Get more female ducks. I keep ducks and chickens together and the only time that I have ever had drake issues is when your male/female ratio for the ducks is off-kilter. You want a ratio of 6:1. They will be busy tending to the ladies and leave the chickens alone.
I’m so sorry about your loss with your chickens. I’ve never been a bird person but I’ve grown so attached to my chickens and I couldn’t imagine picking up their dead little bodies 😭🙏❤️
For some reason I haven't seen any of your postings. Then I started worrying because I was hearing bad things about Australia so I came in search of you. Yay, you're hear safe and sound.
Great content. We tried raising pekins with our australorps- we got tired of the mess and moisture and just processed them. They were super cute but definitely not our cup of tea. Your appleyards are beautiful.
G'day Robert and thanks for the super thanks mate! Yeah, I do love ducks but it's time for me to concentrate on our chickens with a few quail in the background - much easier! Cheers :)
I suspect that the hens that died had been harassed by the drake and were just unable to get away from the hawk due to the injuries (often unseen) caused by the drake. Only you would be able to confirm if that was the case and we viewers don't really need to know that. Animals are like people, some are nasty and some are nice. As the "farmer" you have to manage them. I keep broody chickens and a rooster. They are my responsibility to manage. I have an endless supply of chicken for the pot and a varying number of eggs for breakfast. I have had a rooster that attacked me. He didn't last longer than the 1 month of trying different methods (which didn't work) to stop it. He was very tasty too. Another rooster damaged the hens (I think he got too heavy/fat). Once I realised what was happening, into the pot he went.
I'm sorry to hear about your poultry losses. I have recently lost all 5 of my breeder rabbits within the last week, so I understand what you are going through. Yes our lives will go on, but it still bloody sucks to lose any of our animals. You could see you weren't your normal self in this video and it's understandable. Keep on keeping on and as you said a decade of no dramas, it definitely wasn't to be expected but now you just work out a plan to not let it happen again, no reasonable person could expect any more from anyone. Your a top bloke Mark 👍
the motto on my homestead is boys are good for breeding and eating. dont like mean roosters. i have two, both hand raised but one has decided to come at me a few times. freezer camp isnt far off.
Thank you for sharing the mother duck story! This is our second year with ducks and although we don't have a drake we might someday and try for ducklings. Really appreciate watching this unfold!
I keep my ducks and chickens seperate, due to them messing up water. I got rid of my drakes as they chased my chickens. If u want to keep your drake i would house ducks in a seperate pen. Love your videos Mark. Cheers from Monto Central Qld.
You've got yourself a Brown Goshawk (possibly a Collared Sparrowhawk - but they are a bit smaller). They're super good at maneuvering through trees and love a birdie for dinner.
I keep all my poutry together. Some drakes are just nasty. If you want to keep drakes with other poultry you have to be prepared to cull the mean drakes. It also helps to keep the duck/drake ratio at at least 5 hens per drake. I currently have 14 hens and 1 drake. He is so occupied with his ladies that he pays no mind to the chickens. Ducks are messy and gross! I set mine to free range at 8 weeks old. After that point you couldn't pay me to keep them in a coop. For predators I would recommend a livestock gardian dog.
@@mangomaniac4194 I agree. I use wood chips and sand when I'm raising them up until free range time. I personally prefer sand over wood chips but both work
It's rare that drakes get on with chooks especially if ducklings are around. I'd separate them because of chooks needing drier conditions and ducks liking swamps. Any vicious animal needs to go to the other world because they will teach others to attack and their offspring will also have vicious tendencies.
We live down the coast from you on only a quarter of an acre. We have two ducks drake and duck and lots of chickens. We definitely keep them separate. Our ducks have their own little yard but spend most of the day out in the garden. The chickens are ina big area with a green area to get into of a day. They don’t do well together mostly because of the water. Keep them separated.
i would recommend checking out Gold Shaw Farm, he's been dealing with birds for a long time. Ducks are very messy and without a "self sufficient pond" of some form you do have to keep making sure they have clean water about twice a day. In my opinion, if that duck/drake is a mallard kill it asap. From what i've noticed, you do want to keep the ducks and chickens separated because of the water problem the ducks cause. Ducks are "water foul" so if you plan to retain ducks consider setting up a pond. ALSO for growing ducklings you'll want to make sure to feed them fresh grass(es). i hate mallards.
My husband said they had Cambell ducks on the farm when he was young and the older the drake's got, they got more territorial and aggressive. They then used to cull them off at three years. He said they got more aggressive toward the lady ducks and hurt them during mating season. I hope this helps mark.
So privileged to be able to join you “live” as you found out to your surprise why she wasn’t sitting on the nest right at he started of your video. Thanks Mark!
My suggestion is to make a separate night pen for the ducks and a baby goose to raise with the hens. The goose will eventually protect his flock from hawks. The drake will only get worse. So, since you need to replenish your chicken flock, go ahead and get you some young pullets and the gosling, meantime put the ducks in the kennel you had before. That will make a good pen for them. Best of luck!
We keep muscovy ducks in our little homestead. Maybe your drake needs more females? Our current ratio is 4 hens for the 1 drake and he gets along with our 8 chickens just fine. However, we have two separate runs for the ducks and chickens. But that's just for sleeping at night. During the day they all mingle together and get along really well.
We didn't much like having ducks either for the same reasons. We had a hawk pick our two ducks off and then decided that we didn't want to deal with them again. Love our chickens though! They don't cause us any heartache except training some of the younger ones where to roost at night.
If you're going to leave the gate open so the chickens/ducks can roam, split the gate 80%/20% and close the upper 80% when they're roaming. That way they can still get in and out, but the attacking birds look down on an "enclosed" pen and think its sealed. But if they figure out how to get in, in a panic to escape, they're trapped. In a panic, birds always fly up. Not sure on the legality of killing birds like hawks, but you could do that or let them go. They usually won't come back once you physically catch them.👍
In Holland we use little fal door to let them out, with a string you can open it.and chickens need a rooster to protect them and you can make moor chickens.😇💟💟💟 love your film's.
Aloha from Hawaii, we have Muscovy ducks and they don’t quack they just sound like they are grunting or hissing. We love the eggs! The experience I have had was that the chickens were attacking the ducks instead of the other way around. Also my ducks are free range and I haven’t noticed a smell from them but when the garden gets going again we will have to confine the ducks. We also have mongoose that have killed one of my ducks and all my chickens but my rooster.
Eat the offending drake and see how things go before going to the expense of changing housing plans. I hate to give up ducks because they do so well at slug control, and they bring a real sense of happiness to the spread. Like you, we keep a nice sized garden for soft fruit, veg, and cutting flowers, We give a lot away, but do not sell produce. In addition to 4 or 5 hives, we keep 3 or 4 each of ducks and hens for bug control and a few eggs, no roosters or drakes. Replacement chicks and ducklings are cheap from neighbors or the farm stores. Our's sleep separately in repurposed dog kennels and free range together during the day. We have eagles and several types of hawks, also racoons, fox, coyote, and badger, but have not really lost much with dogs on the property keeping four legged predators away. This could all change next year when the dairy next door starts free ranging flocks of 50 or 60 birds as a regular part of tbeir pasture rotation. Love your channel. Keep up the good work. I recently reccomended you to a young man who can no longer play music or sports due to MS. He gardens now, and loves your channel.
Love your videos Mark. We've just begun keeping ducks, starting with two drakes and two ducks. One of the drakes was very aggressive and would beat on and pull feathers from the other three. We tried giving the drakes their own pen, but the aggressive one just beat up on the smaller one. We fixed it by removing (roasting) that drake, and now all three are back together, healthy and well. We will be selecting for temperament in our drakes from now on. Good luck to you.
If you have multiple drakes you need to try and have a 1:4 drake to duck ratio, else the drakes will fight over mates, probably what happened in your case.
I think back to when I was young and dad kept both chickens and ducks but I don't remember him putting them together. We lived 10 miles from town so it wasn't that we could go down to the corner store. We had chickens, ducks, a cow for milk and some to eat, sheep, pigs and horses. We had 10 acres so the chickens and ducks could free-range. It was a good life, most of the kids I knew were a little envious of us. We learned a lot about life in those days. Watching ducks and chickens hatch was one of my favorite things to do. New life being born. You just have to love that.
we call those hawks here in NC chicken hawks. I have a rooster and it isn't much of a help with the chicken hawks but I have an old farm dog that helps keep the skunks and hawks at bay. if you have an aggressive drake I would have him for dinner and get a new drake. I would do the same if my rooster ever gets aggressive.
red cord everywhere scares them from swooping down for fear of getting caught up, you could try stringing that all over the place above head level and it might keep the hawk away As for keeping the ducks clean, if you have a water source that you can keep filled and run multiple hoses from, you can basically make your water sources for the ducks "flushable" like a toilet, and just open a tap to flush them out and fill with fresh water, this cuts down on the daily deep clean of their troughs, also using larger water containers helps dilute the nastiness, smaller containers aren't ideal for multiple ducks
When i had birds i kept them all together. I had ducks, chickens, a pair of turkeys and a couple of geese and the second I saw any bullying that bird ended up dinner whether it was another bird or if it was aa rooster that decided it was going to have a go at me or the kids. I never tolerated it as I did once and it just got worse and the other birds learned from the bad one which meant they all had to go from that group instead of just the one. Its a hard decision to make but when it comes to the needs of the many it becomes an easier one to make xox Good Luck xox
Thank you Mark 🙂 I'm sorry about your lost chickens. I know I'd be upset too. I think I'd get rid of the Mallard. As aggressive as he his, he may even take out a rooster if you had one. On a lighter note, I got my first eggs this week! 👍 Blessings always! 💜
I like the rooster idea. Rooster should be happy with the number of hens you have and will probably deter the ducks and hawks. Reflective tape was smart too
Friend who keeps ducks and chickens does have separate pens for them, they all roam the yard during the day without issue, but at night they all go to their separate pens. They also have turkeys but they roost on the roof at night.
