Advice on duck breeds!

[Librarychick5]

We want to get 3 ducks. We have 6 chickens and have had chickens for over 10 years. But we are new to ducks. The ducks will have their own coop. I'm looking for friendly, calm, fairly quiet ducks that don't really fly. Mostly the ducks will be pets but hubby is big on the eggs, so decent layer a plus.

These breeds are the ones I initially like and are available from our local feed store:

Welsh harlequin, buff, blue swedish, black swedish, silver appleyard, khaki Campbell.

Any thoughts on which 3 to pick?

 

[_-Captain BRM-_]

I think all of those are great breeds... But ducks are very, very loud so be prepared. (You mentioned fairly quite ducks.)

 

[Weeg]

We want to get 3 ducks. We have 6 chickens and have had chickens for over 10 years. But we are new to ducks. The ducks will have their own coop. I'm looking for friendly, calm, fairly quiet ducks that don't really fly. Mostly the ducks will be pets but hubby is big on the eggs, so decent layer a plus.

These breeds are the ones I initially like and are available from our local feed store:

Welsh harlequin, buff, blue swedish, black swedish, silver appleyard, khaki Campbell.

Any thoughts on which 3 to pick?

I love my Welshie! Zorro is the sweetest duck I e ever met. Wry friendly and social. I think any of those breeds can be friendly though. You just have to put the time in and social them.
So note that ducks are loud, no avoiding that fortunately. I find my Mallards are the loudest. I want to say that Muscovy ducks may be quoted, but I could be wrong. Like they have different quacks?
Also note that ducks are MUDDY! You’ll want a tractor if possible. I’m finally switching to a tractor and am so excited! My pen is an ugly mess of mud.

 

[Librarychick5]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to our new additions to the family.

I ended up reserving 1 Welsh harlequin, 1buff, and 1 white duclair (which wasn't on my original list).

 

[Luv Ducks]

I think Muscovy ducks are the quietest of all duck breeds. My Drake makes a big Huffing sound which can only be heard when you are near him and my Hen makes a really pretty trill sound. Some people don't like them because of the red on their faces but mine are sweet and I love them. Good luck on yours not being loud. My other girls, Rouens and Khaki Campbell and Mallards are very loud but I have wonderful neighbors as I don't live on a farm but near others.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This might help you decide which breed is for you https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/duck-breed-focus-project.1024526/ well you’ve already decide.

 

[KimberBee]

I have welsh harlequins. They aren’t as personable as advertised. But our ducks free range. They don’t seem to like being handled but they don’t scream about it either. We have hatched one clutch of eggs. Mama duck did it and is very protective of her babies. They do make a lot of noise. They find me when I’m gardening and make noise until they get pellets (who is the trained one?). They are beautiful comics. Here’s a pic of my mama and her babies.

 

[addctd2plnts]

I have 48 ducks in a a good amount of breeds. Ironically, I don't have a lot of the ones you are considering. The breeds I have are for show, except for my Penciled Indian Runners. I got them first and couldn't find them from a show breeder. I will say they are significantly more friendly than most my other breeds, but they are also the only ones I've raised from 2 days old. They are our favorite ducks partly because they are so friendly, but they are hysterically funny, more so than any of our other ducks.

Our second favorite, which we really were not in love with when we got them is our while Call Ducks. They are show ducks and the breeder wasn't spending any time with them, so they came very wild. But in the last 8 months the white ones have gotten so friendly, I've changed my mind about them. And as you can see from my Avatar photo, I like GIANT dogs, so these tiny ducks had to earn my affection LOL

Our Pekins are for show, or I'd never have them. I really discourage people wanting pets from getting Pekins. My two Pekins eat MORE than my 10 Indian Runner ducks! It's really a shock when you are used to ducks that give eggs and don't eat so much LOL

Our other ducks are: East Indies, Australian Spotted, Snowy Mallards, White Indian Runners, Cayugas, and some other varieties of Call Ducks.

Of all these, for eggs, I'd pick the Indian Runners first, but I'd look for people breeding for egg production and I'd select my ones to breed from my highest egg layers. They have the lowest feed cost and for the money lay a lot of eggs. Second best for eggs, and a very nice calm duck (quiet too, at least compared to my other breeds LOL) is the Cayugas. My Cayugas might eat a bit more than the Indian Runners, but they are no trouble, and they are stunningly beautiful, at least in the show quality ducks. The Indian Runners do lay more days a year and Indian Runners seem to be the most interested in constantly foraging. None will survive well free ranging because predators are much faster than domestic ducks, but we use movable walk in pens and move them daily. We keep the pens in wide open areas that tend to discourage predators and move them daily. I can't imagine the nightmare of keeping them constantly in a pen.

 

[Lilbitsnpieces]

I raise buffs..dual purpose. I get an egg a day from each duck..they are broody and great moms..raise their own young.. ready for market by 8 weeks ...light carcass looks good. Considered a medium duck 6.5 to 8 pounds..If you get good stock...I find them relatively quiet..if their loud..there's a reason and I hustle outside..