Separate houses for chicks and ducks? And coop size?

[jennyinvermont]

Hi everyone! I'm so excited and so confused to be starting my chick and duck life! I need a lot of help! We're on a weird patch of land in Vermont that's divided into 3 parcels. We have our little yard, then across the street we have more "woodsy" and hilly area of land, with easy access to a rushing brook. I'm trying to decide if I raise the chicks and ducks together or separate. I'd like the ducks to have free access to the brook once big enough (though I'm also worried about them being carried away by the current?), and its seems like they make a big mess in the chicken coop? For this reason it seems easier to have a separate house for them, in the woods area. And the hens in a coop with fenced run in the yard.

But I'm also interested in having the ducks in the yard sometimes to eat slugs and be cute - will I be able to carry them accross the road to hang out in the yard sometimes? Is it twice as much work (and crazy) to have two separate houses? The other option is to put them all in the woodsy area, but then we will see them much less as they won't be hanging out in the yard with us, and I have to figure out how to house them together.

I'm attaching some photos of our brook. The second two are what it looks like when it's quite full but not crazy (much lower in summer) and the first one is after a big storm (when I would fence it off from ducks!). But do you think they'd be okay using it or too fast? Should I let them warm up in a pool for a few months first?

Also how much space do chicks really need? I've read 4 sq feet/chicken, and 5 sq ft/duck, but when I look at coops on line they give WAY less space than this per bird. They will be outside free ranging every day. I just wanna make sure I'm not giving way more space than needed.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Abundance is a social lubricant. The more space they have, the better they *tend* to behave. Space in coop, by the rule of thumb, is 4' per std chicken, and usually 5-6' per duck. You can do with less IF you have a larger run (so they are only nesting in the house) AND you have good weather for it, that they aren't confined to the house for days on end seasonally.

If you have drakes, you will want more space, particularly if you have too many drakes. My drake will chase juveniles around more than an acre seeking to mount them - while its normal behavior when the drake has his hormones up (seemingly most of the year), it can lead to injuries - the back of the neck where he "bites them" to hold them down, bumble foot where they suffer puncture injuries trying desperately to get away, and much more rarely, drownings, when he holds them under water to keep them from fighting him.

I don't know your climate, but judging by the photos, I'd be very much avoiding any plan that required that I cross that river while snow was on the ground - its a recipe for disaster. Nor do I foresee any good way to keep the ducks contained if they have access to that waterway. Perhaps someone with more duck experience can chime in - I've only had Pekins for a year.

 

[jennyinvermont]

Thank

Abundance is a social lubricant. The more space they have, the better they *tend* to behave. Space in coop, by the rule of thumb, is 4' per std chicken, and usually 5-6' per duck. You can do with less IF you have a larger run (so they are only nesting in the house) AND you have good weather for it, that they aren't confined to the house for days on end seasonally.

If you have drakes, you will want more space, particularly if you have too many drakes. My drake will chase juveniles around more than an acre seeking to mount them - while its normal behavior when the drake has his hormones up (seemingly most of the year), it can lead to injuries - the back of the neck where he "bites them" to hold them down, bumble foot where they suffer puncture injuries trying desperately to get away, and much more rarely, drownings, when he holds them under water to keep them from fighting him.

I don't know your climate, but judging by the photos, I'd be very much avoiding any plan that required that I cross that river while snow was on the ground - its a recipe for disaster. Nor do I foresee any good way to keep the ducks contained if they have access to that waterway. Perhaps someone with more duck experience can chime in - I've only had Pekins for a year.

Thank you! No it wouldn't require any river crossing! Do you think the ducks would fine swimming in that waterway? Or would they get swept down the river. I added another pic to show it looking a little calmer (today!). I'm getting 5 unsexes ducks (pekins and indian runners), so hopefully no more than 2 males!!! (might give away all but 1).

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Thank

Thank you! No it wouldn't require any river crossing! Do you think the ducks would fine swimming in that waterway? Or would they get swept down the river. I added another pic to show it looking a little calmer (today!). I'm getting 5 unsexes ducks (pekins and indian runners), so hopefully no more than 2 males!!! (might give away all but 1).

