[CameronS]

After our losses we are looking to restock as we have lost 3 valuable layers,

i was wondering id Hens and Ducks can be housed together or if there is different needs for ducks, i can guess some form of water but feeding, sleeping and nesting i know very little about,

is there any tips on buying ducks 

[jameslindsay]

They can be kept together Cameron but remember compared to hens, ducks are very dirty. The thing you have to remember is that the chooks like to roost so need height and would poop on top of the ducks if they were directly underneath.

[CameronS]

Would ducks be happy sleeping in bottom nest boxes, and would rats cause a problem to ducks??

[Womble]

So will ducks put themselves to bed like hens, or do they need herding?  We quite fancy some ducks eventually, but we're a bit put off by the thought of having to be home every night to put them to bed. Any thoughts?

[doganjo]

My ducks have stayed out all night sometimes in the summer, but now that the nights are colder I notice they are going inside.  My ducks and chickens are all together but I regret that, and as soon as I can they are to be separated.  Ducks NEVER have clean water in their bowls - even the drinker for the chickens gets polluted.  My job for tomorrow if it stays dry is to cut up some lengths of hosepipe and lay it in gravel in the run which is going to be just for the chickens, to try to drain the surplus water away, then to lay bark on top.  the ducks will have a large dog crate (great dane sized) with an easily cleanable  metal floor, and a small grass run round that.  They will all get out in the garden for a couple of hours a day as usual.  The ducks will then have two large basins of as muddy water as they want, with a paddle in the burn when they have their pre bed stroll

[CameronS]

i never thought of this would a Large rabbit hutch be sutiable for sleepingh quarters for three Ducks intended for eggs? ?

[jameslindsay]

I started off with 2 ducks many years and they stayed in a rabbit hutch with no hassles.

[ballingall]

I used to keep bantam hens in an old rabbit hutch, so it could work. Ducks are really messy animals, so the most important thing is a good free draining bit of ground for them, or being able to move them round really regularly, or letting them free range. We are thinking of letting our runners free range in the orchard area as their run is so muddy and dirty.  Nesting wise, they don't tend to use a nesting box like hens, but they will make a nest themselves if you give them a bit of straw in the house and lay there instead.

Beth