a question about feeding different foods to hens

[whitewestie]

My chickens are in a cube with an extended run but it is on soil with hemcore in the run and is now extremely muddy. The grass around the run is totally under water and I am sloshing around, slipping and sliding in mud every time I go to see them.

 

Further down the garden I have a large WIR (4m x 3m) where my two pekin ducks live. This run is on slabs with a polycarbonate roof so it stays nice and dry inside and the ground is slabbed outside. There is a path that leads down the garden to the run which means I do not have to venture on muddy grass to reach it.

 

I have been wondering if it would work out okay to put the cube inside the run and let the chooks and ducks share the WIR. The ducks have their own house and the chooks would have the cube to roost in so sleeping arrangements would be kept separate.

 

They all free range together in the garden and get on really well. The chooks would have a lot more room and also could have some high branches to perch on if they wanted to get away from everyone else for a while. Does anyone think this would work? I don't want to move the cube if there are any reasons why it would not work out.

[mollyripkim]

My nine silkies and two call ducks share a run and like yours freerange together as well with no problems. Ducks have their own house and chickens have cube. The main thing to get over was that the ducks made the chickens water mucky so have a gravity water container that the ducks don't bother with much. I also have an omlet grub (no lid) but hung higher up with bricks as steps for the chickens. Been like that since last summer and ducks haven't got in it yet!