🌸🌻🎉My hubby and I absolutely love your videos! Your so very knowledgeable and such a kind and patient soul! 🌺🌻🤗 I have my chickens both regular size and silkies and banties, lots of Muscovy ducks, turkeys and bunnies, cats and dogs that just all hang out together.❣️ They all get along great! My biggest problem in my roosters fighting maybe once a month if that. I do keep my Serama chickens separate! 😉 Most of my animals are trained to some basic hand signals as well. Helps keep things in good communication between me and my animals.🥳😃
For the water problem, maybe set up a miniature "pond" drinking fountain with a pump and a filter (or even better--with filtering plants) so that it cleans itself. Put some drainage rocks around it to keep from mud being as much of a problem.
One of mine was a jerk, if I was working in "his" yard, and stopped watching him for a second, he'd fly at me with his spurs. He did that, until I worked for days to catch him(without stressing him w/chasing), and remove the spurs. But, I'd still see him thinking about it. Best darn rooster I ever had. I had one where I live now, that was screaming bloody murder at 2am. From the house, I could see he had all the chickens behind him in the yard. I threw on some boots w/my nightgown grabbed my walking stick, and tore down to the yard. I chased a juvenile skunk, and a juvenile raccoon out of their yard, picked up a few hens to put in through the nesting box, lifted the lid, and was eye to eye with a juvenile posom. Even as I chased them (3 amigos were there for the eggs), they were adorable. I finished their, protected, but unfinished yard the next day.
Reading from the other comments and listening to your thought I feel your ready to be done with ducks for the good of all your hard work and other poultry. The drake is just too risky to keep around any of the rest. 😔
Now I have 4 ducks and 6 chickens. Mine get along great but when things get crowded, they get violent. Right now my chickens are more aggressive than the ducks. My chickens get the zoomies and my ducks run for cover. They do keep to themselves in groups. The ducks just follow each other and my chickens chase each other. My chickens are like raptors and digging around. My young chickens might be mostly roosters. I keep lots of food around and they need more toys to be entertained.
Mallards are a wee bit more aggressive than other breeds. Muscovy quackless ducks are what I raised with my chickens. I cull those that are aggressive with the smaller birds and after a couple generations of breeding it became a rarity to have one that killed. With the duck water since they poop in the water they drink I put a water agitator and solar powered water filter to keep it clean. The daily cleaning was just a pain
Been watching your video for the last year Mark and just love your work. Always give great knowledge, advice and inspiration for gardening. And great balance of vid production quality, humour, and topics to discuss which makes it entertaining and engaging. Keep up the great stuff!!
@9:00 the mother duck is clearly shouting "MARK MARK MARK" then @9:22 "Thanks Mark" :D The reflective tape looks to be working, if it seems to stop working or tear then maybe aluminium foil as someone else suggested or shiny steel/mirrors to confuse the hawk. A wildlife cam inside the pen would help narrow down the drake attacks to completely random, or during feeding/certain times of day, so it could help figuring out what the best solution is without having to segregate/get rid of the drake. Oh we'll need a timelapse cam for the next time one of the hens are hatching/broody so we can see the nest moving! :)
Mum bred both for many years had a similar problem but never actually killed them. But she did have 3 rosters (different breeds) and 2 drakes if she ever suspected a problem in the freezer they went. Even had one that use to go me every time I went to collect eggs but never went anything else. He was a brilliant breeder so he was safe we had him for years. But never seen a duck move nests like that, that’s interesting normally they just kick out the bad eggs.
A female goose makes a better rooster. My favorite local permaculture farm, uses 1 goose per flock, that they raise w/chick's. Unfortunately, like ducks, they bring they're own level of "dirty" deeds. They don't need a pond, but they need an open water source to dunk their whole heads in, to keep nostrils clear. Gaggles of geese forget to protect hens, as they gather together. I love roosters, and they have done a great job with my hens. I handle them young, so they know I'm the leader of the flock, and I keep their spurs cut, to avoid injury to my hens. They do need at least 7-10 hens to choose from. Unfortunately, my neighbors didn't like my roosters (all of which were supposed to be hens, other than one chick surprise hatchling, that also turned out to be a rooster). I don't know if you harvest your birds, but young "extra" roosters, or troublesome roosters...Coq Au Vin. I also have harvested spent hens, but more often they become elderly pets. I have a flock of Golden Comets that are 7 years old, I get a few eggs from them still, but mostly they're my yard companions.
i would think he'd want to get a rooster to recoop the chicken losses at the very least. Chickens are amazing birds everyone should have and know how to keep. From what i know, the only reason you'd want ducks is because they love slugs.
@@MageSkeleton I loved finding slugs for my ducks and watching them with sticky beaks. Like peanut butter on the roof of the dog's mouth. In Oregon the slugs were 3" long and as big around as my finger. They made some serious slug slime. Duck eggs are good eggs for baking, I always had people waiting for more. I kept my ducks in with the goats, fun to watch goats kicking up their feet, they were hysterical with my huge ducks, and would take turns teasing each other.
@Wil SainMale geese tend to injure hens with sexual organs that are not meant for chickens, and have a huge libido. 🙄 the set up on the permaculture farm does not include areas for geese to nest, so removing the goose egg laid in the open, avoids conflicts. The chickens nesting boxes where not within reach of the geese, so they weren't brooding with chicken eggs.
After watching your video last year, I still decided to order a dozen of Apple silver yards. I'm so glad I did. Best ducks ever. They eat from hands. I can pet them while they eat. They follow me around in my garden. Never bother my chickens. In fact, my chickens keep them in check.
Other than being noisey, which you can get used to, there are roosters that are super tame with humans but very protective otherwise. My sister had one when her kids were very little that let the kids manhandle him and he's just take it. I think if you get one from a breed that's known to be tame, it could be advantageous to your hens.
@@Lazydaisy646 Oh man, hearing roosters and peafowl all the time is nostalgia for me. It reminds me of growing up in the city proper for Boise, ID back in the 90s, but where people still had small farm plots with fowl and some livestock. Haha. I don't mind roosters as long as they're not right next to me doing that. Dogs honestly get to me the most out of any rampant animal noises.
Hey bud, Long time watcher. Mostly for the veggies. I clean at a small "farm" three days a week. Ducks, chickens, goats and a token sheep and cow. They have their ducks in a completely separate enclosure and pen to the chickens. And while they dont actively breed either they do bring in hatching from tome to time, which are also completely isolated from each other. Its a lot more infrastructure but zero losses. Regards size I think they have about 12 ducks (not sure on sex of the birds) and about 20 chickens (no rosters) One group is pened on one side of the shed I clean, the other... on the other. Hope it helps in some way.
Your tone and the way this video is set up is so different from your usual happy gardening vids. I can feel your sad about the death of the chickens and the eggs getting destroyed one by one. I hope you find a good solution to your problems in the comments and that we'll have another video to watch soon where it all turned out to work out just fine! :)
This one is one of your best videos I've seen. Watching your videos make me relax and plan my future homestead in Valencia/Spain. Greetings from Armenia 😊 Get a big nice rooster to protect your chicken!
Maybe a brown goshawk which is found across Australia in woodland areas. We have trouble occasionally with them during fledgling season so tend to only free range the chickens when we are likewise outside. They are a gorgeous hawk to watch and great indicator of environment health, just not so grand for keeping poultry sometimes.
We raise chickens and have lost many from hawks or owls. Hawks will even fly right into the coup and eat the chicken on its nest. They are quite a problem.. With 4 legged critters and hawks, one can usually expect losses sooner or later. After loosing several chickens we got a rooster (Buff Orphinton), which is the mildest, quitest breed we ever had. The rooster did wonders concerning attacks and warning hens. We dont like noisy or aggressive roosters, but the Buff Orphinton breed worked quite well... Our second solution was to skip and alternate days on letting the birds out of their coup area. By doing so the preditors stay confused and 75% move to a more predictable hunting ground.. Just sharing a story. Great videos...
