chicks ahoy

[lyn]

Hello everyone hope you are all keeping well, now if i could have a bit of advice please ? Do ducks and chickens mix well, and if so any idea what kind of small breed of duck i could keep? at the moment i have a game bird named Tegan i have a sussex white Ellie and i used to have a rode island red names Rhoda who unfortunatly passed away last week that is the reason for asking about ducks, thank you very much.
LYN

[Snadger]

Welcome to the vine lyn.

Some of the folks at the allotments have duck's and chooks in the same pen.
The only thing is that the ducks will need some form of water to swim in and they can be both noisy and messy. They seem to get along fine together though!

[RichmondHens]

All the literature I've read has advised not to keep ducks and hens together in a pen because the ducks trash it and turn everywhere to mud, which is not good for hens. They can roam over the same area, ie if they are free ranging, but ideally not penned together. Ducks are apparently much more resistant to disease so can withstand worse conditions than hens with no ill effects. Wet muddy pens soon lead to coccidiosis etc. I've never kept ducks so don't have first hand experience but my brother does and his duck "area", including large pond, is completely trashed, with only 5 ducks on it!!

[Glutton4...]

I'd advise checking other threads on here. There was one very recently about the same subject, and the best duck breeds to have. Good luck with your search!

[davefromthechipie]

Used to keep/breed lots of ducks But never had chickens at the time so cant say but i know ducks , RichmondHens is right they are messy Im sure your chickens will get all kinds of problems in a small area with them.That said if you have the land then they should get on
( im going by aylesbury ducks as thats all we breed ) but ducks --- water /walking /pooing = mess and all ducks should be kept with a pond in my view ! A bath tub pond just isnt right But then thats just me