Author Topic: Ducks and Hens (Read 4918 times)

CameronS · « **on:** September 21, 2010, 06:38:47 pm »

If you have an ill hen, is there any chance the ailment could be passed onto ducks? and vice versa e.g colds etc??

We are considering having 1 large pen with the largefowl and ducks running it it,

I'm weighing up the pro's and cons before any plans are drawn up, as i want as few problems as poss

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #1 on:** September 21, 2010, 09:57:40 pm »

2 pens/night quarters, 1 free range are it is for me. If they spend the night in the same place they might spread things. I found that chooks are much more prone to parasites than ducks.

Hermit · « **Reply #2 on:** September 21, 2010, 10:50:15 pm »

Never mind the buggies the ducks will make the place a swamp not fair on the chooks.

doganjo · « **Reply #3 on:** September 22, 2010, 12:14:50 am »

chooks will NEVER have clean water.

CameronS · « **Reply #4 on:** September 22, 2010, 07:57:15 pm »

i think i have decided to NOT have a pond, instead have mineral buckets of water,

and put clean drinking water for the chooks well out of reach of the ducks,

my new ducks are arriving in 2 weeks

so happy

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #5 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:19:16 pm »

I'm sure you'll love them to bits, ducks are great, would not want to be without them! .

Quote from: Hermit on September 21, 2010, 10:50:15 pm

Never mind the buggies the ducks will make the place a swamp not fair on the chooks.

Well...my birds are having more fun in that garden than i ever had , so it has to be "what lawn"?

why is that not fair on the chooks??? they just scratch along a bit more in the swamp, happy as Larry! But the holes in the ground make it real hard to go over with the mower

gavo · « **Reply #6 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:43:00 pm »

All our poultry rub along fine together the ducks and hens just have seperate sleeping quarters. All have access to clean water and yet we still see so many of them choosing a puddle instead including the hens . Our ducks do have a pond and it's nice to see the hens etc sitting at the waters edge and having a drink etc.With enough space to roam the ducks wont cause too much damage.

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #7 on:** September 22, 2010, 09:53:20 pm »

depends on the weather...normally the grass recovers over the summer but the last few weeks did it no good, 3 square meters gone already

doganjo · « **Reply #8 on:** September 22, 2010, 11:36:44 pm »

My chicken run is a mud bath at the moment and i know it's going to get worse over the winter. Seriously thinking of slabs and knocking down the little brick wall so I can hose it down and the excess goes into the burn.

Sylvia · « **Reply #9 on:** September 23, 2010, 11:16:35 am »

My ducks are greedy beggars so I put hen food and water out of their reach.

sheila · « **Reply #10 on:** September 23, 2010, 01:14:57 pm »

My duck was hatched by a chicken and lives like a chicken despite my best efforts to keep him seperately. Here he is free ranging with the hens.

northfifeduckling · « **Reply #11 on:** September 23, 2010, 02:26:01 pm »

Quote from: Sylvia on September 23, 2010, 11:16:35 am

My ducks are greedy beggars so I put hen food and water out of their reach.

Here it is the other way round- I have to keep the chooks locked up until the ducks had a chance to eat!

OverWyreGrower · « **Reply #12 on:** September 23, 2010, 02:35:21 pm »

I've got 15 hens and 9 ducks living together (including drakes and cockerels) ... they get on pretty well actually!

Generally, the hens are the boss of everything, they eat first etc. The ducks don't seem to mind too much.

Although they share the same shed for sleeping in, it's divided in half, so the ducks have the bottom part, and the nest boxes and roosting bars are in the top half - keeps everything seperate.

The ducks do try and swim in every single container of water, regardless of size, so I have a 'proper' drinker for the hens, that the ducks don't use.

The run at the moment is a mud bath, however, in a couple of weeks, they're being moved to another part of our field. I find that as long as the hens have somewhere to go that is out of the mud - log pile, branches etc; they are fine and don't really mind.

bibs · « **Reply #13 on:** September 26, 2010, 12:25:13 pm »

Yes - ducks make a mess but they seem to live very happily with chickens. We have more chickens than I can count and 28 ducks. The ducks are very robust health wise and we have nowhere near as many duck casualties as chicken. Most of my duck deaths have been due to old age. Ducks often like to eat in the evening so I pop out and give them a few scoopfulls of food towards twilight when the chooks are all tucked up. My ducks are bonkers and stay out in all weathers. Just don't let your drake population get out of control - they are very rapacious!!!!
Bibs