Cathy Isom has several things for you to consider if you have the idea of raising chickens and ducks together. That’s coming up on This Land of ours.
If you’ve ever thought about starting your homestead with baby chicks and ducks at the same time, one question might come to mind… Will these adorable little ducks integrate with your chicken flock or will they need a set up of their own?
The biggest stage of life that can pose significant challenges for peaceful co-existing is definitely from hatch to young adults. Chicks can easily die when they get too wet and chilled whereas ducklings will constantly muddy up a brooder. Ducks also grow quite rapidly in comparison to chicks, which means that big ducklings can easily bully petite little chicks. Additionally, feeding requirements are a bit different at this stage of life for ducklings and chicks. For one thing, a medicated chick starter can cause severe issues or death for a growing duckling. Secondly, ducklings require more niacin than chicks do in order to grow up healthy.
It’s probably not the best of ideas to raise these fuzzy little cuties up to adulthood together. Chicks are delicate and ducks aren’t always as gentle as they need to be around little chicks.
I’m Cathy Isom…