It can be difficult to create a harmonious environment for your ducks and chickens, particularly if their temperaments and behaviours differ. However, it is possible to keep these two species coexisting peacefully with a little imagination and persistence. Here are some of my own original ways your Ducks and Chickens can live in harmony.
- Ducks enjoy making the water murky. I hung a drinker from a branch of a tree that had a rock just under it. The chickens can easily access the drinker by flying up onto the low rock. Conversely, ducks aren’t very good at flying or climbing, so they now stay out of the chicken drinker.
- Ducks enjoy defacing their coop. They like to squirt runny poos all over their bedding at night, so one day they have clean, dry straw, and the next it is a soggy mess! In my coop, my ducks live on straw on the ground level while my chickens have their own space up top. I replace the wet, dirty straw in the duck pen with dry, clean straw every two to three days. Since chickens don’t like water very much, this keeps everyone content and coexisting peacefully. By providing animals with their own space, you can reduce territorial conflict and increase their sense of security. I have two doors into my chicken pen, one with a ramp and one with a ladder, and I’m prepared to start closing the door with the ramp if my drakes start trying to climb into my chicken pen and mate with them (which I’ve heard can happen) and Ducks certainly can’t climb ladders! So far, I haven’t had any problems here though.
- Space. I don’t have to get out of bed to let my chickens and ducks out because they have an automatic door that opens when it gets light outside. They can then run away from one another if any territorial disputes arise because as soon as their coop door opens they are in free-ranging territory. This keeps everyone happy and so far I haven’t had any predator issues, except one goanna who occasionally comes to take eggs. More on that here.
