Best backyard duck breed?

[lowcountrypoultry]

Muscovy! Bug eating monsters who LOVE people! AND they don't QUACK!

True, True.​

 

[Vala]

Saxonys! Very smart, eat LOTS of bugs, lay 220-240 HUGE eggs/year, beautiful (and DON'T look like they have Cancer...). Large enough to be great table ducks. You can tell the sexes apart, too, by markings & bill color (even as little ducklings), which is often a problem with Pekins... Don't fly much (too heavy). Bet no-one has mentioned that Muscovies (which are a South American Perching duck) have HUGE claws...
Look at the info at www.feathersite.com

 

[AhBee01]

I love my Muscovys, and you don't need a pond for them!
They don't quack, and they don't seem to fly off.
They are pretty friendly too!
Brenda

 

[BantyHugger]

I love my buffs. The boy is really really quiet. The girl we used to have was also pretty quiet. The pekins never silence.
I think Cayugas sound like they'll work out fine for you. All the Muscovies I've seen are a little pricey.

 

[conny63malies]

Quote:
I second Brenda. I have three of her ducks. they are the best, big friendly, quiet, eat bugs and everything thats left in the fridge, wont take off even when the gate stays open. All the neighors kids pick dandelion leafs just to feed them through the fence. Even a two year old can wrangle them. Mine dont really have a house, they are happy between the AC and the fence with a piece of vinyl siding as a roof. May i also add, i live in a city where poultry is not allowed and they are not a bother even for neighbor who live less than 100ft away.

Muscovies are not pricey at all, you can get them for as little as 4.50$ shipped when you order 15 from JM hatchery or 5$ plus shipping for i think minimum 6 ducks at countryhatchery.net. Just a little harder to find. And if you get them as ducklings you get used to them getting"ugly"

 

[swampducks]

Quote:
Will they use a pond if one is available? My 4 8 week old 'scovies just discovered the pond 3 days ago. They will waddle down and sit next to it with the other pond ducks. Just sit in the weeds watching, sort of like stealth/ninja ducks. I keep waiting for them to pounce.

 

[lowcountrypoultry]

Opps, Ignore this. Sorry!

 

[shy]

I like Indian Runner because they are so funny to watch. Also like Khaki campbells. Had some but they all ran away or something got them while I was on vacation. boo hoo...

 

[Heather J]

I have pekin, khaki campbell, cayuga and muscovy. The Pekins are the noisiest, the muscovies are the least noisy (by a long, long margin). The other two fall in the middle. I like all four breeds, but the Khaki's lay the lost eggs (or mine would if he were not a drake. *sigh*). The muscovies will swim in the pond if you provide one, mine do, but they aren't obsessed with the water and actually swim less because they don't have as many natural body oils. they do fly, but most of the time they stay at home. I've heard they are supposed to lay three nests a year, but mine are just setting their first one. (I started out with two mating pairs, but one got hit by a truck or something a few days after we got them. I can't tell genders, but they don't fight each other, so I'm guessing 1 drake and two hens).

My pekins are the randiest creatures alive and chase the geese even, but other than the muscovies, my water birds were all raised together so they think they are the same kind of bird.

Pekins are the biggest of the ducks--good table ducks, I guess, if I were inclined to eat them, but that cuts down on predator issues somewhat, since a hawk isn't abut to carry one off.

Anyway, that's my experience.

I'd love to try some other breeds, but I would have to have a separate night time pen for them since my geese don't like any ducks they weren't raised with. My Muscovies sleep in the chicken run once I lock the girls up for the night.

 

[Southerngirl]

I have raised Pekins in the past and they are NOISY!!! We have some black cayugas from Cackle we ordered this past spring. They are 4 1/2 months old and are beautiful! They are not overly noisy and the main time they start quacking is when they see me because they know its feeding time !! Cayugas are an excellent choice.