The answer is yes. In the initial year of homesteading, I had to keep raising chickens and ducks together in a 4-by-5-foot old coop for a few months.
22 hens, 2 roosters, 3 ducks, and 1 drake lived in the same run in the day and coop at night. They coexisted well and pretty much stuck to themselves.
If you’re wondering if raising chickens and ducks is so easy, wait. You need to work hard and manage the daily routine of the mixed flock.
Growth Rate
You’ll notice how fast ducks grow compared to chickens.
Chickens would take the whole 5 – 6 months to fully grow, while ducks grow in 2 – 3 months. But chickens start lying by 4 – 5 months.
It takes around 7 months for ducks to lay eggs.
Though their growth rate are different, chickens and ducks need a similar brooder container. You can use a spacious plastic container or a wooden chicken brooder with more airflow for both.
But ducklings leave the brooder quickly.
They require a bigger brooding space in 2 weeks and leave the brooder in 4 weeks. And you need to move chicks outside around 5 weeks.
Heat Requirement
Ducks are more resilient than chickens and can adapt to new environments, especially cold climates, easily.
Ducklings require a heated brooder around 90 degrees F for the first 3 days, and 85-90 degrees will be fine for 4 – 7 days. Then, you can decrease the temperature by 5 degrees F until they are fully feathered.
Then, stop heating the brooder at 3-4 weeks, depending on the weather.
For chickens, you need to maintain a brooder at 95 degrees F for the first week and lower the temperature by 5 degrees F.
Warm your chickens with a heat lamp until they are 5 – 6 weeks old, till they show up with full feathers.
Bedding for Different Flocks
I admit that ducks are quicker messers than chickens. For the first week, you can make a bedding out of newspaper and paper towels, and then provide them with pine shavings.
As chickens are less messy, you can change bedding every 3 weeks.
For ducklings, I use a couple of puppy pads that help soak the water and poop, and cover them with pine shavings. They drink water when eating food and often make their bedding wet, so I need to replace it twice a day.
And for this reason, you need not place the chicks and ducklings in the same brooder.
Housing Needs
After brooding, you can keep chickens and ducks in the same coop or separate coops. It is possible because of their different sleeping habits.
Chickens like to perch at night, while ducks prefer nesting on the ground. This helps keep both poultry from contact.
Make sure you provide ample roosting space for chickens, at least 12 inches of space per bird. But if you want them on the ground, you need to provide them with 3 square feet per bird.
Also, ducks will need 4 – 5 square feet per bird in the coop and a 12 – 18 cubic inches nest.
Besides, you need to have a coop with proper ventilation and a secure fence for mixed flocks.
With that said, ducks are low-maintenance homestead animals and hardier animals than chickens, so they can live in a simple coop without much facility.
They can survive in a dog house.
Chickens may require additional facilities, such as a dust bath, a chicken toy, roosts, insulation, and lighting.
Water Requirements
While chickens need water to drink, ducks need it to drink and clean themselves.
So, chickens use less water and don’t need it for other purposes.
Ducks, on the other hand, swallow a large amount of water while eating feed. They dunk their bills into the water and swish them around.
Additionally, ducks don’t prefer the traditional chicken waterer or font waterer, as they cannot dip their beaks into the container.
They require a deep waterer so tha they can dip their head in the water to clean and keep their nostrils moist. Also, they need to mix their food with water before swallowing.
Besides, ducks require water to clean themselves.
You won’t necessarily need a pond for swimming. They don’t need a water poop as long as they have a deep water dish.
But they will be happy getting a little kiddie pool to splash in and become happier receiving backyard ponds to swim around.
If you have a kiddie pool inside the coop or runner, there is a high chance that your ducks will splash the water around, making the ground wet.
It’s a duck’s nature. They drink the same water and pollute it.
So, chickens living along the side don’t like it as they prefer dry and clean ground. But you needn’t worry about chickens getting into the container.
The chickens don’t want to get their legs and feathers wet, which need time to dry. They drink fresh water and remain around it in the summer.
If the water is stagnant, they won’t be around it.
But make sure small chicks are not roaming around the pool, as they can get in deep water.
Feeding Chickens and Ducks
I feel much relief in this as both poultry have the same feed. You can give them the same layer feeds, but in a different container.
As ducks cannot fit their bill in the chicken feeder, a bowl is an ideal option. It’s your choice whether you can offer them in the same bowl.
But if you’re raising young ducklings, they need extra niacin. For example, I give my ducklings brewer’s yeast and niacin-rich treats.
For the adult chickens and ducks, you can give them the same treats such as mealworms, fresh greens, veggies, scraps, etc.
In fact, chickens and ducks are free-range birds that can forage and live on their own.
Predator Protection
Both poultry birds are vulnerable to ground predators at night, but ducks are more susceptible to foxes, coyotes, and raccoons than chickens.
Ducks are flightless and have a large body with big flippers, which cannot run faster on the ground. So, ducks cannot easily escape the predators on the ground.
But they are safe in the water.
They can swim for hours and remain warm with their waterproof feathers.
To protect chickens and ducks from predators, you need to provide a secure coop and run, fencing around the backyard garden, and assign farm dogs.
Drakes and Roosters in Mixed Flock
As long as there are only ladies in the mixed flock, you need not worry about anything.
But the roosters and drakes in the flock change the environment as they are very territorial and bragging. I don’t have any problem with raising chicken roosters among the ladies, but the drakes.
Even the single drake doesn’t fall behind to chase off the roosters and hens to ensure his ladies can get the best forage place and enough treats and feed in the bowl.
As a keeper, you must be aware of the behavior of drakes in the breeding season (spring and early summer).
They are always in a mood to love, so they can injure ducks and also run after the hens. To save your hens and ducks, you need to raise 2 – 3 ducks per drake.
You need not worry about the rooster, which cannot harm the duck.
If you don’t want to breed your hens and ducks, you won’t need a rooster and a drake in the flock. This can help you raise mixed flocks without much difficulty.
Health Care
The mixed flock (chickens and ducks) can create lots of water vapor from both their breath and droppings in the coop. This may make the indoor air humid.
As ducks are harder birds, chickens become more sensitive to issues like respiratory illness and frostbite.
So, there must be good ventilation in the coop to remove dampness and humidity.
Besides, both chickens and ducks carry different parasites and diseases, which can be spread heavily.
Ducks always move their bill in dirty water or mud and carry salmonella easily. Also, they are more prone to developing Avian Influenza.
Final Thoughts
When you keep chickens and ducks together, you can have a variety of eggs (I like duck eggs as they are bigger and richer). Also, you can have a better pest controller.
The chickens scratch while ducks dabble and paddle, which really helps in removing backyard pests and insects in the paddies.
Besides, you can raise a dynamic flock at once and use the land properly.
But, you also need to provide a safe and clean coop, shared feeding, seasonal care, care for a few or a single drake, and change water frequently to get such benefits.
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