Robbo1962 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 I have 7 hens and have been offered a couple of Indian runners....some questions! How many runners do I need for them to be happy, ideally I want 2 but not sure if they are happier in a larger flock Will they live happily with the girls (after being introduced slowly)? I can get a separate house for them but a friend has hers living with the hens, has anyone any experience of this? Do they make a muddy mess of their run? I have read that they don't take themselves off to bed and they have to be encouraged into their hut? Any advice please! Thanks Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miller30 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Hi yes you can have ducks living with hens but i dont as ducks are very messy and you will need to watch incase the hens bully them my chickens and ducks freerange all together in the day but go to bed in their own houses at night two ducks will be fine together but i always do things in threes just incase you lose one then you dont have a lonely bird also once the ducks have learnt where their house is you should just beable to tell them to go to bed but dont expect them to go on their own as they would much rather muck around and play leanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my lil farm Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Hi ive had my ducks for a couple of weeks now ive found that they arent to bad on the muddy side of things except around their pond area thats quite muddy.And bed time yep they have to be encouraged to go to bed ive got mine to the stage where they see me coming up and already making their way in. mine gave me a right run around at first when it came to bedtime bless them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wee_deec Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I plan on getting 2 hens and duck... hehe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNell Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We have 8 rescue hens, 3 rescue cockerels, 5 runner ducks and 1 mini appleyard all sharing the same compound. They tend to leave each other alone, and the only scuffles are around food, so I have about 4 feed stations. I hatched 9 ducklings, sold 4 and am hoping to introduce the others soon. They have our orphan gosling and her newly aquired mate for company too- so it will be a real poultry commune in there soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
