raise chickens has been an increasingly popular pastime for long time , be it on a minor farm , a rural sprawl lawn or in a suburban backyard . Even urban chickens have become a thing . By and large chickens are prosperous to get by , loosely predictable and fairly uncomplicated . Because of this you might say they are the gateway drug to celebrate a mixed flock of fowl .
Ask anyone who has go on chickens for some time , and they ’ll likely distinguish you that they have tried — or at the very least considered — summate at least one other type of bird to their flock : ducks , goofball , guineas , turkeys , maybe even peafowl or pheasants .
get several varieties of domestic fowl can beentertaining and good . dissimilar speciesoffer different benefit .
The welfare of a mixed flock are sempiternal . But what holds many people back is a lack of infinite or inability to supply multiple housing situations . Each individual mintage does have unlike pauperization , but done right , you could successfully house a mixed good deal .
One Coop? No Problem
keep your birds all together in a single coop and running play can keep space , time and money . One housing situation mean less construction material , fencing , electricity and work . While we do it with a rather large flock , this scenario really profit those who prefer a more fairish number of birds .
If you ’re raise your flock in a humble suburban curtilage , for instance , you may not want to address disjoined housing for each species — a duck house for just two ducks , a henhouse for a few chickens , a run for a lone jackass .
have a individual , big coop and one run allows you to efficiently put up more birds in a smaller space while still giving them the room they need to expand . Anika Wilson
Anika Wilson
Space Sensitives
Whether you innocent - reach your birds or not , a sizable , fully predatory animal - trial impression runnel attach to the hencoop with 24 - time of day accession is always a good idea . This position should allow your lot to move about outdoors while still contained .
Preferably this campaign would have at least a partial solid roof , especially in arena with extreme sun , exuberant pelting or snowy wintertime . have a decorous run will give your birds options , infinite and , most importantly , fresh breeze even when not free - ranging . The turgid you may make this country , the better .
Read more : What should you do when there ’s conflict in the coop ?
Anika Wilson
We wish to utilize dissimilar levels in our run to help mitigate any likely bullying issues , as well as provide more space in a modest field . By adding plenty of high pole , downhearted concealing nook and multilevel platforms , you may maximize the space and give each breed a little place of their own .
A simple picnic tabular array in the center of the running game could do the trick . So could a good deal of brush in a box for someone to hide under and a arm place up for perching . Or , you could get originative .
You ’ll also want to give everyone a safe , dry space to lie eggs . Our ducks and chickens often share a single nesting box at ground level . But we bring home the bacon several to give them options .
Stephanie Frey/Shutterstock
The smaller bantam Gallus gallus mostly utilize the higher box . The duck , greaseball ( who are lifelike woodland layers ) and the bigger chicken prefer the lower 1 . Despite the fact that they ’ll often all rest in the same few boxes , or in no box at all , pick will burn down on skirmishes .
Our indoor coop sphere consist of several perches at different heights to accommodate a sort of mintage , while still allowing for a low-pitched domain , protected from the perching bird ’ falling poo with a single angled roof , for our soil sleeper .
Having open - access to the run also give your flock more way for sleep blank space . Ducks and many biz fowl prefer to drop the nighttime outdoors .
Jean-Philippe BABU/Shutterstock
Dynamics, Behaviors & Disease
The 2nd most important thing in keeping a mixed mountain is to tune in to your birds’behavior pattern , and translate and step in in the illustration of intimidation or sickness . Simply put , the larger the space the birds share , the few the issues .
Until the harmony of your flock is established , keep an eye on hencoop moral force , specially with new birds coming into maturity . Raise everyone together from 24-hour interval - olds if possible , so that everyone is accustomed to one another . The more you watch your shuttlecock interact , the more aware of their needs you will be .
Small squabbles are normal and necessary . By nature , birds must demonstrate a pecking parliamentary procedure . This rules of order may commute over prison term as dominate birds age and grow weak or as new member join the flock . Stephanie Frey / Shutterstock
Knowing when to intervene and having a space in the coop where you’re able to isolate injured or strong-arm birds for short period of time is essential .
In a coop / run with lots of place , this could be a disjoined cordoned off expanse . You could also apply something as simple-minded as an old dog doghouse with an unintelligible tarp over one end .
The space should separate the bird from the flock , without strain it , so it can still see and interact with its roomie but also retreat when it take to . The power to separate birdie in this way also helps with acclimating new members to the flock and classify mothers with their babies from queer pecks and prods .