I think they would get swept away.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Hopefully, no more than 1 male. A single male can and will mate every hen in reach, as frequently as he can manage. When its one male and only three or four girls, he'll start looking elsewhere, and over-mating the ones he can catch, leading to injuries. One of my two drakes will be on the Easter dinner table for that reason, Sunday.

That leaves me with one drake, three mature hens, three juveniles. Everyone but the drake has messing neck feathers and abrasions (ugly, but not requiring treatment on the juveniles) from the two drake's mating efforts. I have another 12 in the incubator, due to hatch in about two weeks - and my hatching success will determine if I keep any males at all from this batch. If I end up with less than [edit] ten [edit] hens total, no new male will make it past 12 weeks.

and we have a small (14,000 gallon +/-) pond for our ducks. They don't appear to be strong swimmers, so i would be concerned for your current - but I'm speaking from a place of ignorance on that subject, as my experience with ducks and moving water is essentially non-existent.

 

[jennyinvermont]

Hopefully, no more than 1 male. A single male can and will mate every hen in reach, as frequently as he can manage. When its one male and only three or four girls, he'll start looking elsewhere, and over-mating the ones he can catch, leading to injuries. One of my two drakes will be on the Easter dinner table for that reason, Sunday.

That leaves me with one drake, three mature hens, three juveniles. Everyone but the drake has messing neck feathers and abrasions (ugly, but not requiring treatment on the juveniles) from the two drake's mating efforts. I have another 12 in the incubator, due to hatch in about two weeks - and my hatching success will determine if I keep any males at all from this batch. If I end up with less than [edit] ten [edit] hens total, no new male will make it past 12 weeks.

and we have a small (14,000 gallon +/-) pond for our ducks. They don't appear to be strong swimmers, so i would be concerned for your current - but I'm speaking from a place of ignorance on that subject, as my experience with ducks and moving water is essentially non-existent.

okay thanks again! so give away the males is what i'm hearing!!! Because I don't want beat up ladies. At what age can you tell what's what? This is helpful because I don't want to go through the trouble of 2 separate houses if it turns out they can't swim in the river anyway!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Depends on breed - the drake feather is a dead giveaway (I'm still "less good" at discerning the difference in quacks, which can take a week or two to iron out as they mature), but I am confident around 10-12 weeks of watching the flock behaviors, listening, etc. Some people cull at 8 weeks, and I can't confidently tell at all at that point, except by assuming larger=male.

Though to offer a picture of my juveniles at 9 weeks, see if you can tell, but I don't have a good one currently.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

okay thanks again! so give away the males is what i'm hearing!!! Because I don't want beat up ladies. At what age can you tell what's what? This is helpful because I don't want to go through the trouble of 2 separate houses if it turns out they can't swim in the river anyway!

I would still opt for seperate housing if I were you. Ducks make a big water mess no matter what kind of waterer you use.
And then there is the issue of a drake trying to mate your hens.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Depends on breed - the drake feather is a dead giveaway (I'm still "less good" at discerning the difference in quacks, which can take a week or two to iron out as they mature), but I am confident around 10-12 weeks of watching the flock behaviors, listening, etc. Some people cull at 8 weeks, and I can't confidently tell at all at that point, except by assuming larger=male.

Though to offer a picture of my juveniles at 9 weeks, see if you can tell, but I don't have a good one currently.

Voice sexing is most reliable.
Girls have a distinct QUACK drakes have a raspy softer sound.
Of course if it has a drake feather then it's a great chance it's a Drake..but that can be tricky because sometimes a duck might have what looks like a drake feather. and then at certain times of the year the Drake will be molting and the Drake feather disappears for a while.
http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Voice sexing is most reliable.
Girls have a distinct QUACK drakes have a raspy softer sound.
Of course if it has a drake feather then it's a great chance it's a Drake..but that can be tricky because sometimes a duck might have what looks like a drake feather. and then at certain times of the year the Drake will be molting and the Drake feather disappears for a while.
http://www.majesticwaterfowl.org/artquacks.htm

Yes, "its the sometimes rasp, sometimes quack, all four birds are running together with their mouths open, which is making the quack????" moment of puberty I struggle with, which is why I usually need a few weeks of watching the birds at that age to be completely confident. If I raised them differently, kept more separation or handled them more, I'm sure it would be easier.

Have yet to mistake a drake feather, but if I see the curl, chase the bird, and it runs away rasping... its a drake.