colder than I realized. They went 24 hours with out a drink instead of risking the cold.

Also just a note we had ducklings and chicks in a brooder. Unfortunately the size difference at a week caused a few chicks to be trampled.