In households, chickens, ducks and other birds have always been kept together. Despite the different lifestyle and taste preferences, these birds get along well together. Let’s figure out what difficulties may arise when keeping chickens and ducks together, and how to avoid them.
Content sharing rules
Separate contents are preferred for chickens and ducks. If the possibilities do not allow you to equip two separate houses, then it is important to take into account the differences between the two types of birds and exclude the most absurd and pugnacious individuals from the bird community, then the atmosphere will be calm in the house.
Zone Fencing
The room is preferably divided into two parts. Chickens need dryness, and ducks like to splash around. By arranging the “dry” and “wet” zones, it is possible to prevent chicken diseases associated with high humidity.
House separation options:
- The easiest way is to divide the room into two separate pens by extending a metal mesh.
- Make two enclosures in one room.
Thanks to zoning, each species of bird creates optimal conditions. Light is added on the chicken half, and water tanks are placed on the duck - for swimming and swimming. Given the gluttony of ducks, which easily eat someone else's food, separate accommodation and food are a big plus.
It is also possible to build two separate houses, if the territory allows. How to build a chicken coop is described in this article.
Home Improvement
Rules for arranging a house for cohabitation of chickens and ducks:
- The house must have an effective ventilation system. Drafts can cause colds - they are especially dangerous for waterfowl.
- Chickens like to sleep higher - on the little jars, ducks are not averse to sleeping on the ground - there they are equipped with nests of straw and hay.
- To equip roosters for chickens, it is recommended to raise the floor - so that the litter is less dirty and wet. Chickens love to climb higher, the difference in levels will prevent confusion - they will not climb into duck nests.
- For laying eggs, chickens need more light than ducks - this is taken into account when birds are settled in the house.
- Chicks of ducks and chickens can be fed together - their diet at the beginning of life is almost identical. Subsequently, they switch to separate feeding.
- For ducks, it is advisable to make a mesh floor. Its cells are square, with a side of 24 cm. The thickness of the rods is from 2 mm. The grid is placed along the wall, occupying 2/3 of the total space. Between the floor and the net - 30 cm. You can put needles under the net.
Watch the video on the joint maintenance of various poultry in the winter in the greenhouse:
Feeding Features
There are always leaders and outsiders in the house. In the case of chickens and ducks, the clear leader is ducks, they are larger, stronger and gluttonous. To feed the bird and avoid conflicts, choose one of the feeding options - either feed the birds separately, or in turn. The first to let the leader - ducks.
Rules for the organization of feeding chickens and ducks living in the same house:
- Each bird species has its own diet.
- The food of ducks and chickens differs not only in nutritional characteristics, but also in consistency. It is better to feed them individually. Ducks constantly spray water, and their food becomes dirty and liquid, and chickens tend to scatter food in different directions. Birds interfere with each other, spoiling and mixing feed.
- The common feeder is covered with a metal grate. Between adjacent rods - 8-10 cm. Birds will eat, sticking their heads between the rods. This principle of feeding will avoid quarrels and fights. In addition, the grilles will prevent the spread of food.
- Drinking bowls are necessarily separate. They are located at different levels. On the floor put a duck drinker, and chicken - at a distance of 20-50 cm from the floor. How to make a drinker for chickens on your own, read here.
Ducks and hens, living together, do not have insoluble contradictions. The main thing is to prevent dampness in chickens and drafts in ducks, and other problems can always be solved as they become available.
Disease Prevention Methods
Prevention measures in the premises for chickens and ducks:
- The room is regularly inspected for parasites.
- In the house, acaricidal disinfection is periodically performed.
- The litter changes in a timely manner.
- The temperature and humidity in the room are controlled and corrected.
Combining the cultivation and maintenance of different chicks
Ducklings and chickens get along well in one area. Their owner remains to comply with several rules:
- Ducklings and chickens are fed at the same time - so that none of them get stress.
- The diet for young chickens and ducks is the same for the first weeks - this greatly simplifies their feeding and maintenance.
- Young animals are kept separate from adult birds. Individuals displaying aggression towards their own kind are discarded to preserve the brood.