Living Traditions Homestead on YT? Keep ducks and chickens together. They have a great system to feed and water that is amazingly messless. I agree with you on roosters. 🐣🐥🐤
Thanks for the great video. It's not all sunshine raising birds is it. Plants are a little more tolerant of neglect than animals. It's a big commitment.
A balloon which I hang in different locations within the chook yard to deter predators cost about $4 from our bunnings store, lasts for years has kept all the predator birds from our pen we live on acreage surrounded by trees. I have attached an old dunny seat that is always open, as a doorway on the chooks house to their run. I just put down the dunny lid if there is an issue, lol. We keep our ducks & geese in the house yard.
We have 4 runner ducks (drakes), they are indeed dirty animals. This summer for some reason they were fighting quite a lot, I assume because of mating season and their hormones going wild. Now they are peacefully living together again. As for the water: I have a small pond (about 90*60*10 cm) that they can use to clean themselves and a separate drinker. To keep the pond fairly clean, I run a small pump and a DIY made Radial Flow Filter. It's not perfect but quite effective at keeping the pond clean a lot longer, plus, it's easy to clean. Only "problem" I have is that the pump wears out rather quickly because of all the sand/mud in the water, still looking for a solution for that.
Was thinking of getting a Drake for my ducks, but no way....not now. I don't want my hens killed. Thank you for another informative video, Mark! Blessings to your family.
This channel has been really helpful in teaching me how to garden. Awesome channel. Sorry to hear about the ducks & chickens but I would separate them. There is a channel called Gold Shaw Farm that raises chickens, ducks and geese. He uses geese rather than roosters to protect the flock. Might be a helpful channel for you as well.
You’re right, ducks are just messy messy drinkers. But I found a great solution! I finally discovered the Large Blue drinker cups. 6 pack for $12. They’re similar to the chickens red cups but are much larger and don’t have the yellow thing to peck at; they’re gravity fed. They work great for my two ducks. They are aptly named Nassy and Messy lol
Pretty sure you would get better results from cleaner, drier housing, ducks I kept years ago were always on nice clean straw, they nested well and produced lots of young.
What is it you don't like about roosters? I keep chickens known for good temperment, Silkies, Polish and Faverolles. I keep 2 small breeding groups and have quail mixed in with the bantam chicken set. I have a bantam Silkie roo and a full size Faverolles/Golden Buff roo and they're very attentive to the hens and really easy to handle for me. They actually come over to hang out with me when I'm by their pens.
I have a uncle who had some ducks at his house and he had a timeout pen for any ducks behaving badly they would have to sit in the tiny pen and watch the other ducks play and have fun then after a few hours he'd let them out and they would be alot calmer
14:52 We raised chickens with roosters. Did not stop the hawks. PS We raised guineas, too. The guineas and the chickens had nothing to do with each other even though they were penned together at night.
Try the Rooster and if it doesn't work, give away or have the drake for the holidays! Bring another one in and see if he kills the chickens as it may just be this particular drake. Otherwise just borrow/rent one for mating purposes. Have no regrets as you will have tried to hang on to him but if it doesn't work no judgment!! 🤗 Love your logo and love your content!❣
I personally use a baby chicken drinker (the nipple watering). The think that chicken need to peck to get water. My duck can drink it too without problem. I align 7 of this in a small pipe and link a 1meter 4inch pipe as reservoir change or put water once a week. Works great so far since more them a year. For the pool, no solution neither. It's a mess ahah, need to put fresh water if the duck want to take a bath. I was think about a grey water pond but still figure out how to clean and filter it to avoid soap. Any way, that a good range that your chicken have , look pretty happy
I've kept chooks (hens and roosters) with ducks and drakes (muscovies) and not had such problems with bullying, apart from the occasional squabble. More ducks for the drake to busy himself with sounds like a good suggestion (from other commenters). And maybe a rooster will sort out the drake if he dares mess with his hens. For the messy water issue (it is quite the issue with ducks!) I ended up having some success with a system of small "ponds". I used a bathtub and a few clam-shells, but use whatever you've got handy. The ducks can swim in the bathtub and mess it up, then that water gets pumped up to the top pond (maybe 1m up) which cascades back through a couple other clam-shells and back in to the tub. I just ran the pump for a few minutes, several times a day. The clam-shells grow water plants in them to filter and clean the mess from the ducks. I grew duckweed (the obvious choice), azolla fern, frogbit, and even water-chestnuts. The ducks love eating them, so keep them away and give them a hand full each day into the tub. They love it! Once in while (?months) clean out the muck that will collect on the bottom of the ponds. It is probably great fertilizer for your veges.
We have a small pond and that’s where the ducks live in a small shelter next to the pond, separated from our chickens except during the day while all our chickens, ducks and turkeys do their free range foraging. My biggest problem in my area was something taking out our turkeys at night, a neighbor farmer told me it was weasels and he gave me a good method to stop the slaughter! He suggested I clean my local barber shop and scatter all the human hair around the Turkey pen and the human scent kept them away. It’s been several years of me sweeping up me local barber shop every couple months to refresh the deterrent and I haven’t lost any more turkeys to the weasels. My barber actually saves a garbage bag full of hair just for me and any other farmers wanting to try this method.
Hi Mark, I have recently found your vids and am thoroughly enjoying them. I’m in NZ and I keep both chooks and ducks. I also had a problem with ducks dirtying shared water and I’d heard that they do better separated, so I built my duck pen alongside my chook pen. The ducks have a plastic padding pool and a 10L drinking water container. I like to free range my birds for part of the day so every afternoon I used to let them all out together, the bloody ducks kept going into the hen area and fouling the water! My solution is that I let the chooks out in the afternoon and after they have put themselves to bed I let the ducks out for slug patrol, making sure the chook pen door is shut! The ducks come back to be fed either in the morning or the afternoon when I let the chooks out and aren’t fed until they do come back into their pen. They learned the new routine pretty quick, about a week. I now have to search further for their eggs but have a handy beardie who ‘helps’ me to find them (actually one of her fav snacks but she hasn’t learned to be sneaky yet). My ducks proper are Cayuga, I only have 3 girls as the drake drowned himself in a water trough (got his head stuck under the float mechanism). I decided not to replace him and will buy fertile duck eggs to put under anyone who is broody if/when I want more ducks. However, I do have a problem drake living with my hens (I have a rooster who is a gentleman and very busy with his flock of 30 girls - he does help to keep the hawks away and doesn’t bother the ducks). The problem drake was a wild duckling ‘gifted’ to us, how can you refuse as they are so cute! Usually I have found wild ducks fly away once reared but this drake has not moved on and he does what your drake does to the hens. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might kill them but I am very aware how stressful that must be for the girls, and I must admit that I was worried about the corkscrew penis thing (eek!) so while he sleeps in the chook pen, but not in the house with the girls, I turf him out in the morning. He is on his own, he won’t hang out with the Cayuga girls, they asked him to when their drake died, did the bobbing head thing but he won’t have a bar of it. Thanks for sharing 😀
I forgot that Oz has more predators than NZ so night free range probably won’t suit your situation but you might be able to let them out in the morning and cage them in the afternoon, when you want to let the chooks out, with a little food bribery.
Ducks are so tuff to keep. Im fortunate to have a one acre pond. I have 9 Rouen and 9 runner ducks. There is also a fenced in dry land a coop area. I have 1000’ of solar electric net around the pond. The ducks are out all the time. I put the chickens in the coop at night. Then they are locked out of the coop all day. The ducks will run them off if I put out scratch grain. Other than that the chickens are much faster and nimble. If you have to provide the water for the ducks on a daily basis it seems like a full time job.
Hello from Romania! When we put the hen for hatching, we check the eggs occasionally to see if there is a chick by shaking a little bit the egg. If the egg is dead inside, it will give a sound like it's filled with liquid. If it has a chick inside, it won't make any sound or anything else, you will feel like there is something inside.
Sorry for the difficulties you are having Mark, I enjoyed reading all the suggestions from those with experience handling this issue. I would gift the ducks without a pond, my only experience is enjoying the view.
As a bird scarer cds hung around in the trees seems to work, thanks for this video mate, im in the process of turning my unused block into a food producing area including quail and chooks and l was wondering about ducks as well until this video and the comments below it made me change my mind
Older video but my 2 drakes have 6 girls each and a pond container. My roo has 11 hens. No issues. I boil and feed my duck eggs to my farm cats because they contain taurine. I also boil and feed duck eggs back to my entire flock, shells and all.
Mark. My wife is a bit of an amateur small scale back yard chicken breeder. Going off previous info I would say we live relatively close to one another as well. We would love to donate some chicks to the channel to help replenish your stocks if you want them? Love the content, big fan.
