Raising ducklings is fun, cute and endearing. Backyard ducks can make a good flock along with chickens. They’re often seen together on farms, but chicks and ducklings do not make the best brooder companions. It might be tempting to house the two types of babies together. Yet multiple reasons exist why this pastoral pairing should be avoided, at least until the birds are fully feathered juveniles or adults. Read on for four of them.
1. Relationships to Water
Even when they’re just a day old, ducklings are drawn to water. They might not swim yet, but they can definitely splash. Not only can they thoroughly soak the shavings, but they might also douse any chicks wandering by the waterer. Getting drenched or nestling down on wet bedding can chill a baby chick and lead to hypothermia, as the bird is too young to regulate its body temperature.
Also Read: 9 Tips for Raising Ducklings
2. Temperature Needs
During their first week of life outside the shell, baby chicks require a constant brooder temperature of 95 degrees. This temperature should be dropped by five degrees each week until room temperature (approximately 70 degrees) has been reached. When raising ducklings, however, they require less heat; their brooder temperature starts at 90 degrees, then reduces by 10 degrees each week until 70 degrees is reached. Housing both types of infant poultry together would mean that either the ducklings would overheat or the chicks would become chilled. Fluctuating temperatures during this crucial stage of life can result in poor growth, respiratory issues and increased susceptibility to disease.
Also Read: 5 Common Brooder House Mistakes
3. Growth Rates
While baby chicks do seem to grow up right before our eyes, a duckling’s rate of growth exceeds that of a chick’s. Ducklings at three weeks of age dwarf standard-size chicks, with ducklings from meat breeds such as Pekín and Rouen easily three times the size of a chick. Because of the size difference, ducklings can accidentally step or sit on their smaller brooder mates, causing them injury. When raising ducklings, their quick growth rate also means that a brooder can change from spacious to overcrowded within a week.
4. Natural Defenses
Ducks have few natural defenses; their main way of escaping predators is to swim out into bodies of water where land-based carnivores can’t reach them. While baby ducks can nuzzle and nip with their rounded bills, that’s about the extent of the damage they can do. Chicks, however, have sharp beaks that, during the first few days of life, feature the hornlike egg tooth used to break out of the shell. Armed with these pointy natural weapons, chicks can peck eyes, puncture webbed feet and cause other unintentional injury to defenseless ducklings.
This story about raising ducklings was written for Hobby Farms magazine online. Click here to subscribe.