- Nestlings of both species of birds eat as sloppy as adults. It should be cleaned in time in the feeders, maintaining cleanliness.
A sample feeding ration that is suitable for chickens and ducklings is shown in the table.
Table - Daily feeding rates for chicks (chickens / ducklings)
Feed, g | age 1-10 days | age 11-20 days | age 21-30 days |
Crushed grain | 3 | 4 | 7 |
Ground grain | 4 | 9 | 14 |
Wheat bran | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Cake | — | 1,5 | 1,5 |
Eggs (per 100 chicks - 1 pc.) | 1,5 | — | — |
Fish and meat and bone meal | 0,2 | 1,5 | 3 |
Skim milk | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Roots | — | — | 10 |
Greenery | 1 | 7 | 10 |
chalk, shell | 0,1 | 0,35 | 0,6 |
Salt | — | 0,05 | 0,1 |
Fish fat | 0,1 | 0,1 | 0,2 |
Difficulties in content
Thanks to their relatively calm disposition, ducks and chickens may well live together. The difficulties arising from their cohabitation relate mainly to differences in their needs. On the paddock and in the house there are difficulties associated with the specifics of these forms of detention.
With a general house
If you keep chickens with ducks in the same house, the following problems are possible:
- Humidity from the water in which ducks splash negatively affects chickens. They are more often sick, the case is growing. To avoid trouble, often change the litter - in chickens it should be completely dry.
- Each type of bird has to equip separate drinking bowls, nests, feeders. All this complicates the content.
- If the birds do not get along with each other, this negatively affects productivity - egg production decreases, weight gain slows down, the offspring become less viable.
- Each feeding has to be divided - first feed the ducks, then the chickens. It takes time. We have to make sure that chicken feed is not eaten by ducks.
- Chickens need a lot of light to increase egg production. Artificial lighting can adversely affect the well-being and health of ducks.
When bringing chickens and ducks in one territory, it is important to take into account the difference in their temperaments. On free-range, the birds do not interfere with each other, but rivalry may occur in a covered pen.
With a joint walk
If a joint walk is organized for ducks and chickens, there should be enough space there. Lack of space causes conflicts and skirmishes between representatives of both species. In the summer, walking is a fenced area where hens and ducks walk freely. If a fight happens, the perpetrators must be temporarily isolated.
When buying birds for joint keeping, pay attention to their nature - do not take conflicting and aggressive individuals. As soon as one bird shows aggression, the whole herd begins to imitate it.
Ducks on a walk can not do without a reservoir. In its absence, waterfowl are sad. This negatively affects their mood, health and egg production.
Advantages and disadvantages
The benefits of sharing chickens and ducks are very few:
- Space saving. There is no need to build a second house.
- Reducing heating costs - one house is cheaper to heat than two.
- Save time on cleaning - in one house it is easier to clean than in two.
Disadvantages:
- Litter has to be changed more often - due to the splashing of ducks.
- Constant monitoring of nutrition - even with separate feeding, attacks on someone else's food are possible.
- If the relationships in the birds do not work out, productivity may decline.
- Chickens and ducks do not have the same requirements for daylight hours.
- Each bird species has to build separate nests.
The separate keeping of different types of birds is stipulated by the Law of the Russian Federation No. 4979-1 “On Veterinary Medicine” dated 05/14/93.
Mistakes committed by farmers in joint content
Inexperienced farmers find it difficult to accurately fulfill all the requirements of the joint content. Mistakes most often made by the owners of the herd:
- Placement of feeders at the same level - as a result, the feed becomes dirty, crumbles, filled with water. This leads to loss of feed, unsanitary conditions, and confusion.
- Place dry food feeders in the center of the house. So that the birds do not climb inside the feeders, and do not contaminate the feed with feces, the feeders should be placed around the perimeter of the barn.
- Not enough feeders. This leads to a flea market, fights, and weaker individuals receive less feed.
- Simultaneous feeding of both species of birds. So that everyone was full, and there were no fights, one should feed the bird in turn.
The main advantage of cohabitation of chickens and ducks is the reduction of their maintenance costs. So that the economy does not turn into losses, one should take into account all the nuances of the birds' lifestyle, their needs and disposition.
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