Maybe fence off the pond area and shift that little hutch there so they can be secured at night, even a low netting would do then its not hard to remove if you need to, the ducks will have access to plenty of water via the pond, I would fence off just a small corner for mum & ducklings so they can still interact with the flock till a bit bigger, I kept ducks & chooks together for years too but had problems with water and bullying untill I seperated them, happy chooks and happy ducks ☺
When I was a teen, my Mom brought home some chickens, turkeys, and geese. After a few months the geese had to be relocated elsewhere because they attacked people and made a huge mess in the watering areas. But we also had an issue with the chickens and turkeys after we had them well over two years, where they ganged up on the one chicken who wasn't laying eggs often, and they killed it right before our eyes (my brother and I were at home alone after school, Mom was out running errands at the time), and it really shook us up!
Nature is painful to watch sometimes. I had a chicken with PTSD. The rooster had left bare patches of skin on her shoulders before I could get around to trimming them, the entire flock went after her. I brought her out, and gave her a safe place to heal. She had a 1/2 dollar sized skin tear, which healed with minimal effort, and feathers grew back. She would follow me around everywhere, but she was trying to get back to her flock. I put her in, and 15 sec later, they swarmed, and she was screaming. We went back to her following me around, after putting her in after dark didn't work. She was lonely, it was very sad.
The drake could be being protective of mum and soon to be ducklings. The chickens could be stressed by the hawke and then the attacks by the drake have become fatal. Maybe separate them for a while until the chickens are less stressed.
Wow, might be the ducks got more stressed because of having the ducklings, so he tries to protect them by attacking the hens. A rooster would look after his hens. That could mean more trouble between the rooster and the drake - another possible bad end. Maybe a relaxed rooster plus seperating them over night could work. There are several chicken breeds which are relaxed and even taller, makes them better for eggs and meat. Maybe that would matter, too. Having some bigger chickens plus their rooster. A friend has a mobile chicken gate with red and white tape crossing all over for protection from hawks, buzzards, and red kites. It works. The walking nest was really interesting. I've never seen that before. Unfortunately the little ducklings are so cute for a too short time. 😉
I used to have both chickens and ducks before I got a dog that likes to eat them. I never had an issue with my drakes hurting my hens, but I would always have issues with roosters. The only way to properly prevent injury and death is to keep them separate. You may need to have them separated where they cannot see each other, as sometimes male birds will break out to try to fight. I hope this helps.
This is quite the eye-opener about ducks, and so on, so thank you for your input I guess even the most fowl can be aggressive I even heard that hens and roosters can be the top dog
Yeah Male ducks are brutal rapists. The sight is never pleasant, but I abstain from disrupting nature unless i really have to. I lost a weakened female this year. I had saved her just a week before the fatal attack from the big alpha, and it was not just a mounting she was recieving then.
I have always had chickens; Then I decided to get five ducks; they are the messiest little buggers on the earth; I understand your frustration; I kept them with my chickens until my drake tried to mount them; then I separated them. Then I let them freerange 24/7 and they pretty much left the chickens alone. I rehomed them, it started becoming too much work. I love ducks, but will never own them again.
Mark, I'm not a farmer by any means, but with chickens I have heard that peacocks ar kept to protect against predators...as for ducks, that's unfamiliar territory. Great info though, sorry to hear about your troubles with ducks and the loss of your chickens. I hope this helps.🙂
We got 3 ducks for "fun" last year. This spring, my husband allegedly "missed" a nest. One day I walked out to give the chickens some vegetables scraps and saw 8 duck babies. So small they squeezed through the chicken mesh and into the yard. I had a panic attack. We don't need 11 ducks! Who wants some ducks?!?!
more ducks are a blessing!!!! I had a duck hatch out 3 successive broods totalling 40 new birds! I didn't know what to do either, but the decision became easier when I found out that most were drakes! I slaughtered them out at the correct age and popped them in my chest freezer. I made a good bit of money selling duck meat!
Seems like a great time for peking duck. My roosters made a fantastic pasta sauce last week. old mate was a gentleman for sure nothing like the drake but him and his sons just dont belong in the suburbs
I've thought about garden ducks for our zone 8, slug ridden yard. I want to fence in the garden and then let them roam but the whole water/ pond/ ALWAYS dirty is tough. We have 3 littles and whatever we add to our house we have to be able to have some teenager come and manage when we're gone. we don't want to homestead but just supplement
You mentioned before that you prefer chicken eggs. Do you keep them for meat? Do you keep them for "pets". You need to decide if your drake is worth keeping. You could purchase fertilized eggs, if you want meat. Incubate them, like you do the quail. Use the female as a "mother" to show them what's what, after the broader. Another option is separate the ducks to their own shelter, which you only allow him out of for short periods. Why are you NOT using the chicken door to let them in & out? Hawk is unlikely to enter through that. Gives the chickens, slightly, more shelter.
You shouldn't keep animals for meat. It's cruel for the animals and the meat Is unhealthy for your body. But to answer your question, I'm pretty sure he keeps them as pets.
I keep my chickens and ducks apart they have separate free range areas. as for the duck water yep that is a problem, try this !!!! a very small container with fresh water drippings into it from a garden water dripper. now the container only needs to be big enough for the ducks to keep their beaks and nose clean, as the small container over flows you need to catch it in a larger container so that the ducks can have a bath. the important thing is to have clean water for the ducks to keep their becks and nose clean.
We have two kune kune pigs, they are the best pigs for small farms! As for animal mixing, in my experience they have never mixed well in all the years of having chickens and ducks, if it's mating seasons drakes gate aggressive so are roosters and we have both, plus the dropping, water issue we were constantly having to warm the chickens. Separated they work a treat! Or not have a drake...girls always behave. Good luck in the future.
i live in the burbs, 4 ducks and 3 chickens, i do have 1 drake as well. it could just be his personality, my drake will rough the chickens up if they get in his space or mess with his girls, but we have never had any injuries or anything so far. ours are not separate as we don't have a lot of space. as to the dirty water, set up the duck water on or around grass. if there is dirt, they will make mud and they love dirt and mud and water. we don't have any predators local beyond potentially cats but have yet to have an incursion into our yard but we don't cage up the ducks or chickens at night. they can wander into the coop or yard at will and the ducks usually just sleep out in the open. the chickens like to sleep in the coop but the only time the ducks go in there is for morning egg laying. i made a 600 liter pond out of 3mm HDPE about 350mm deep by 800 long with a ramp in and out and a multi tier filtration system, the ducks will often sleep on the water as well so maybe getting them a place to swim, does not have to be huge for 3-4 ducks will help keep the mess down as they will tend to poop and clean themselves there instead of drinking bowls.
My view is to build a second pen. One the chickens go into, one the ducks go into. This way, you can keep the drake away from the chickens. When you let them out, don't fully free-run them, but instead have pens where the walls are high enough to keep them separate.
Swap the lndian Runner for a Muscovy. Mine all live together happily. If anything the hens actually bully the ducks around food at times but just a little peck here and there.
I have Russian ducks male and female, and all kinds of chickens and for some reason I've always kept them separate. My male duck is twice the size of my hens, maybe because I know that they will drown female ducks when they're meeting even?
We've had a falcon literally pull a pigeon's head off through its cage. Had to make the openings on the outside on the top too small for them to reach in...
Get more female ducks. I keep ducks and chickens together and the only time that I have ever had drake issues is when your male/female ratio for the ducks is off-kilter. You want a ratio of 6:1. They will be busy tending to the ladies and leave the chickens alone.
yo I watch your vids! can I get a hi!
Great advice..🐓🦆
They gang-rape female ducks though.
Or maybe get a rooster. 🤷🏽♀️
Thank you! Im interested to learn you can keep them together but don’t want this to be an issue
This is what UA-cam should be for - not only is the video great, but the comments are helpful and informative too!
I’m so sorry about your loss with your chickens. I’ve never been a bird person but I’ve grown so attached to my chickens and I couldn’t imagine picking up their dead little bodies 😭🙏❤️
For some reason I haven't seen any of your postings. Then I started worrying because I was hearing bad things about Australia so I came in search of you. Yay, you're hear safe and sound.
Love this change! Daily life, facing issues, solving them then learning. That's truly self sufficient me!
Great content.
We tried raising pekins with our australorps- we got tired of the mess and moisture and just processed them. They were super cute but definitely not our cup of tea. Your appleyards are beautiful.
G'day Robert and thanks for the super thanks mate! Yeah, I do love ducks but it's time for me to concentrate on our chickens with a few quail in the background - much easier! Cheers :)
I suspect that the hens that died had been harassed by the drake and were just unable to get away from the hawk due to the injuries (often unseen) caused by the drake. Only you would be able to confirm if that was the case and we viewers don't really need to know that.
Animals are like people, some are nasty and some are nice. As the "farmer" you have to manage them.
I keep broody chickens and a rooster. They are my responsibility to manage. I have an endless supply of chicken for the pot and a varying number of eggs for breakfast. I have had a rooster that attacked me. He didn't last longer than the 1 month of trying different methods (which didn't work) to stop it. He was very tasty too. Another rooster damaged the hens (I think he got too heavy/fat). Once I realised what was happening, into the pot he went.
