Ducks-We want some great layers,a broody mother,& friendly

[litredhen]

hey folks,
We need all new ducks, just lost ours to a fox and I am trying to decide what breed. I have been reading different posts on personality but wondered what people would say. We want some great layers, a broody mother, & very friendly. I was thinking some khaki's, a muscovy and what do people say about Cayugas?
thanks

 

[jerseygirl1]

My muscovies were NASTY to my hens.....................but OK with me, how about pekins, also, khakis are very nice

 

[litredhen]

jersey girl - thanks! We had khaki's they layed great but not all that friendly. But maybe we did not hold them enough when they were little? We also had PEkins and they were very friendly.

 

[lovin my birds]

I love my khaki campbell! She is a great layer, when she got attacked by my fathers dog i brought her inside to heal because she got a hole in her breast and she pulled all the feathers off her wings, but she layed every single day. Never missed! my muscovies also lay every single day and a re great broodies and mothers. I brought 2 home One week and three day later she went broody for me. She is still laying on her eggs. They should hatch at the end of the week or the bigining of next week. I am super excited! I dont know about Cayugas I dont have or have never owned any. But I do here they are good ducks as well. My muscovies are probably my friendliest to my chickens but they grew up with chickens.

 

[DarkWolf]

I've got a flock of Welsh Harlequins I got just because 1) They lay great and 2) They are very friendly. Though I can't fully vouch for either as they're very young still. I won't fully judge them until they're at least a year old.

 

[L0rraine]

I'm so sorry to hear about your ducks. It's so devastating to lose them like that.

Wish you weren't so far away. I have a wonderfully bonded pair that I'm hoping to find a good home for. The drake is a Magpie and female is a Runner/Magpie cross. The female lays eggs like crazy and goes broody every chance she gets. I'm just not looking for more Magpies (or crosses) as I'm pretty into my Runner ducks. The amazing thing about the pair (besides how bonded they are), is that they keep and incredibly clean nest box. I NEVER have to clean it! But I can't house them in with my Runner ducks because the drake constantly mates with them until he bloodies their necks and backs (though he seems quite gentle and reserved with the Magpie/Runner cross). I know this doesn't help your thread, but thought I'd post anyway.

For what it's worth our Magpie drake is really cute with our dog. We think that he is actually trying to fight with our dog, but our dog thinks he is just playing and the two of them wrestle together in the yard. Our collie will rollover and the drake will actually climb on his stomach. The drake will chase him all around the yard (though he never looks terrible aggressive while doing it). Not to worry, we never leave the two of them unsupervised as we know these things 'can end in tears'

 

[litredhen]

L0rraine- very sweet of you, but yeah WA is prob to far. thanks

 

[larkflying]

So far I have experience with Rouen, Pekin, and Welsh Harlequin. The WH are a bit more jumpy than the other two breeds -- I've heard it is because they are an egg laying, lighter breed. They've calmed down a lot since they went outside and grew up a bit. The Rouen pair and our big Pekin drake were friendlier and came closer, but as to the other qualifications, they are all young so I don't know about egg laying or broodiness yet.

And I might be interested in the Magpie pair -- we live pretty close to Whidbey Island, and I just rehomed my Pekin drake - solely because I didn't have a mate for him, but my 8 year old is devastated. Apparently he had attached without me knowing : ( So, if they were very friendly, I'd be willing to have more ducks . . . I'm interested to find out if the Magpie's are calmer than my WH's. You can email me if you still need a home . . .

 

[RingedTeal]

Muscovies

 

[Welsh H. lover a(TM)?]

Look up a breed called welsh harlequin. they are excellent layers and mothers, and are also very friendly