Ducks and Chickens

[busybee53]

Hi. Some advice please. A friend is hoping to keep ducks and chickens together on the allotment and has built a pretty sturdy hen house and is arranging for the ducks to use an old bath tub.

I have found some book titles for him about keeping chickens. Can anyone recommend a good beginner book for keeping ducks and does anyone know chickens and ducks live together ok?

I have heard that he needs to dig down one meter so that the fence goes down far enough to stop foxes getting in. Am I right? He would prefer to put up a normal fence and then put wire along the ground to a distance of one meter away from the fence but will foxy will just make his tunnel a bit longer?

Any advice welcome. Many thanks.

PS I have promised his chooks some drone brood when I cut them out as part of varroa management. Are any varroa likely to return to the hives or do I need to freeze first to kill them?

 

[david fox]

Hi the ducks and hens will get on just fine in the same pen. And the bath tub will do as log as you bury it to ground level. As for the fence, the wire along the ground to one metre will do the trick as long as you peg it to the ground. It might also pay to purchase a 12bore, with the required licence of course. regards D Fox. (really)

 

[busybee53]

Wow what a quick reply - and apt name. Yes he is going to sink the tub and provide a ladder to waddle up, perhaps in case they can't fly. I did not ask if he is going to clip their wings or not. I only just thought of it. Will tell him to peg the wire down to keep foxy out.

Thanks a lot.

 

[raathistle]

The chickens should be ok in the same run as the Ducks, provided there is not a significant size discrepancy between the 2. A friend of mine kept smaller chickens with ducks and found the ducks to gang up on the chickens, to the point of drowning one in a bathtub

Standard hybrid chickens and the like should be fine though, although together they will likely destroy any ground they are put on

 

[yeogi75]

dont forget foxes can climb up fences so needs wire roof as well

 

[Drew]

Basically in agreement with the replies above but my 2p worth.....

Ducks and Chucks get on OK - as long as they have enough room (and hiding places) to get away from each other when required and are not over crowded.
(We have penned ours in together in a small run on occasions.....)

If they are to over crowded they will beat the sh*t out of each other....
My smaller ducks (Decoy/Call Ducks and Whistling/Tree Ducks get bullied by the chickens if they are too enclosed/cooped up...)
The Muscovy ducks are big enough to take care of themselves....

When they have more space they get on - in that they just avoid each other/run away when things get stroppy.....

Clip wings (if not already pinioned) cos ducks are happy to fly over fences and right tricky to catch once they have done so......... and foxes etc can get them cos they are too stupid to fly back....

Chucks always go to bed when it gets dark so are less of a problem on this front..... Ducks like to be out at night....

YMMV

 

[theeggman]

As an ex free range chicken keeper, put 2 strands of electified wire on top of your fence to stop them coming over the top.
A solar/ battery powered fencer should suffice if the wire is tight enough so that the fox gets a shock on the way over.
Failing that a 12 bore with a heavy charge works wonders.
Tim.

 

[raathistle]

Chucks always go to bed when it gets dark so are less of a problem on this front..... Ducks like to be out at night....

Ducks can be a pain in the proverbial for staying out at night, you can't forget about them or they will be fox food. Our chickens put themselves to bed so it's just a case of closing the door after them

 

[Ely]

I built a big chicken pen last year. 6ft tall and the wire lies flat ontop of the earth 3ft to prevent them digging. No probs. They roamed free before hand and I closed them in after they took yhemselves to bed. Unfortunately, cunning mr fox started coming during the day snatching one at a time. First to go was the cockeral that tried to protect them.

Sent from my XT615 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ely]

a friend of mine kept smaller chickens with ducks and found the ducks to gang up on the chickens, to the point of drowning one in a bathtub

View attachment 8119

 

[Drew]

........the ducks to use an old bath tub.

Oh Yeah - I forgot the most important bit!!

Make sure you have worked out a mechanism to clean out the Ducks "pond"....

Unless it is large enough (which is much larger than a bath tub) you need to be able to clean it out or at worst syphon out the horrible, disgusting, foul, puke-making effluent that it will fill with.....

Ducks (given the choice) will poop in water... and they poop a lot..... and a couple of ducks will quickly fill a bath with poop..... fetid, oozing, black, poop....

Ducks don't really need water.... although they do really love being able to have a good splash... (and if you don't give them somewhere to do that occasionally you feel really guilty watching them trying to have a good old splash in a bucket or water bowl)...... but duck poop in water is foul....

Did I mention it stinks - work out how you are going to keep it clean (before you end up trying to empty a bath full with a pair of rubber gloves and a saucepan on a hot summers day...... with the garden a no go area cos of the green fug hanging over it.... and you for about 3 days!!!!

 

[BeeJayBee]

...... but duck poop in water is foul....

But the bees don't mind

 

[For want of a better word]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew View Post
...... but duck poop in water is foul....
But the bees don't mind


IT STINKS !!!!

Even my local natural beeminding mad lady acquaintance would not smear that on her hives!

 

[Luminos]

duck poop in water is foul....

Fowl, shirley?

 

[busybee53]

Flipping heck. I knew there was a lot to it but I bet my friend will get a shock when I tell him what you have all said. Glad I just got bees. Duck effluent any good as allotment manure?

 

[dn170221]

It might need to sit on a compost heap for a while but should be a good addition to the compost.

 

[pargyle]

It might need to sit on a compost heap for a while but should be a good addition to the compost.

Best of luck with that .... I would look for a compost site well away from human habitation ... duck poo smell travels miles ! Stick with the Chooks IMHO ....

 

[busybee53]

Oops, and I just found out he did not get permission to keep the birds on the allotment (yet).

Thanks for all the advice. If it were me I'd just go for the chickens as advised. That would be enough for me with twice daily visits to open/close them up, and I am only 5 mins away.

Least he decided against the goat he first thought of.

 

[busybee53]

Just for anyone who is following this thread. It now appears that keeping chickens/ducks on the allotment is against the rules for this particular site. Not sure now if attempts will be made to change the rules.