I'm sorry to hear about your poultry losses. I have recently lost all 5 of my breeder rabbits within the last week, so I understand what you are going through. Yes our lives will go on, but it still bloody sucks to lose any of our animals. You could see you weren't your normal self in this video and it's understandable. Keep on keeping on and as you said a decade of no dramas, it definitely wasn't to be expected but now you just work out a plan to not let it happen again, no reasonable person could expect any more from anyone. Your a top bloke Mark 👍
yes, each loss is a learning experience.
Sounds like a roast drake dinner is on the menu.
Some red cabbage and potato dumplings...
I completely agree, if they are gonna be mean it’s the dinner table for them.
I was thinking the same.
looks like duck's back on the menu boys!
the motto on my homestead is boys are good for breeding and eating. dont like mean roosters. i have two, both hand raised but one has decided to come at me a few times. freezer camp isnt far off.
Thank you for sharing the mother duck story! This is our second year with ducks and although we don't have a drake we might someday and try for ducklings. Really appreciate watching this unfold!
I keep my ducks and chickens seperate, due to them messing up water. I got rid of my drakes as they chased my chickens. If u want to keep your drake i would house ducks in a seperate pen. Love your videos Mark. Cheers from Monto Central Qld.
You've got yourself a Brown Goshawk (possibly a Collared Sparrowhawk - but they are a bit smaller). They're super good at maneuvering through trees and love a birdie for dinner.
I keep all my poutry together. Some drakes are just nasty. If you want to keep drakes with other poultry you have to be prepared to cull the mean drakes. It also helps to keep the duck/drake ratio at at least 5 hens per drake. I currently have 14 hens and 1 drake. He is so occupied with his ladies that he pays no mind to the chickens. Ducks are messy and gross! I set mine to free range at 8 weeks old. After that point you couldn't pay me to keep them in a coop. For predators I would recommend a livestock gardian dog.
Wood chips work wonders with ducks.
@@mangomaniac4194 I agree. I use wood chips and sand when I'm raising them up until free range time. I personally prefer sand over wood chips but both work
@@mangomaniac4194 oh dear! I read that as wood chipper.
@@markharris4421 they too work well ;)
It's rare that drakes get on with chooks especially if ducklings are around. I'd separate them because of chooks needing drier conditions and ducks liking swamps. Any vicious animal needs to go to the other world because they will teach others to attack and their offspring will also have vicious tendencies.
We live down the coast from you on only a quarter of an acre. We have two ducks drake and duck and lots of chickens. We definitely keep them separate. Our ducks have their own little yard but spend most of the day out in the garden. The chickens are ina big area with a green area to get into of a day. They don’t do well together mostly because of the water. Keep them separated.
Made my day!! A big fuzzy Australian bear holding little baby Australian duckies! It's as cute as a baby duck wearing a hat! 👍 😋
i would recommend checking out Gold Shaw Farm, he's been dealing with birds for a long time. Ducks are very messy and without a "self sufficient pond" of some form you do have to keep making sure they have clean water about twice a day. In my opinion, if that duck/drake is a mallard kill it asap. From what i've noticed, you do want to keep the ducks and chickens separated because of the water problem the ducks cause. Ducks are "water foul" so if you plan to retain ducks consider setting up a pond. ALSO for growing ducklings you'll want to make sure to feed them fresh grass(es).
i hate mallards.
My husband said they had Cambell ducks on the farm when he was young and the older the drake's got, they got more territorial and aggressive. They then used to cull them off at three years. He said they got more aggressive toward the lady ducks and hurt them during mating season. I hope this helps mark.
Your thumbs up is as humble as your soul.
So privileged to be able to join you “live” as you found out to your surprise why she wasn’t sitting on the nest right at he started of your video. Thanks Mark!
My suggestion is to make a separate night pen for the ducks and a baby goose to raise with the hens. The goose will eventually protect his flock from hawks. The drake will only get worse. So, since you need to replenish your chicken flock, go ahead and get you some young pullets and the gosling, meantime put the ducks in the kennel you had before. That will make a good pen for them. Best of luck!
We keep muscovy ducks in our little homestead. Maybe your drake needs more females? Our current ratio is 4 hens for the 1 drake and he gets along with our 8 chickens just fine. However, we have two separate runs for the ducks and chickens. But that's just for sleeping at night. During the day they all mingle together and get along really well.
In Scotland we kept ducks and chickens completely separate. And the ducks had a nice big pond with some geese and a family of swans.
We didn't much like having ducks either for the same reasons. We had a hawk pick our two ducks off and then decided that we didn't want to deal with them again. Love our chickens though! They don't cause us any heartache except training some of the younger ones where to roost at night.
If you're going to leave the gate open so the chickens/ducks can roam, split the gate 80%/20% and close the upper 80% when they're roaming. That way they can still get in and out, but the attacking birds look down on an "enclosed" pen and think its sealed. But if they figure out how to get in, in a panic to escape, they're trapped. In a panic, birds always fly up. Not sure on the legality of killing birds like hawks, but you could do that or let them go. They usually won't come back once you physically catch them.👍
I've watched hawks enter my chicken pen from the ground. They are cagey hunters and can devastate a flock so quickly.
In Holland we use little fal door to let them out, with a string you can open it.and chickens need a rooster to protect them and you can make moor chickens.😇💟💟💟 love your film's.
Aloha from Hawaii, we have Muscovy ducks and they don’t quack they just sound like they are grunting or hissing. We love the eggs! The experience I have had was that the chickens were attacking the ducks instead of the other way around. Also my ducks are free range and I haven’t noticed a smell from them but when the garden gets going again we will have to confine the ducks. We also have mongoose that have killed one of my ducks and all my chickens but my rooster.
Eat the offending drake and see how things go before going to the expense of changing housing plans. I hate to give up ducks because they do so well at slug control, and they bring a real sense of happiness to the spread. Like you, we keep a nice sized garden for soft fruit, veg, and cutting flowers, We give a lot away, but do not sell produce. In addition to 4 or 5 hives, we keep 3 or 4 each of ducks and hens for bug control and a few eggs, no roosters or drakes. Replacement chicks and ducklings are cheap from neighbors or the farm stores. Our's sleep separately in repurposed dog kennels and free range together during the day. We have eagles and several types of hawks, also racoons, fox, coyote, and badger, but have not really lost much with dogs on the property keeping four legged predators away. This could all change next year when the dairy next door starts free ranging flocks of 50 or 60 birds as a regular part of tbeir pasture rotation. Love your channel. Keep up the good work. I recently reccomended you to a young man who can no longer play music or sports due to MS. He gardens now, and loves your channel.
Love your videos Mark. We've just begun keeping ducks, starting with two drakes and two ducks. One of the drakes was very aggressive and would beat on and pull feathers from the other three. We tried giving the drakes their own pen, but the aggressive one just beat up on the smaller one. We fixed it by removing (roasting) that drake, and now all three are back together, healthy and well. We will be selecting for temperament in our drakes from now on. Good luck to you.
Duck soup!
If you have multiple drakes you need to try and have a 1:4 drake to duck ratio, else the drakes will fight over mates, probably what happened in your case.
I have a rooster that protects my hens from my drakes
I hope you roasted him with stuffing.
Goodness, that's disturbing. Being aggressive doesn't equal deserving death. How would you feel if someone roasted you?
I think back to when I was young and dad kept both chickens and ducks but I don't remember him putting them together. We lived 10 miles from town so it wasn't that we could go down to the corner store. We had chickens, ducks, a cow for milk and some to eat, sheep, pigs and horses. We had 10 acres so the chickens and ducks could free-range. It was a good life, most of the kids I knew were a little envious of us. We learned a lot about life in those days. Watching ducks and chickens hatch was one of my favorite things to do. New life being born. You just have to love that.
we call those hawks here in NC chicken hawks. I have a rooster and it isn't much of a help with the chicken hawks but I have an old farm dog that helps keep the skunks and hawks at bay. if you have an aggressive drake I would have him for dinner and get a new drake. I would do the same if my rooster ever gets aggressive.
red cord everywhere scares them from swooping down for fear of getting caught up, you could try stringing that all over the place above head level and it might keep the hawk away
As for keeping the ducks clean, if you have a water source that you can keep filled and run multiple hoses from, you can basically make your water sources for the ducks "flushable" like a toilet, and just open a tap to flush them out and fill with fresh water, this cuts down on the daily deep clean of their troughs, also using larger water containers helps dilute the nastiness, smaller containers aren't ideal for multiple ducks
When i had birds i kept them all together. I had ducks, chickens, a pair of turkeys and a couple of geese and the second I saw any bullying that bird ended up dinner whether it was another bird or if it was aa rooster that decided it was going to have a go at me or the kids.
