This does depend though. I added full grown chickens to my flock of ducks. The drakes have never once tried to mate the chickens. In fact, all my ducks run when they see the chickens coming, with their sharp beaks!
However, drakes are pretty aggressive maters, so if you are only getting 2-3...
Hey guys so I had a chicken hatch out 3 ducklings two days ago. They are all acting fine, eating and drinking, and following momma around.
However I notice one of the ducklings has its bottom wet. Investigating further it seems like his vent is sticking out and every time he poops the area...
Every season my drakes decide to pick favorites and go after a select few of my ducks. I have 2 boys to 14 girls, yet I end up with many bare necks. A few days ago I noticed one of my ducks had her eye sort of sunken in, and the area around her eye was wet.
I am hesitant to separate them...
Well it got dark here and I wasn't about to leave her outside so I went out with a flashlight to check how many eggs were under her (she had 8). I guess she got scared because she left screaming all the way back to the coop. We set up a temporary shelter that is protected and moved her nest...
@wvchickenchick311 , I am exactly the same as your situation. Today one duck was under a little bush the whole day (they free range). It's outside their coop and I don't want to leave her outside but I really want her to hatch out some ducklings! I am worried I'll break her broodiness if I move...
Yes free-ranging has losses. We have lost 2 to foxes over 3 years. Ours knows home and will be in there coop by dark. However the place they roam is pretty close to our house and they don't wander very far (they stick to where the water is) so I guess it really all depends.
The bottom one looks perfectly fine to me. I can't really tell on the top picture, but those "rings" should kind of consolidate in the coming days - like I said don't stress give it a week and you'll know which ones are developing.
Hey guys! Quick update... as of yesterday, my silly duck was walking, though slowly. She is still sitting most of the day, but I take her out in the evenings to forage with her flock and she loves it. I think that gives her extra motivation to get better!
The swelling is still present - it...
The one on the right is a quacker and the one on the left looks like he's going to be a rasper... only space for one drake in this batch but I hope these two can stick together!