prunio Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Hello we have 12 pekin bantam hens who have sadly outgrown their Eglu, so now they are in traditional accommodation. BUT we liked the grub and glug (the ordinary sort, not the one from the cube) so much we have several of each for our little chooks. we are getting 3 ducks (Cherry Valley hybrid layers) at the weekend, and I wonder if they can use the grub and glug containers as easily as the chooks can, or should I get some boringly conventional ones instead. I love the coloured grub and glugs, plus they work far better for the chooks than ordinalry ones, so I am hoping for +ve responses here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Ducks feed in a different way to hens - they scoop food up, so I don't think they would be suitable. I don't know if anyone else uses them for ducks? We use large, non-spill, dog bowls for the ducks to feed from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prunio Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 thank you for the quick response - that is what I was wondering. At least it means they shouldnt steal the hens' food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickles Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 hi we have two campbells. And we got them the boring water type thing used for chickens and a cermic dog bowl for their food. what they really love though is our chickens big glug that came with the cube. they sneak it when the chickens arent looking, they love to submerse there heads in it and have a drink they have even sussed the little teats things at the bottom. Made my buff orps look even more thicker the other post was right you need something they can scoop from. you will need to put there food next to their water or pond as well ideally. As they scoop a mouth full then have a drink and so on. hope that helps. ps. depends if they have been bought up with their mum or not as to how early you intro a pond or bath, as there wings wont be waterproof to start off if bought as chicks. the mums activate their oil glands when preening. apparently you can do it by sroking them with a silk scarf. we just let them paddle only knee hight in a cat litter tray to start off with then built up the amount of water as they grew feathers. They currently have a baby bath we got from Ikea. good luck all very exciting, they grow so quick from chicks literally a week to get first feathers much faster than our chickens that we hatched Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prunio Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 how do the campbells get on with the hens? we have 12 pekin bantams and although they will all have their own accommodation and free range, we have a reinforced fox proof 16' run as a 'holding area' for all of them. I wanted campbells but just can't get them soon enough, so I am going for these year old - second hand! - hybrid layers who look very like white campbells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickles Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 erm well my chickens were all hatched by us one hand reared on his own and think im the mum. we got the ducks at week old or so i think. didnt have them together to start off with as the size and age gap was too much. then in sep runs. chickens used to come over to the run. more interested in nicking the duck food to be honest. when they were first let out together the chickens used to chase them and jump on them occasionally. But we soon realised it was more over food. so they all have their own house and run, get fed first thing seperately, i now make sure they eat a bit of their own food first before they all free range. otherwise my big boys jump on them when they are hungry. Only other thing you need to watch if you have cocks is them trying to bonk the ducks, still does happen, think one of them clawed the white ducks wing and pulled a few feathers. the two hens chase the ducks off from food if i chuck a load of grain on the ground. But to be honest they all get on fine apart from that, think they need to find out who is boss to start with. we have clipped our duck wings by the way, you need to do them each yr, not done the chickens as they are too big to get more than a metre off the ground. ps stuck some water, well melted snow into a grub earlier today the ducks seemed to drink out of that, i know its for food. my chickens have gone off using the grub too lazy so now they have a hanging feeder. It also means the ducks cant nick their food. When we let the ducks out the first thing they do is look for the chickens so they can hang out, they all semi follow each other as a flock now. they all swop runs in the day, the ducks go into the cube run and nick the super glug water and the chickens go and nick the duck food out of their dog bowl. to be honest i think it will just come down to each otheir personalities with the ducks and the chickens. I would make sure you quarantine them all first before getting them to meet your flock. Do the usual worm and mite of both the chickens and the ducks. I beleive its around 10 days when introducing chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
