by oldclaypaws » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:16 am
Yes. They coexist quite happily. I wouldn't say they are best friends, the ducks weighing twice as much tend to push to the front of the queue at dinner time, and are very partial to their greens (especially lettuce, grass and chopped celery- we lookout for discounted salad at the supermarket for them). There are no tensions though. The ducks tend to sit together or splash in the pond, whereas the hens forage digging in the undergrowth, but no feathers fly. They have separate houses, the ducks like theirs at ground level, the chickens is raised. Our duck eggs are twice the size of a chickens, and they lay at night, so you find the eggs in the morning. They'll eat the same food, but ducks naturally eat more pond weed and grass rather than seeds and grubs, so they like a semi-veggy diet. If you've kept chickens, ducks present very little extra challenge. The quackers are great characters and can live for up to 10 years.
We've noticed with a cockerel the girls are a lot more mellow, there's less pecking and aggression between the hens. We have one psycho hen, Cilla, the white Sussex, she was a head case, but is now far better temperament now she has a fella.
