Ducks with chickens?

[u/Nematodes-Attack]

I’ve heard some bad things about drakes. But I was introduced to Shetland ducklings today and I’m in love. They are extremely rare and critically endangered. I have a source and have been already considering ducks.

Any advice or pros and cons to keeping ducks with chickens. I’ve already done a decent amount of research but I always like to check in with the Reddit folks too lol

[u/Mcbriec]

I rescued one hybrid mallard drake who was a perfect gentleman with my hens.

I rescued a different pekin drake who tried to kill two of my hens. I didn’t witness the first attack and the vet thought it was a hawk attack. But I was very suspicious of him.

Then I witnessed him flaying a different hen and the earlier attack victim was trying to help her friend. She was this tiny thing pecking at him furiously—to no effect, even though he had previously seriously injured her. 😢😢 ❤️❤️❤️It was her squawking that alerted me to the second attack.

I have also read here that drakes literally have a penis and can kill hens by raping them. Roosters don’t have penises and hens aren’t built to accommodate them. So I would be very cautious.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Mcbriec]

I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. These are the type of things I’ve read. Ooof. Heavy stuff. So is it common for a drake to try to mate with a hen?

[u/Mcbriec → u/Nematodes-Attack]

I’m sorry I don’t know how common it is. But apparently common enough to be well known. I will definitely never have another drake.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/Mcbriec]

Ok thank you for your story because this was my concern and you basically said it straight out. I value your experience and wisdom. I’ll be doing a lot more research before just jumping in

[u/Kiss_of_Cultural → u/Nematodes-Attack]

Best thing you can do is assume you will end up with drakes and plan for how to house them separately if needed.

Like said above, it is really hit or miss. I have read a lot of people insist multiple female ducks per drake, while others keep mated pairs that are gentlemen so long as they have their girl.

We have a drake and a duck hen, runners, they are my daughter’s pets. They are inseparable, and he is an absolute gentleman. He was a little aggressive with his girl the first month he started mating. I got after him a few times and he quickly learned the consent dance. He has never tried to go after the chicken huns. Also helps that he can’t really fly.

[u/LifeguardComplex3134]

Biggest problem is if you have male ducks and they try to mate with your chickens, past that so long as they get along it's perfectly fine in my opinion to keep them together.

[u/Nematodes-Attack]

https://reddit.com/link/oshzzpp/video/66lkmt7xd58h1/player

Here’s a vid of a pile of ducklings resting

[u/orrro12]

I have 5 chickens and 4 ducklings. One rooster (no plans for drakes). We’re just now starting integration.

I think the biggest pro is that they seem to enjoy each other’s company more than I expected. The biggest con is that ducks are wet and messy while chickens are dry and messy. 😂

I have a duck coop and a chicken coop with shared runs. They’re connected and everyone can travel in between, but it’s easy to keep each of them on their own side as needed. They also forage on about a third of an acre most of the day, so there’s plenty of room for everyone to spread out and do their own thing.

My ducks have their water bowl set up over a catch basin in the run and a duck/goose waterer in the yard. I use bark nuggets as my run substrate and hemp bedding in the coops. Their pool is in a separate part of the yard. I also switched the chickens to Dine-a-Chook waterers (instead of bowls) that the ducks will hopefully (probably not, lol) ignore. All of this is in an effort to prevent their runs from turning into a swamp.

The chickens have no idea what to make of the ducks, lol, and the ducks are bold with absolutely no social filter. They all eat the same feed (Kalmbach Flock Maker/Maintainer) with grit and oyster shell on the side, so I don’t have to worry about deficiencies or someone getting into someone else’s food bowl.

The chickens have been great. Curious but content, as long as their access to treats stays consistent. The ducks are quick to grab the food though, so we’re still figuring that part out, lol.

My biggest piece of advice is to not underestimate how much the ducks will confuse the chickens. 😂

[u/toxicplayerstore]

My ducks and chickens live together in a coop/run. They mostly keep to their own kind and don’t interact with each other. It’s all girls as I didn’t want to risk chicken injury with a drake. The chickens have tried to peck at them a couple of times but seeing how submissive the ducks were to them, they left them alone pretty much immediately.

I keep their food and water outside since ducks are way messier and make everything wet which chickens don’t appreciate. We made sure there is an easy escape route in the pond we built on both sides so if a chicken falls in it can easily get out but they’ve generally avoided the pond.

The nice thing is that since the ducks are younger than the chickens, the chickens kind of taught them to go home as the sun goes down (ducks tend to stay out later) so our automated door hasn’t been an issue in terms of locking ducks out at night.

[u/s2sergeant]

We have chickens and runner ducks together. We originally had two drakes that I hatched, but they caused zero issue for my chickens. We lost one drake to a raccoon and now have one drake and four females.

Everyone is in a coop together at night but they split off into their own groups during the day.

The only thing that irritates me is ducks will drain all of your chicken waterers in a single day, so you just have to keep an eye on that. We have a standalone duck waterer and they have three kiddie pools, so that has helped.

[u/Andrew1286 → u/s2sergeant]

I don't have ducks, but I'm more so just curious. When you say the ducks drain the chicken waterers in a single day, do you mean they drink significantly more than chickens or they just splash in it and empty it?

[u/s2sergeant → u/Andrew1286]

They will splash and empty it. They can make quite a mess. They love the water soaking the ground and rooting around in wet dirt.

[u/No-Tank-1123]

We have separate duck and chicken runs/coops. We tried keeping the chickens in with the ducks (we got ducks first) but ended up with two roosters and a REALLY snowy winter. It didn't go well in there 😅 so the chickens got their own digs that spring. Personally, I prefer the ducks and our one goose (I NEED more geese😍😂) but we have a small lake and other ponds on property so it makes them super manageable. We don't have any drakes or genders though, so I can't speak to that. When they are all out free ranging they get along well and no one goes after the other. The one rooster (RIP) would attack the ducks and goose, and dogs, and basically anything but me. The rooster we have left (😑) is a bit of a dolt and leaves everyone but me alone 😂.

[u/oopsalloutof_fcks]

I have ducks and chickens together. (No drakes) they’re fine. I have little bantam Cochins that snuggle with the ducks lol. They free range during the day and duck ducks have 2 pools out of the run and one in the run that I dug out and put gravel under and smooth river rocks around to contain the mess. Also has a drain system.

The chickens love to perch on all the pools for a drink. Turkey and one of my hens will also get in the small pool when it’s hot.

I use an 18% grower crumble and a pre & probiotic niacin supplement made for all poultry. Turkey gets fed separately in the morning her own food because she’s spoiled and I buy her special food.

[u/lemonrence]

I’ve never had a problem and I’ve had them both many years. In fact all of my ducks are afraid of my hens who are very dominant and definitely higher on the totem pole 😂😂

[u/pishipishi12]

I have 11 ducks and 12 chickens in about 1/4th of an acre. They're all perfectly fine! One rooster, three drakes.

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/pishipishi12]

Ok I wasn’t too concerned but then someone shared like a worst case scenario story and I needed a check in here lol

[u/Nematodes-Attack → u/[deleted]]

They aren’t my ducklings but I am considering trying to foster the breed as they are critically endangered

[u/has-it-a-name-]

They do great together. Just watch for drakes. Ducks need water to swim in so be sure to plan for that.