I never tolerated it as I did once and it just got worse and the other birds learned from the bad one which meant they all had to go from that group instead of just the one. Its a hard decision to make but when it comes to the needs of the many it becomes an easier one to make xox Good Luck xox
usually more space reduces the stress and the picking. if they are bullying and murdering each other, there isn't enough room.
@@marieindia8116 yes if they are in a tractor or have no access to outside the coop to roam around in. Some birds are just nasty.
Thank you Mark 🙂
I'm sorry about your lost chickens. I know I'd be upset too.
I think I'd get rid of the Mallard. As aggressive as he his, he may even take out a rooster if you had one.
On a lighter note, I got my first eggs this week! 👍
Blessings always! 💜
I like the rooster idea. Rooster should be happy with the number of hens you have and will probably deter the ducks and hawks. Reflective tape was smart too
Who doesn't like roosters? 🤨
Friend who keeps ducks and chickens does have separate pens for them, they all roam the yard during the day without issue, but at night they all go to their separate pens. They also have turkeys but they roost on the roof at night.
🌸🌻🎉My hubby and I absolutely love your videos! Your so very knowledgeable and such a kind and patient soul! 🌺🌻🤗
I have my chickens both regular size and silkies and banties, lots of Muscovy ducks, turkeys and bunnies, cats and dogs that just all hang out together.❣️ They all get along great! My biggest problem in my roosters fighting maybe once a month if that. I do keep my Serama chickens separate! 😉 Most of my animals are trained to some basic hand signals as well. Helps keep things in good communication between me and my animals.🥳😃
For the water problem, maybe set up a miniature "pond" drinking fountain with a pump and a filter (or even better--with filtering plants) so that it cleans itself. Put some drainage rocks around it to keep from mud being as much of a problem.
My rooster is a jerk, however he does a darn good job protecting and nurturing his girls. He's very beautiful to look at too
One of mine was a jerk, if I was working in "his" yard, and stopped watching him for a second, he'd fly at me with his spurs. He did that, until I worked for days to catch him(without stressing him w/chasing), and remove the spurs. But, I'd still see him thinking about it. Best darn rooster I ever had. I had one where I live now, that was screaming bloody murder at 2am. From the house, I could see he had all the chickens behind him in the yard. I threw on some boots w/my nightgown grabbed my walking stick, and tore down to the yard. I chased a juvenile skunk, and a juvenile raccoon out of their yard, picked up a few hens to put in through the nesting box, lifted the lid, and was eye to eye with a juvenile posom. Even as I chased them (3 amigos were there for the eggs), they were adorable. I finished their, protected, but unfinished yard the next day.
I wouldn't tolerate that behavior. The roosters we have had (except one) were well behaved maybe because they watched a rogue rooster the beheaded.
A skunk, a raccoon and a possum? Sounds like the start of a Disney movie or a joke 😂
Reading from the other comments and listening to your thought I feel your ready to be done with ducks for the good of all your hard work and other poultry. The drake is just too risky to keep around any of the rest. 😔
Now I have 4 ducks and 6 chickens. Mine get along great but when things get crowded, they get violent. Right now my chickens are more aggressive than the ducks. My chickens get the zoomies and my ducks run for cover. They do keep to themselves in groups. The ducks just follow each other and my chickens chase each other. My chickens are like raptors and digging around. My young chickens might be mostly roosters. I keep lots of food around and they need more toys to be entertained.
Mallards are a wee bit more aggressive than other breeds. Muscovy quackless ducks are what I raised with my chickens. I cull those that are aggressive with the smaller birds and after a couple generations of breeding it became a rarity to have one that killed. With the duck water since they poop in the water they drink I put a water agitator and solar powered water filter to keep it clean. The daily cleaning was just a pain
Love yah Mark!! Keep it up. Been a subscriber for a bit. Hope you can always make videos. I always enjoy watching you.
Been watching your video for the last year Mark and just love your work. Always give great knowledge, advice and inspiration for gardening. And great balance of vid production quality, humour, and topics to discuss which makes it entertaining and engaging. Keep up the great stuff!!
@9:00 the mother duck is clearly shouting "MARK MARK MARK" then @9:22 "Thanks Mark" :D The reflective tape looks to be working, if it seems to stop working or tear then maybe aluminium foil as someone else suggested or shiny steel/mirrors to confuse the hawk. A wildlife cam inside the pen would help narrow down the drake attacks to completely random, or during feeding/certain times of day, so it could help figuring out what the best solution is without having to segregate/get rid of the drake. Oh we'll need a timelapse cam for the next time one of the hens are hatching/broody so we can see the nest moving! :)
Mum bred both for many years had a similar problem but never actually killed them. But she did have 3 rosters (different breeds) and 2 drakes if she ever suspected a problem in the freezer they went. Even had one that use to go me every time I went to collect eggs but never went anything else. He was a brilliant breeder so he was safe we had him for years. But never seen a duck move nests like that, that’s interesting normally they just kick out the bad eggs.
A female goose makes a better rooster. My favorite local permaculture farm, uses 1 goose per flock, that they raise w/chick's. Unfortunately, like ducks, they bring they're own level of "dirty" deeds. They don't need a pond, but they need an open water source to dunk their whole heads in, to keep nostrils clear. Gaggles of geese forget to protect hens, as they gather together. I love roosters, and they have done a great job with my hens. I handle them young, so they know I'm the leader of the flock, and I keep their spurs cut, to avoid injury to my hens. They do need at least 7-10 hens to choose from. Unfortunately, my neighbors didn't like my roosters (all of which were supposed to be hens, other than one chick surprise hatchling, that also turned out to be a rooster). I don't know if you harvest your birds, but young "extra" roosters, or troublesome roosters...Coq Au Vin. I also have harvested spent hens, but more often they become elderly pets. I have a flock of Golden Comets that are 7 years old, I get a few eggs from them still, but mostly they're my yard companions.
i would think he'd want to get a rooster to recoop the chicken losses at the very least. Chickens are amazing birds everyone should have and know how to keep. From what i know, the only reason you'd want ducks is because they love slugs.
@@MageSkeleton I loved finding slugs for my ducks and watching them with sticky beaks. Like peanut butter on the roof of the dog's mouth. In Oregon the slugs were 3" long and as big around as my finger. They made some serious slug slime. Duck eggs are good eggs for baking, I always had people waiting for more. I kept my ducks in with the goats, fun to watch goats kicking up their feet, they were hysterical with my huge ducks, and would take turns teasing each other.
@Wil SainMale geese tend to injure hens with sexual organs that are not meant for chickens, and have a huge libido. 🙄 the set up on the permaculture farm does not include areas for geese to nest, so removing the goose egg laid in the open, avoids conflicts. The chickens nesting boxes where not within reach of the geese, so they weren't brooding with chicken eggs.
I have a coop just for geriatric hens. I can't believe they will live 9 or 10 years and still lay eggs for a few weeks in the Spring.
@@goddessmother yep, especially if you don't use artificial daylight during winter to encourage egg laying during the shorter days.
After watching your video last year, I still decided to order a dozen of Apple silver yards. I'm so glad I did. Best ducks ever. They eat from hands. I can pet them while they eat. They follow me around in my garden. Never bother my chickens. In fact, my chickens keep them in check.
Other than being noisey, which you can get used to, there are roosters that are super tame with humans but very protective otherwise. My sister had one when her kids were very little that let the kids manhandle him and he's just take it. I think if you get one from a breed that's known to be tame, it could be advantageous to your hens.
My son lives in the suburbs and there's a rooster that drives everyone mad. You cant have them in built up areas.
@@Lazydaisy646 I can relate. I too had a rooster in the suburbs and after a few weeks of chasing him at 3am to shut him up, he ended up in the oven.
@@Lazydaisy646
Oh man, hearing roosters and peafowl all the time is nostalgia for me. It reminds me of growing up in the city proper for Boise, ID back in the 90s, but where people still had small farm plots with fowl and some livestock. Haha. I don't mind roosters as long as they're not right next to me doing that. Dogs honestly get to me the most out of any rampant animal noises.
Hey bud,
Long time watcher. Mostly for the veggies.
I clean at a small "farm" three days a week. Ducks, chickens, goats and a token sheep and cow.
They have their ducks in a completely separate enclosure and pen to the chickens. And while they dont actively breed either they do bring in hatching from tome to time, which are also completely isolated from each other. Its a lot more infrastructure but zero losses. Regards size I think they have about 12 ducks (not sure on sex of the birds) and about 20 chickens (no rosters)
One group is pened on one side of the shed I clean, the other... on the other.
Hope it helps in some way.
Your tone and the way this video is set up is so different from your usual happy gardening vids. I can feel your sad about the death of the chickens and the eggs getting destroyed one by one. I hope you find a good solution to your problems in the comments and that we'll have another video to watch soon where it all turned out to work out just fine! :)
This one is one of your best videos I've seen. Watching your videos make me relax and plan my future homestead in Valencia/Spain. Greetings from Armenia 😊 Get a big nice rooster to protect your chicken!
