Separating ducks from chickens?

[MsFerns]

So I have ten pullets and 2 pekins. They all arrived in the mail together and I never thought to separate them right away. Now I am trying to figure out the best and least stressful/noisy way to separate them. They all get along fine but I never planned the ducks living in the chicken coop. They have decided they are chickens lol I want to move them to their own more duck appropriate house.
Any suggestions on the best way to do so and hopefully without making my neighbors hate me?
Also I plan on adding a couple ducklings this spring; I don't know if getting the ducks I have now to bond with them and then trying to rehouse them would be easier.
Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Debs Flock]

Maybe I can offer suggestions, but I have some questions first. How old are the Pekins? What is your existing set up like? What is your concern regarding your neighbors?

Welcome to BYC & congrats on your new additions!

 

[TLWR]

Sounds as if they all get along. If you want to house them separately at night, can you have the duck house in the same area as the chicken house if they are penned and not free range?
If they are just separated at night, it shouldn't be very noisy for your neighbors to complain about the ducks being separated from their friends.


My ducks and chicken hang together in the yard, but the chicken has her own house. When they are penned during the summer fox season, they share the same pen and still get along fine.

 

[MsFerns]

This is my coop and run for the chickens.
They are all allowed to free range in the yard during the day as long as someone is home to keep an eye. The chickens need more babysitting than the ducks as the ducks can't get into anything or go anywhere they shouldn't. Ideally the ducks would never have to be locked up in a run. I have a very good dog that can keep away predators while no one is home.
Also I believe although they love their chickens that being cooped up with them makes the ducks roudier than they would be otherwise. My chickens don't per say fight but their little pecking order antics get the ducks going. They try to keep the peace.
They are all only 6 months old

 

[MsFerns]

Also they don't seem to bother my neighbors at the moment; at least they haven't complained.
My concern is when I go to separate them any way I can help minimize any stress on the ducks over it would be great and likely less noisy.
Right now they call out in a panick if they lose sight of a chicken.
Basically what I want is for my ducks to recognize themselves as a separate flock from the chickens. I think they would be happier all around. Which is why I wonder if it would just be better to wait till I bring home new ducklings. I know that will take time for adjustment as well but I'm thinking/hoping that with more of their own kind they won't cling to the chickens as much.
Although I'm new to owning chickens and ducks I'm guessing their behaviors in each respective flock is different... My ducks don't squabble between each other and are quite peaceful when not trying to keep the peace between the chickens. Whereas the chickens have their own pecking order, they don't really get upset or stressed about their little tiffs but the ducks do :/

 

[Debs Flock]

Interesting that the ducks are the peacemakers.

I'm definitely no expert. I have 4 ducks and no chickens. So yours have all been together for how long now?

Maybe you can come up with something big enough for the current ducks along with the ones you plan to add. A separate coop for night. You could be right about them being less focused on the chickens once they incorporate more ducks into their flock.

I feel I should mention, though, that I doubt a dog could fend off a hungry hawk or other determined predators. My ducks are always fenced in an area connected to their coop and they have trees for cover and even that isn't 100% guaranteed to keep them safe, but it's the best we can do for them.

 

[MsFerns]

We have a lot of tree coverage, pretty much the entire yard is covered by canopy but I would never expect that to completely deter the Hawks which are my biggest concern when it comes to predators.
My dog is pretty good at scaring off everything whether he means to or not lol He's a hundred or so pound pitbull.
The only two Hawks visits we've had he wasn't outside and I had just come inside the house for a couple minutes. Luckily my cat sounded the alarm on one of them and then the ducks on the other; both times I ran outside before anything could happen.
They would definitely have their own coop, which I am planning on building them a small pond as well.
They have some coverage in my gardens now but I plan on adding more in the spring.
I think our luck with the Hawks is partly do to the fact that they can't really swoop down into my yard and in order to really take a bird they would first have to land.
My dog is friendly but he will gladly chase off anything he thinks will hurt his friends. He thinks he's the momma lol

 

[MsFerns]

We also have some blue jays and crows in my yard that have chased off a few Hawks. The little blue jays are a sight to see when they are attacking a giant hawk lol I make sure the bird feeders are always full for them

 

[MsFerns]

Here is my dog watching his ducks

He's one of the best dogs I've ever owned.

 

[ryanhodapp]

I had chickens first and then added ducks this year. They share everything and the chickens bow to,the ducks.

I would like to have separate sleeping coops as the ducks make a mess of,the water and the chicks end up thirsty.

I would wait till you get the new ducks in the spring before separating.



Deb: hopefully you haven't been impacted too much by flood waters.

Marlene