Hens and Ducks

[mother hen]

Hi All,
My first time on line, and I think I might have a problem. I have 8 chickens, one chick (now 10 weeks old and probably a cockerel!), and I had 4 ducks, all living very hapily together.
My neighbour had 1 chicken die about a month ago, then 1 of his ducks went off her legs and lost weight, she didn't improve after some tlc so her life was ended. One of my ducks suddenly died yesterday morning, and my neighbour called in to say that he had just had another hen die. All the rest of my girls seem fine, so I'm wondering if my dead duck was just a coincidence (I've had them for over a year - ex commercials), or is there a disease that affects hens and ducks that I should be aware of. He did say that he had sprayed weedkiller about a month ago in his garden. Any ideas?
Thanks, at least I've shared my worries.

[RichmondHens]

Welcome to the Vine Mother Hen.

Firstly, it could be sheer coincidence that your neighbour's poultry and yours have died, but not necessarily. Do you know what symptoms his chickens had? Weight loss and "off legs" in waterfowl can indicate worms. A heavy parasite burden can also lower a bird's resistance to other illnesses.

Although a lot of people do keep chickens and ducks together it is not really a good idea as ducks are more resistant to disease than chickens and can pass on things that will not harm a duck but kill a chicken. Ducks make their run area wet and muddy very quickly, which doesn't matter to ducks but chickens should not really be kept in those conditions.

[mother hen]

My neighbour just found his hens dead when he went to let them out in the morning. My duck ws fine during the day, but in the evening she didn't gather with the others for the potato peeling melee (they all go mad for boiled up veg scraps). She sat in a corner all huffed up, but went to bed quite happily, by morning she was dead. They have quite a large enclosure in the garden, paddling pool with resultant quackmire, and a lot of dry underhedge chicken dust baths. During the winter they are let out into the main garden a couple of hours before bed. My husband wasn't too amused to see four ducks in his koi pond, but it all seemed to work quite well.
Thanks again