In rural areas, many people tend to keep chickens and ducks separately, feeling that “roosters are chickens, ducks are ducks” and that together they can fight and become ill. Since spring 2026, however, more and more old rural men have mixed up in chicken ducks, saying that “dicks and ducks are raised and less trouble is done”. This is not an old-age superstition, but a practical method that has been practiced for many years and has been tested by a large number of farmers for the last two years, and you can tell us all about it today。
Let's start by saying why are more and more people now abandoning single-handedness and recognizing ducks? The core is two words: care and money。
Those who have raised chickens in rural areas know that chickens are ferocious, are afraid of dampness, fear of natural enemies, and are prone to complication and disease; ducks are skinned and enjoy pleasure in travelling, and can raise ducks alone in water and space, and also trouble cleaning up. But we can put them together, and most of these problems can be solved。
In early 2026, the farmer at the village of mansashi, the governor of zhejiang county, xu ming fat, expanded his farm size, instead of building a chicken house or a duck house, as others had done. Instead, he managed to raise a total of 100 pheasant chickens and 60 ducks, for more than three months, at a cost of nearly 3,000 dollars, at a much higher rate than in previous years. He said, “the chickens used to be raised on their own, three to five to clean up the chicken coops and protect them from the tide; ducks alone, with water change and mud clean, are exhausted, half of what they do is done with little trouble.”
Why would he be so relieved? The key is the natural “complementarity” of chicken ducks, an ecological breeding technique that has been recognized in agricultural circles for the past two years。
Chickens and ducks don't eat the same stuff. They don't eat fights. The chicken pecks worms, grassseeds, grains; ducks eat water grasses, little bugs, and green grasses on the ground. When mixed, chickens eat the ground pests and weed seeds, reducing the growth of the disease on the ground; ducks clean the water, wet areas, weeds, and can step on loose dirt, leaving the chicken coop free of water and damp, making it difficult for the chickens to rot and shrunk。
Even better, ducks are alert and bold, and when they meet natural enemies such as weaves and rats, ducks scream and run, amounting to “free security” for chickens. There are some rural farmers who, in 2026, mixed chicken ducks with chickens in the spring, and there were no cases of chickens being taken away by weeds, while those who had chickens next door occasionally lost chickens。
There are also savings in feed and labour costs, which are more tangible. At 2026 feed prices, 100 chickens were raised on a single basis at a cost of approximately $25 per day; 50 ducks were raised on a single basis at a cost of $15 per day, for a total of 40. After breeding, ducks can find half of their food (insects, weeds) and the cost of feed can be reduced to 22-25 per day, saving 450-540 per month. Manually, one person can look after 200 or 300 chicken ducks without having to clean the chicken and duck houses separately, and without changing the water and the tide alone, saving time and energy。
Seeing this, a lot of people would say, "how can a chicken be pecked by ducks and sick from ducks to chickens?" it's not that you can't do it, it's that you don't know the golden rule of a rural old man, and the latest skills in 2026, which must be kept in mind, so don't turn around。
One, the choice is right. You don't fight with your temper
Not all ducks can mix, but they have to choose a variety of “gentle, non-battle”. The chicken chooses the local pheasant, the rooster, and the rooster, and the duck picks the duck, the local owl, and the big, bully duck. The mix of male and female, rather than a mix of chickens and ducks, both tend to compete and fight; hens and ducks are the most harmonious and stable。
Ii. The ratio is right, the number of chickens is less than the harmony
The ratio of chickens to ducks is the most appropriate (e. G. 100 chickens with 30-50 ducks) according to the 2026 field experience of farmers. Too many chickens, too few ducks, too many ducks “can't protect” chickens, and too many ducks, too few chickens, ducks like to play with water, can damp the ground and the chickens can get sick。
Iii. The site is divided into two sectors. The chicken ducks are wet
A hybrid is not locked in the same cage, but has to plan an “exclusive area”, which is the key to the success of a hybrid in 2026。
- the area of chicken (dry zone): build a higher shed, dry straw or wood crumbs, and the chickens like to rest in the high places, where the ventilation is good and not damp, exclusively for the chickens to sleep and lay their eggs。
- duck area (wet zone): dig a small shallow pool next to the shed (less than one-two square metres) and leave another mud field where ducks like to dip water and step on mud, where they do not wet chicken dry areas。
This way, the chickens stay dry, ducks have fun, they don't bother each other, and they don't get sick。
Iv. Dissociation between feeding and feeding
Chicken ducks don't feed the same food. They can't feed in a sink. Chicken eats chicken feed (particle) and duck eats duck feed (powder), separates two food tanks and places them in different areas, avoiding predatory food and preventing waste of feed. In addition, ducks must be able to drink water at any time, and the water in the pool must be changed two to three days in order to keep it clean; the chicken's drinking equipment should be placed in the dry zone and the ducks should not be wet。
V. Step by step, not directly together
Many people fail by putting strange ducks together and fighting. The correct approach is to “separate first”: first, to keep the ducks in two adjacent cages for three to five days, so that they are familiar with each other's scents and sound; and then, when they do not peck at each other and are not afraid, to put them together slowly, with more than one to two days to watch, with those who fight apart in time, and soon to get along。
Six: don't be lazy in day-to-day management
1. Cleaning up of dung: chicken duck dung mixed up, easily bred with bacteria, cleaning the dung once a day, and fermenting in the corner as fertilizer, clean and environmentally friendly。
2. Maintenance of ventilation: windows or vents are to be left in the shed, especially during the summer, which reduces the growth of disease, and ducks are less prone to heat and disease。
3. Periodic disinfection: weekly spreading of raw lime or grass-wood ash on the ground and in the area of activity, free from expensive disinfectants and safe and functioning。
Many fear that mixed-infection will occur, but with the above, the probability of a mixed-infection disease is lower than that of a single-infant. In march 2026, the ministry of agriculture and rural development issued the " guidelines for rural small-scale powdering " , in which it was mentioned that a reasonable pattern of chicken and duck breeding can be used to reduce disease through biocomplementarities and is suitable for small-scale farming in rural gardens。
Rural farming is now no more common than it was in the past, without large-scale monocultures, such as chicken ducks, with no need to invest, using their own small homes and open spaces, and saving their hearts, money and security, especially for the middle-aged farmers and young people returning home to start their own businesses, both to supplement their families and not to be too tired。
In fact, rural farming, with its many old experiences and the old pharaohs, is based on decades of practice, not superstition, but the wisdom of the earth. In 2026, it became more and more intense, relying on the real benefits of “sustain, suffer less, save money”。
Did you ever have chicken ducks in your house? Did you ever mix it? Or do you have other good ideas for farming? Welcome to the comment section to talk, learn from each other, and make a good little farm life
