[clairerey]

hello, we have three hens and i would love to get more but my 10 yr old son has it in his head that ducks would be better, drakes to be more precise We went to the farm today and they have 1 week old unsexed, chocolate runners and silver appleyards, they will be being sexed on wednesday. i have seen that a few of you on here have ducks as well as chickens, so i would like some experienced advice on the two together please We are building a new, larger run at the moment and the duckling will live in the shed until they are able to go together with the chickens (whenever that will be).
thanks for any advice. claire x

[joyfull]

be careful if you are getting drakes - they need enough ducks each.

[clairerey]

? lol
we are getting two drakes, the farm lady said that they will live fine with the chickens. What do you mean they need enough ducks each?

[freckledbeck]

Be careful.... we had a runner drake we had to rehome as he would try and mate with our hens, he actually damaged one of our Dutch bantams.
Runner drakes are often referred to as 'rape ducks' as they are highly sexed and will mate with anything! (well almost!!! lol)
Having said that the last two drakes we have had have shown no interest in our hens whatsoever.
Sadly most Runner drakes are practially worthless and difficult to home as people generally want females for laying, (unless breeding or showing) so I'm guessing your farm lady will be more than enthusiastic about you taking a couple off her hands.
Ducks also make rather a lot of mess, so your chicken run/pen/garden would have to be big enough to ensure it doesnt end up as a muddy boggy mess!
Sorry to be so negative  
I should add ducks make wonderful pets despite being messy. I love ours to bits! (their eggs are delicious, and they are much more reliable winter layers than chickens in our experience- so not all bad!)

[clairerey]

well my son is the one with the interest in getting them. we have ordered a chocolate runner and a silver appleyard. We only want them as pets, so not interested in eggs or anything (hence just wanting males)
is it then worth cancelling the runner and just getting two appleyards? i dont want anything to disturb the chicken peasce we have