Someone wants to give me 2 male ducks

[RedheadErin]

Yep! More animals! Can I possibly keep these 2 male ducks together? Will they fight? can they bunk with the chickens in the winter? What else should I know?

 

[sherylreno]

They won't fight but do you have anyother ducks than just these 2?

Ducks are not like chickens so you don't need to worry about that. You can have them be with the chickens but make sure the food is in a deep container and the water too so they can clean out their bills all of the time. The water will get muddy but hey their ducks.

 

[destinduck]

As long as there is no girls you should be OK. They shouldnt fight and they probably were raised together which is even better. Yea they can be together but of course its better to have them in seperate pens. They are messy but you will love em.

 

[EmAbTo48]

2 drakes can be great buds, unless you add in females then the fighting will start. But if you plan to just keep these two bachelors they should be just fine.

I would recomend not putting them with your hens since they might try to mate them (which will kill them). Plus ducks are so messy with there water! They need to be able to have deep enough water to get there entire head into. It also is nice to give them a kiddie pool/pond, not just for their enjoyment but its very pleasurable to watch them youself an there excitment of the pool

Have fun!

 

[RedheadErin]

My only options right now are putting them in the chicken shed or leaving them outside under the side porch. Everybody would have free run of the yard. The garage door is broken so Im afraid it would not do much good to put them in there.

Don't anybody suggest the updatirs bathroom again!

 

[jdywntr]

I had too many Muscovy drakes (until today). They just reached sexual maturity and were trying to breed with my chickens. They were all fine in the yard, the chickens actually picked on them a bit but the hormones started. My girls were here first but I also ended up with 1 female and 4 male ducks. I would not take them unless you are able to keep them safely away from the chickens, at all times.

 

[sherylreno]

I have 3 ducks in my coop run with the chickens. The chickens go up to the coop and the ducks stay locked in the run. Everyone is happy. I haven't noticed anything different with ducks. The ducks even clean up the chickens during the day. They get to freerange when I get home and they all hang together there too.

 

[Amiga]

The ducks need to be safeguarded as they're quite susceptible to predators especially at night. If they're going to be under a porch, they need to be protected by sturdy fence - including half inch hardware cloth, and something on the bottom to keep things from digging under the fence. I used coated chain link under the pen for my ducks, and just sprinkled soil on top of that, with straw bedding and gravel around their swim pan.

As mentioned, drakes seem to get along fine without competing for females.

And they're much quieter than the girls!

 

[EmAbTo48]

Well for now its safer to keep them with the chickens, but watch them closely, maybe you can find a cheap small shed or you can even make one for cheap then they can free range during the day but there food and water and sleeping area is seperate from the hens???

Even a dog house that you add a door to it so you can lock them up at night will work since you only have 2!

 

[RedheadErin]

I dont think I need that kind of headache right now. Thanks for all the advice!