Will ducks and Chickens live together? More ?'s for my fellow Alaskans

[Mrs MIA]

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I can tell you right now that ducks are messy and stinky, so outdoors is where you're going to want to keep them. They really do amazingly well in the cold... I don't think you'll have to worry about them too much. Just keep a house for them where they can get out of the elements and get dry, and they should do just fine.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

We got our ducks just cause they do so good in the cold. I'm hoping not to have to provide suplimental heat this year. I'd stay away from the light bodied runner ducks they may not be as cold hardy.

Down here on the Kenai, I've seen ducks hanging out in parking lots all winter long. They seem to do just fine as long as their feet dont freeze to the ground (yes it has happened, but not at our place).

 

[Alaska animal lover]

I'm interested in the Khaki Campbell breed. The McMurray catalog says they do well in cold climates.
I went ahead and bought the lumber to make tham their own house. I figured I would do it myself since I'm not completely unskilled. Besides, my DH will still love me if I lose a few fingers or toes.

 

[dixygirl]

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Actually I think the crawl space under the house seems like an ok idea. I would just put some electronic pest repellers to keep rats and roaches from joining the party. Also you have to be able to get under there to keep it clean.

The only thing that would concern me is if you don't clean it regularly it will stink under your house so you might be better to just keep them in the yard with a dog house or something they can have access to.

 

[Alaska animal lover]

If I were to do it that way I would have made them a large fenced in area under there, it could be at least 12x12, with a little house and wading pool. We don't have rats or roaches in Alaska.
I would have cleaned all the time since I would have to go in there to feed and water them and visit of course.

I bought the materials to make them their own place outside though and I will probably insulate it and run a heat lamp too. I will still try to see if they will go in the same run as my chickens, but I will keep their pool seperate.

 

[snowydiamonds]

"We don't have rats or roaches in Alaska. "
Oh yes we do...many types of rats and also roaches have been brought up from stateside...at least two houses no longer in existence in Nome were both overflowing w/cockroaches. There are humongous wharf rats, muskrats, lemmings, shrews, people bring up regular mice and rats and set them free, etc. If you have any type of feed outside in a barn or whatnot, hay, straw, it'll be infested with rodents unless you have a few cats to keep them thinned down. I've always had cats so my horses had clean bedding and feed. My cats are house cats but go out daily to patrol. Right now my real fat cat is on guard "helping" the geese and goslings LOL.

I'll put it this way for the many times people ask if they can house water lovers like geese, ducks, etc., w/chickens: Place a neat freak in w/a major slacker who never cleans up anything and you have problems of some type, daily. It increases stress you may not see. They don't normally live together in the wild, they each have their level of happiness and tolerance so as their caretakers we should try keeping them segregated unless there is a large area outside but inside? I'd make sure its "their own space."

They do exist, no matter what humans force upon them but there's more to life than just existing

 

[Mrs MIA]

LOL! I was thinking the same thing... we don't have rats or roaches!
We do have small rodents and other bugs like daddy-longlegs and spiders, beetles, but the ducks would eat those. The biggest thing is that the ducks are messy and stinky, and once that gets permeated, you're going to smell it for a long time. Trust me... I'm a neat freak, and I clean every day, but the ducks are out of control.

LOL!
The khaki's are sweet... we have 3 of them, and though they're brown, they're not plain.

 

[Alaska animal lover]

I know we have rodents, I just don't lump them all into the rat category. I live in Big Lake, so we have shrews and mice, but I have never seen anything bigger than that. As far as roaches go, I have never seen one personally.

Believe me my animals do more than just exist, they are my family.

I was just putting some ideas out, I won't be putting them in the crawl space. They will have a nice insulated, warm house for the winter.

 

[clay]

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We made the "mistake" of putting geese and silkies in the brooder together. I say "mistake" because now the silkies think that they are baby geese. The good thing about it is that the geese protect their "babies" from the big chickens. In the brooder, there was no stomping, but lots of snuggling.

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In our mixed flock, it's a bit the other way around. Our roos seem more interested in mating with the ducks than with the hens. The drake gets bullied by the alpha roo and runs to the female ducks for protection. As for the mess, we simply keep the food and water outside. Outside living is not an option for our ducks due to night predators.