Maybe a brown goshawk which is found across Australia in woodland areas. We have trouble occasionally with them during fledgling season so tend to only free range the chickens when we are likewise outside. They are a gorgeous hawk to watch and great indicator of environment health, just not so grand for keeping poultry sometimes.
I got ducks thinking they’d be cute and like my chickens. BOY was I wrong
They're cute in the ducklings with mother phase, but a big commitment for cuteness afterward.
bro all birds creep me out i could never keep any
Sometimes, I think I see the raptor in my chicken's eyes. But, it always turns out to be curiosity, about what treats I may be carrying.
We raise chickens and have lost many from hawks or owls. Hawks will even fly right into the coup and eat the chicken on its nest. They are quite a problem..
With 4 legged critters and hawks, one can usually expect losses sooner or later. After loosing several chickens we got a rooster (Buff Orphinton), which is the mildest, quitest breed we ever had. The rooster did wonders concerning attacks and warning hens. We dont like noisy or aggressive roosters, but the Buff Orphinton breed worked quite well...
Our second solution was to skip and alternate days on letting the birds out of their coup area. By doing so the preditors stay confused and 75% move to a more predictable hunting ground..
Just sharing a story. Great videos...
Living Traditions Homestead on YT? Keep ducks and chickens together. They have a great system to feed and water that is amazingly messless. I agree with you on roosters. 🐣🐥🐤
Thanks for the great video. It's not all sunshine raising birds is it. Plants are a little more tolerant of neglect than animals. It's a big commitment.
A balloon which I hang in different locations within the chook yard to deter predators cost about $4 from our bunnings store, lasts for years has kept all the predator birds from our pen we live on acreage surrounded by trees. I have attached an old dunny seat that is always open, as a doorway on the chooks house to their run. I just put down the dunny lid if there is an issue, lol. We keep our ducks & geese in the house yard.
We have 4 runner ducks (drakes), they are indeed dirty animals. This summer for some reason they were fighting quite a lot, I assume because of mating season and their hormones going wild. Now they are peacefully living together again.
As for the water: I have a small pond (about 90*60*10 cm) that they can use to clean themselves and a separate drinker. To keep the pond fairly clean, I run a small pump and a DIY made Radial Flow Filter. It's not perfect but quite effective at keeping the pond clean a lot longer, plus, it's easy to clean. Only "problem" I have is that the pump wears out rather quickly because of all the sand/mud in the water, still looking for a solution for that.
Was thinking of getting a Drake for my ducks, but no way....not now. I don't want my hens killed. Thank you for another informative video, Mark! Blessings to your family.
This channel has been really helpful in teaching me how to garden. Awesome channel. Sorry to hear about the ducks & chickens but I would separate them. There is a channel called Gold Shaw Farm that raises chickens, ducks and geese. He uses geese rather than roosters to protect the flock. Might be a helpful channel for you as well.
Ducks are best roasted, they’re absolutely no trouble in the oven. Make an orange sauce. Very tasty.
You’re right, ducks are just messy messy drinkers. But I found a great solution! I finally discovered the Large Blue drinker cups. 6 pack for $12. They’re similar to the chickens red cups but are much larger and don’t have the yellow thing to peck at; they’re gravity fed. They work great for my two ducks. They are aptly named Nassy and Messy lol
Pretty sure you would get better results from cleaner, drier housing, ducks I kept years ago were always on nice clean straw, they nested well and produced lots of young.
What is it you don't like about roosters?
I keep chickens known for good temperment, Silkies, Polish and Faverolles. I keep 2 small breeding groups and have quail mixed in with the bantam chicken set. I have a bantam Silkie roo and a full size Faverolles/Golden Buff roo and they're very attentive to the hens and really easy to handle for me. They actually come over to hang out with me when I'm by their pens.
I have a uncle who had some ducks at his house and he had a timeout pen for any ducks behaving badly they would have to sit in the tiny pen and watch the other ducks play and have fun then after a few hours he'd let them out and they would be alot calmer
14:52 We raised chickens with roosters. Did not stop the hawks.
PS We raised guineas, too. The guineas and the chickens had nothing to do with each other even though they were penned together at night.
Try the Rooster and if it doesn't work, give away or have the drake for the holidays! Bring another one in and see if he kills the chickens as it may just be this particular drake. Otherwise just borrow/rent one for mating purposes. Have no regrets as you will have tried to hang on to him but if it doesn't work no judgment!! 🤗
Love your logo and love your content!❣
I personally use a baby chicken drinker (the nipple watering). The think that chicken need to peck to get water. My duck can drink it too without problem. I align 7 of this in a small pipe and link a 1meter 4inch pipe as reservoir change or put water once a week. Works great so far since more them a year. For the pool, no solution neither. It's a mess ahah, need to put fresh water if the duck want to take a bath. I was think about a grey water pond but still figure out how to clean and filter it to avoid soap. Any way, that a good range that your chicken have , look pretty happy
I've kept chooks (hens and roosters) with ducks and drakes (muscovies) and not had such problems with bullying, apart from the occasional squabble. More ducks for the drake to busy himself with sounds like a good suggestion (from other commenters). And maybe a rooster will sort out the drake if he dares mess with his hens.
For the messy water issue (it is quite the issue with ducks!) I ended up having some success with a system of small "ponds". I used a bathtub and a few clam-shells, but use whatever you've got handy. The ducks can swim in the bathtub and mess it up, then that water gets pumped up to the top pond (maybe 1m up) which cascades back through a couple other clam-shells and back in to the tub. I just ran the pump for a few minutes, several times a day. The clam-shells grow water plants in them to filter and clean the mess from the ducks. I grew duckweed (the obvious choice), azolla fern, frogbit, and even water-chestnuts. The ducks love eating them, so keep them away and give them a hand full each day into the tub. They love it!
Once in while (?months) clean out the muck that will collect on the bottom of the ponds. It is probably great fertilizer for your veges.
We have a small pond and that’s where the ducks live in a small shelter next to the pond, separated from our chickens except during the day while all our chickens, ducks and turkeys do their free range foraging. My biggest problem in my area was something taking out our turkeys at night, a neighbor farmer told me it was weasels and he gave me a good method to stop the slaughter! He suggested I clean my local barber shop and scatter all the human hair around the Turkey pen and the human scent kept them away. It’s been several years of me sweeping up me local barber shop every couple months to refresh the deterrent and I haven’t lost any more turkeys to the weasels. My barber actually saves a garbage bag full of hair just for me and any other farmers wanting to try this method.
Hi Mark, I have recently found your vids and am thoroughly enjoying them.
I’m in NZ and I keep both chooks and ducks. I also had a problem with ducks dirtying shared water and I’d heard that they do better separated, so I built my duck pen alongside my chook pen. The ducks have a plastic padding pool and a 10L drinking water container.
I like to free range my birds for part of the day so every afternoon I used to let them all out together, the bloody ducks kept going into the hen area and fouling the water!
My solution is that I let the chooks out in the afternoon and after they have put themselves to bed I let the ducks out for slug patrol, making sure the chook pen door is shut! The ducks come back to be fed either in the morning or the afternoon when I let the chooks out and aren’t fed until they do come back into their pen. They learned the new routine pretty quick, about a week. I now have to search further for their eggs but have a handy beardie who ‘helps’ me to find them (actually one of her fav snacks but she hasn’t learned to be sneaky yet). My ducks proper are Cayuga, I only have 3 girls as the drake drowned himself in a water trough (got his head stuck under the float mechanism). I decided not to replace him and will buy fertile duck eggs to put under anyone who is broody if/when I want more ducks.
However, I do have a problem drake living with my hens (I have a rooster who is a gentleman and very busy with his flock of 30 girls - he does help to keep the hawks away and doesn’t bother the ducks). The problem drake was a wild duckling ‘gifted’ to us, how can you refuse as they are so cute! Usually I have found wild ducks fly away once reared but this drake has not moved on and he does what your drake does to the hens. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might kill them but I am very aware how stressful that must be for the girls, and I must admit that I was worried about the corkscrew penis thing (eek!) so while he sleeps in the chook pen, but not in the house with the girls, I turf him out in the morning. He is on his own, he won’t hang out with the Cayuga girls, they asked him to when their drake died, did the bobbing head thing but he won’t have a bar of it.
Thanks for sharing 😀
I forgot that Oz has more predators than NZ so night free range probably won’t suit your situation but you might be able to let them out in the morning and cage them in the afternoon, when you want to let the chooks out, with a little food bribery.
Try this project
Project security goose
If the gander (guy) can get along well with birds, he can watch over the birds, and loud honk can be an alarm
Ducks are so tuff to keep. Im fortunate to have a one acre pond. I have 9 Rouen and 9 runner ducks. There is also a fenced in dry land a coop area. I have 1000’ of solar electric net around the pond. The ducks are out all the time. I put the chickens in the coop at night. Then they are locked out of the coop all day. The ducks will run them off if I put out scratch grain. Other than that the chickens are much faster and nimble. If you have to provide the water for the ducks on a daily basis it seems like a full time job.
