I have a large garden so I am buying some Silkie chickens in the spring, my partner is dying for ducks, which I wouldn't mind...

But I have heard silkie's are quite docile and get bullied by other birds....
Would they be ok if they grew up together, as ducklings and chicks, or is it just a bad idea?

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If you have enough space then they should be fine, you could try duck breeds like call ducks which are small - only if you have understanding neighbors as they are pretty noisy! There are other small breeds of duck which would be fine if you're worried. Generally speaking I've never had a problem with my ducks picking on my chooks - they tend to ignore each other, I have little runner ducks at the mo and they are pretty quiet timid little ducks so I doubt they'd even go near a chook!!! Silkies are not total pushovers they can be very fiesty, you need a sheltered area for them for when it rains as they are not waterproof though.
Just be aware as any pen you have will be turned to mud soup in no time at all with ducks - as soon as it rains the ducks start dibbling through the grass roots for bugs and turn it to bare soil then mud - mine are on an acre and half of that, after all this rain over the last 2 months, is literally a fine mud soup with just 5 little ducks!! You also need a pond/paddling pool for the ducks to have a bath in but it needs to have a block or something at one side incase a chook falls in!!!

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