Can Ducks And Chickens Live Together You Say?

So you have got your backyard chickens laying nicely for you, and you are thinking about some duck eggs as well.

Can ducks and chickens live together?

Let’s find out, shall we?

Ahhh…

The story of the duck and the chicken.

But can you have them living together in the same chicken pen?

I mean…

Will they get along?

Or even fight each other?

You might just think that, but in the end, they are all birds.

As far as living together.

I only have to look outside at the birdbath that I diligently keep filled up for the wild birds around the house.

Only to see the different breeds of birds squabbling over the best place on the side of the birdbath itself.

More-less our domesticated variety our ducks and chickens for instance.

You would think we were destined to not have these two getting on any time soon unless you had a few acres to keep them all in.

So that they could get away from each other.

But this is not true

You will be happy to learn from personal experience here, that I have thrown together ducks in with my chickens and all was well.

Yes!

A chicken coop, not a few acres of land to keep them apart either.

Now I do need to put my thinking cap on there as it was quite a time ago.

But I will share my own personal experiences I had with living with ducks and chickens in the same chicken pen.

Well…

It was meant to be for the chickens.

The ducks were an afterthought way down the track.

Do Ducks And Chickens Get Along

Can ducks and chickens live together…

That’s what you are really saying here.

Some would say that it would be a good idea to get some young ones and put them all together.

Not me!

I just did it.

I can not remember why or where I got this trio of Muscovy ducks from.
But I had a male and two females.

Are chickens and ducks compatible if they are put together as adults?
I just did it!

From what I can remember I just put them in there and saw how they got on.
Now…

As a duck is usually bigger than a chicken, you could not see any chickens worth their salt that would not go picking on the ducks.

Especially with a male duck around.

And it did not happen.

More like the duck with their becks stretched out and beak open, telling the chickens to make way.

Can Ducks And Chickens Live Together In A Coop

My backyard chicken run was not small and not really large, and the ducks and chickens all cohabitate in the same space together with not a lot of hassle.

In fact, they got along well enough.

Keeping in their pack.

The ducks kept fairly close to each other and they, as ducks did not perch.
Because of their build.

Ducks can not perch.

And you only have to look at their feet?

Not really the perching kind.

Webbed feet for swimming was the chore for these duck’s feet.

So they spent their nights sitting on the straw on the floor of the chicken pen at night.

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So there was no issue with fights over perches.

Which is a good thing.

Now, these ducks had their own personalities just like the chickens and soon laid ducks eggs for the table.

Whether they laid them in the nesting boxes?

No, I can tell you now, that that just did not happen.

Their bodies are not equipped to be jumping around on things that are off the ground.

So their lives were spent on the ground.

And also their eggs.

You would find a nice nest of straw with a ducks egg on the chicken coop floor.
And it would not change.

Did they lay any outside in the chicken coop?

I can not really remember.

But from what I do know is that most of their eggs were safely inside on the bottom of the chicken coop most of the time.

What To Feed Chickens And Ducks

If you think that you might have to do some extra work by getting ducks different food than the food you feed your chickens.

Think again…

You will be pleased to know that anything your chickens eat your ducks will as well.

So no great change here.

But I would spread around the vegetables on the ground a bit if I were you.

As the ducks might just bully the chickens away from the scraps.

Using their bigger frames.

And seeing that big beak baring down on you if you were a chicken.

I think I would get out of the way as well.

They seem to bob their heads back and forwards with a stretched out neck.
While walking towards the chickens.

A fair warning to get out of the way.

Else they will grab your chicken’s feathers and give a good pull.

If they did in fact catch a chicken unaware.

It usually ended up with maybe a few pulled feathers.

But unless there is food involved, they get along with their own lives.
Can ducks and chickens live together in harmony?

Apart from the pulling of feathers, and this is usually the chicken’s feathers flying here.

They do.

And I had no trouble with the rooster and the male muscovy duck getting along.

Not much to see there.

No fights.

And when you think about the drake being about three times bigger than my bantam rooster.

I think it was a wise thing for my rooster not to try…

This was my territory first.

That way, the rooster had all his feathers intact.

And what fine feather he had too.

A good decision for the bantam rooster, I am sure…

There was one area that I was not happy with though…

And it really ended me having to let my Muscovy ducks. go to another place.

It was not anything to do with the chickens and the ducks not getting on.

It was something else that changed my mind after a while.

Because I became weary of one thing that the ducks loved a great deal.

Can ducks and chickens live together when it came to their water?

They might have.

But I did not.

And getting rid of the trio was not just for me was for my chickens as well.

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You see…

Ducks love water.

It does not matter if the water is in a small bowl or a bigger bowl.

All that means is one bowl will be big enough for the ducks to get into and the other smaller bowl for drinking.

Most probably tipped over because they tried to get into that little body of water as well.

The sight of ducks playing and getting excited in the water that I put in for them was lovely to see.

Every time I put in freshwater, the ducks would monopolise it from the chickens.

Evert time they would be the first in there to play and if the bowl was small.

They would get dirt in their bills and sift it through the water.

As you could imagine…

The water did not stay clean for long.

And was always dirty.

Now, I could not put a sign on the water bowl that this one was for them and the other was for the chickens.

No…

They could not read my language from the start, and I did not know duck.
So the water was always dirty.

And this did not change if I cleaned it twice a day.

Or even if I changed it more. The ducks would come over and do what they do.
I looked in vain at the dirty water.

Knowing that my chickens were not getting fresh water.

It was always muddy and if left any time in the sub-tropics.

Stagnant muddy water would soon get a little smelly.

So knowing that the extra work of fetching and carrying water for the bows was getting a little thin.

And also knowing that my chickens were denied fresh clean water.

Something I was sure was not going to do them any good in the long run.
And I am sure that they did not like it either.

Going over to look down at dirty water, the only water to be had in their chicken coop.

So the trio had to go and let the chickens have their chicken run back and clear water to drink once again.

You see…

For me, it was not about, can ducks and chickens live together?

It was about could I let my chickens go without fresh water all the time.

Now if you have a good lot of land, then indeed, the answer to can ducks and chickens live together can be solved if you have a body of water for them to play in and swim.

A dam would be good.

Just thought of something!

You can buy those water feeders – you know.

The ones that sort of drip-feed water to your chickens.

Now I am sure that the ducks can not go amuck with those.
And the other water you out is for the ducks.

But you will still have to refresh the water for them about every day.
If you do not mind that, then yes, as far as water is concerned.

Then, can ducks and chickens live together when it comes to water? Yes.