Hello from Romania! When we put the hen for hatching, we check the eggs occasionally to see if there is a chick by shaking a little bit the egg. If the egg is dead inside, it will give a sound like it's filled with liquid. If it has a chick inside, it won't make any sound or anything else, you will feel like there is something inside.
Sorry for the difficulties you are having Mark, I enjoyed reading all the suggestions from those with experience handling this issue. I would gift the ducks without a pond, my only experience is enjoying the view.
As a bird scarer cds hung around in the trees seems to work, thanks for this video mate, im in the process of turning my unused block into a food producing area including quail and chooks and l was wondering about ducks as well until this video and the comments below it made me change my mind
Older video but my 2 drakes have 6 girls each and a pond container. My roo has 11 hens. No issues. I boil and feed my duck eggs to my farm cats because they contain taurine. I also boil and feed duck eggs back to my entire flock, shells and all.
Mark. My wife is a bit of an amateur small scale back yard chicken breeder. Going off previous info I would say we live relatively close to one another as well.
We would love to donate some chicks to the channel to help replenish your stocks if you want them?
Love the content, big fan.
Maybe fence off the pond area and shift that little hutch there so they can be secured at night, even a low netting would do then its not hard to remove if you need to, the ducks will have access to plenty of water via the pond, I would fence off just a small corner for mum & ducklings so they can still interact with the flock till a bit bigger, I kept ducks & chooks together for years too but had problems with water and bullying untill I seperated them, happy chooks and happy ducks ☺
When I was a teen, my Mom brought home some chickens, turkeys, and geese. After a few months the geese had to be relocated elsewhere because they attacked people and made a huge mess in the watering areas. But we also had an issue with the chickens and turkeys after we had them well over two years, where they ganged up on the one chicken who wasn't laying eggs often, and they killed it right before our eyes (my brother and I were at home alone after school, Mom was out running errands at the time), and it really shook us up!
Nature is painful to watch sometimes. I had a chicken with PTSD. The rooster had left bare patches of skin on her shoulders before I could get around to trimming them, the entire flock went after her. I brought her out, and gave her a safe place to heal. She had a 1/2 dollar sized skin tear, which healed with minimal effort, and feathers grew back. She would follow me around everywhere, but she was trying to get back to her flock. I put her in, and 15 sec later, they swarmed, and she was screaming. We went back to her following me around, after putting her in after dark didn't work. She was lonely, it was very sad.
@@hollyjones1186 reintroducing a bird to a flock is a tricky and difficult thing to do.
Hey Mark! Love your videos
The drake could be being protective of mum and soon to be ducklings. The chickens could be stressed by the hawke and then the attacks by the drake have become fatal. Maybe separate them for a while until the chickens are less stressed.
Wow, might be the ducks got more stressed because of having the ducklings, so he tries to protect them by attacking the hens. A rooster would look after his hens. That could mean more trouble between the rooster and the drake - another possible bad end. Maybe a relaxed rooster plus seperating them over night could work. There are several chicken breeds which are relaxed and even taller, makes them better for eggs and meat. Maybe that would matter, too. Having some bigger chickens plus their rooster.
A friend has a mobile chicken gate with red and white tape crossing all over for protection from hawks, buzzards, and red kites. It works.
The walking nest was really interesting. I've never seen that before. Unfortunately the little ducklings are so cute for a too short time. 😉
I used to have both chickens and ducks before I got a dog that likes to eat them. I never had an issue with my drakes hurting my hens, but I would always have issues with roosters. The only way to properly prevent injury and death is to keep them separate. You may need to have them separated where they cannot see each other, as sometimes male birds will break out to try to fight. I hope this helps.
This is quite the eye-opener about ducks, and so on, so thank you for your input I guess even the most fowl can be aggressive I even heard that hens and roosters can be the top dog
Yeah Male ducks are brutal rapists. The sight is never pleasant, but I abstain from disrupting nature unless i really have to. I lost a weakened female this year. I had saved her just a week before the fatal attack from the big alpha, and it was not just a mounting she was recieving then.
I have always had chickens; Then I decided to get five ducks; they are the messiest little buggers on the earth; I understand your frustration; I kept them with my chickens until my drake tried to mount them; then I separated them. Then I let them freerange 24/7 and they pretty much left the chickens alone. I rehomed them, it started becoming too much work. I love ducks, but will never own them again.
Mark, I'm not a farmer by any means, but with chickens I have heard that peacocks ar kept to protect against predators...as for ducks, that's unfamiliar territory. Great info though, sorry to hear about your troubles with ducks and the loss of your chickens. I hope this helps.🙂
We got 3 ducks for "fun" last year. This spring, my husband allegedly "missed" a nest. One day I walked out to give the chickens some vegetables scraps and saw 8 duck babies. So small they squeezed through the chicken mesh and into the yard. I had a panic attack. We don't need 11 ducks! Who wants some ducks?!?!
Try to keep your ducks in a row please
🤣 love this.
more ducks are a blessing!!!! I had a duck hatch out 3 successive broods totalling 40 new birds! I didn't know what to do either, but the decision became easier when I found out that most were drakes! I slaughtered them out at the correct age and popped them in my chest freezer. I made a good bit of money selling duck meat!
Oo pick me! Love ducks! 🤣
Seems like a great time for peking duck. My roosters made a fantastic pasta sauce last week. old mate was a gentleman for sure nothing like the drake but him and his sons just dont belong in the suburbs
I've thought about garden ducks for our zone 8, slug ridden yard. I want to fence in the garden and then let them roam but the whole water/ pond/ ALWAYS dirty is tough. We have 3 littles and whatever we add to our house we have to be able to have some teenager come and manage when we're gone. we don't want to homestead but just supplement
Like in your vid, Listen for the noisy miners, they're great for telling you what's above or below them.
You mentioned before that you prefer chicken eggs. Do you keep them for meat? Do you keep them for "pets".
You need to decide if your drake is worth keeping. You could purchase fertilized eggs, if you want meat. Incubate them, like you do the quail. Use the female as a "mother" to show them what's what, after the broader.
Another option is separate the ducks to their own shelter, which you only allow him out of for short periods.
Why are you NOT using the chicken door to let them in & out? Hawk is unlikely to enter through that. Gives the chickens, slightly, more shelter.
You shouldn't keep animals for meat. It's cruel for the animals and the meat Is unhealthy for your body. But to answer your question, I'm pretty sure he keeps them as pets.
I keep my chickens and ducks apart they have separate free range areas.
as for the duck water yep that is a problem, try this !!!! a very small container with fresh water drippings into it from a garden water dripper.
now the container only needs to be big enough for the ducks to keep their beaks and nose clean, as the small container over flows
you need to catch it in a larger container so that the ducks can have a bath.
the important thing is to have clean water for the ducks to keep their becks and nose clean.
We have two kune kune pigs, they are the best pigs for small farms! As for animal mixing, in my experience they have never mixed well in all the years of having chickens and ducks, if it's mating seasons drakes gate aggressive so are roosters and we have both, plus the dropping, water issue we were constantly having to warm the chickens. Separated they work a treat! Or not have a drake...girls always behave. Good luck in the future.
i live in the burbs, 4 ducks and 3 chickens, i do have 1 drake as well.
it could just be his personality, my drake will rough the chickens up if they get in his space or mess with his girls, but we have never had any injuries or anything so far. ours are not separate as we don't have a lot of space.
as to the dirty water, set up the duck water on or around grass. if there is dirt, they will make mud and they love dirt and mud and water.
we don't have any predators local beyond potentially cats but have yet to have an incursion into our yard but we don't cage up the ducks or chickens at night. they can wander into the coop or yard at will and the ducks usually just sleep out in the open. the chickens like to sleep in the coop but the only time the ducks go in there is for morning egg laying.
i made a 600 liter pond out of 3mm HDPE about 350mm deep by 800 long with a ramp in and out and a multi tier filtration system, the ducks will often sleep on the water as well so maybe getting them a place to swim, does not have to be huge for 3-4 ducks will help keep the mess down as they will tend to poop and clean themselves there instead of drinking bowls.
Hi Mark, your video gives a great explanation for nesting syndrome for mum's getting close to birthing.
The furniture is always getting moved 🤗
My view is to build a second pen. One the chickens go into, one the ducks go into. This way, you can keep the drake away from the chickens. When you let them out, don't fully free-run them, but instead have pens where the walls are high enough to keep them separate.
Swap the lndian Runner for a Muscovy.
Mine all live together happily.
If anything the hens actually bully the ducks around food at times but just a little peck here and there.
I have Russian ducks male and female, and all kinds of chickens and for some reason I've always kept them separate. My male duck is twice the size of my hens, maybe because I know that they will drown female ducks when they're meeting even?
We've had a falcon literally pull a pigeon's head off through its cage. Had to make the openings on the outside on the top too small for them to reach in...