my chickens are eating my ducklings food

Mino

Hatching
Jul 12, 2022
3
1
2
So a few weeks ago, I found a lost baby duckling running around my yard. so I took it in and started taking care of it. (don't worry I tried looking for its parents and all that). when we took it in we kept it inside this little tub and put food and water and everything. then after it grew a little bit we put it outside in the chicken coop with all my other chickens. Everything is fine, it runs around, swims, plays, and everything. but the only problem is that the chickens are always eating the duckling's food. the chickens have their own food in their own feeder, and the duck has its own food in its own feeder. but the chickens really like the duckling food, and every time I refill the duckling feeder, the chickens go crazy for it and eat almost all of it. now I'm not sure if the duckling is eating from it, because I always see the duckling food being eaten by the chickens or empty. because of this, our duckling food is running out very fast. so I have two questions, what should I do about that problem? should I put the duckling back in its tub by itself or something? the second is, will it hurt the chickens if they eat the duckling food? and I also saw the duckling eat from the chicken food, is that okay too? will it hurt the duckling?

thanks in advance
 

Mino

Hatching
Jul 12, 2022
3
1
2
Seperate the duckling from the chickens. What type of duckling is it?
thats a good idea, but the thing is I want them to get along with each other and be used to sharing the same space and stuff. plus if I separate them I feel like the chickens wont have enough space to roam and run around and play and stuff. i dont know ill think about it. thanks for the idea though!

i think the duckling is a mallard
 

Mino

Hatching
Jul 12, 2022
3
1
2
Sometimes they don't always want to eat what you think that they should. My next door neighbor has duck's that decided that the food in the dog's food pan tastes better or something. :idunno
yeah thats true, but i dont know if that's okay for them to eat. they might like the duck food more, but is it ok to eat? i feel like its the same way with us. we like chips and candy and soda and all that junk, but is it good for us? you know what I mean? that's my question.
 

nuthatched

Fishin' for Chickens
Nov 9, 2019
7,803
15,722
596
God's Country, Az
thats a good idea, but the thing is I want them to get along with each other and be used to sharing the same space and stuff. plus if I separate them I feel like the chickens wont have enough space to roam and run around and play and stuff. i dont know ill think about it. thanks for the idea though!

i think the duckling is a mallard
I hate to be the bearer of nad news but You need to call your dnr about it, it's likely illegal for you to keep. It's better for you to turn it over.
You don't want it to imprint on the chickens, it needs to be seperate. If it's a drake/boy , it can seriously hurt your hens if it tries to breed them, duck and chickens are built differently.
 

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