Different birds are more susceptible to different disease . Soread up on the specific mintage and breeds you intend to keep . Also fortify yourself with an understanding of how particular illnesses effect unlike raspberry so that you could intervene in any issues quickly and effectively .
If you ’re able to free - range the birds during the day , this is idealistic . This gives them less time in close quarters where disease can circulate more readily and small disputes occur more frequently .
We also keep a bird first - aid outfit on hand .
understand more : Protect your poultry coop from unwashed predators with these tips !
Cleaning Considerations
Most backyard birds have similar pauperism when it comes to housing and their contiguous environs . You ’ll happen some clear difference between the fashion waterbird and other poultry / game bird move their surroundings .
Ducks and geese , for example will make an absolute mess if they have access to open containers of urine . To quash having unlike setups for each species , save on electrical energy in wintertime and add to the communal atmosphere of the coop , we supply large , low , weewee drum that everyone can reach .
These we cover with widely - spaced fencing wire , such as deer fencing or cows power system . This permit everyone to reach the water supply , but keep anyone from getting in it . It foreshorten down on clean frequency , at bottom and exterior of the body of water dish , and allows a individual piddle warmer in cold temperature .
In warm months ( or climates ) , having some deeper and some shallow H2O containers spread out around the test can also be a expert idea to subjugate competition . Remembering that water bird must always have access to water , they can fully submerse their heads in .
The indoor area however , must be clear regularly . For this , Natalie Wood shavings are your serious friend . easy drag in away and absorbent , they also tote up a pleasant smell to the hencoop .
Using straw bedding is not recommend unless you design to clean very ofttimes . While chickens get laid it , straw and duck’s egg poo are the perfect formula for a very stinky situation . Jean - Philippe BABU / Shutterstock
Food & Health
The disadvantage of a mixed flock in sexual congress to their feeding is that you have to be more aware of what each creature postulate nutritionally and what foods or medications can be dangerous .
Medicated feed ca n’t be feed to a mixed flock . It ’s not as simple as buying volaille pellets or waterfowl crumble .
Each type of bird needs slightly varied percent of different nutrients . Feed label “ multiflock ” is n’t inevitably always good for everyone . High - protein foods can be detrimental to duck , causing slant wing and increasing their free weight unsafely . For game fowl , though , high protein is good .
I like to use a stock stratum pellet and summate in black oil helianthus seeds and dried corn for the peafowl , meal worms for the duck’s egg and other seeds and collation that everyone can savour . In wintertime , I regularly ply green kickshaw such as chop kale , baby leaf Spinacia oleracea and grated carrot .
feed in time in a motley campaign can get hectic . This is the time when the most disagreements occur between flock residents . Having several food dishes spread around the coop allows everyone to use up in relative heartsease .
The introductory supplemental nourishment needs of your mickle will also be subject to what your intended use for the birds is — i.e. , testicle , nitty-gritty or optics — as well as the breed you raise and your surrounding environment . Full nutritional chart are easy to find online .
At first , all of this can be scare off , but despite there being quite a lot to consider when creating a motley flock , once everything is in office , you ’ll be happy you did your homework and felicitous to be housing communally .
There is nothing like coming out in the good morning to start the cage door and witness all the little personalities and conversations proceed on . Mixed flocks are a joy to watch and raise !
More Information
Very few preventive medication can be given to all birds in adequate dosages , and some debate as to whether preventatives should be used at all , which is ultimately why I chose to go the natural mob when it comes to preventative measures and goody .
By free - ranging , the birds are able to source a lot of their own nutritionary needs , but when cooped up in winter or bad weather , I successfully supplement with garlic and herbs . I also provide our ducks with regular ration of nutritionary yeast , gamey in niacin , which is important to their growth and health and can be mix in in with the spate ’s drinking weewee or sprinkled over their provender .
Ducks are likely to be your messy residents . So if you intend to keep some , having proper flooring in the run is also significant . A cement , lino or Oliver Stone floor will be easy to clean in a cage , but make certain the streamlet is trace with something soft .
Ducks especially , but other birds as well , are prostrate to bumblefoot if keep on hard Earth’s surface for too long . I practice wood chips over a dirt floor in my run and allow my chickens to do the gravid lifting when it fall to cleaning . Their constant scratching mean that the floor base is always rotating and aerating and is mostly kept clear without human intercession .
I do one big goop - out in bound after long freeze geological period , and otherwise entrust them to it . Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin or pea plant gravel would also be effective blow out of the water , allowing water to enfeeble and chickens to still scratch . We prefer the wood chips though , because they eventually have a second life as garden compost .
This clause originally appeared in the January / February 2022 issue ofChickensmagazine .
