Best Duck Breed for Free Ranging?

[Florida Bullfrog]

... besides Muscovies. Feral Muscovies are a problem in Florida and neither my wife nor myself are a fan of them due to being around them a lot at public ponds and lakes (but they would otherwise fit the bill of what I’m looking for).

I have a half acre pond in my front yard that would be the contemplated home for my ducks. Depth is 15’ and some varieties of aquatic weeds are established. There is lots of vegetation for them to browse on around the pond and the wider yard. On one end of the pond is my largest chicken coop. If the ducks voluntarily roost with the chickens I will allow it, but if they don’t want to easily go to roost in the evenings I’m not going to wrangle them. All of my other poultry goes to their respective coops on their own. There are lots of trees around the pond that a tree-roosting bird could utilize.

So I’m looking for a domestic duck that will safely roost itself at night in a tree if not voluntarily go with the chickens to roost. Is there such a breed besides muscovies?

 

[Roo5]

No,I think the wood duck roosts but am not a hundred a percent.

Decent free ranging ducks besides scovies are welsh harlequins,khaki Campbell and runner ducks.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Since there are so many Muscovys why not give some a home? I love my Muscovys they are laid back forage well and roost. And it taken time with make great pets. Only draw back I see and I’ve been keeping them since 2004 is drakes are very territorial with other Muscovy drakes and the females are a broody bunch.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Muscovy ducks are generally held in very low regard in Florida. I mean no offense when I say that. Its just how it is. They are feral in many places and they make messes. My office is located by a public lake and the Muscovies there poop on our parked vehicles and all over the side-walks. I just can't bring myself to have them. Even if I got used to them, guests from my office would react to them about like me free-ranging some sort of vermin and they wouldn't want to park my yard. That's how strong people feel about Muscovies around here.

You have to remember that Florida is home to all sorts of introduced wildlife and they're all considered nuisances at best and major ecological threats at worst. Florida had wild hogs hundreds of years before anywhere else in the US, and I was raised to regard them a lot like cockroaches. I don't know how long Muscovies have been here but they're very controversial. Many state agencies quietly make efforts to eradicate them from public waterways over the objection of animal rights advocates or citizens that enjoy seeing or feeding them.

Its the traits that I'm looking for in a duck that make the Muscovies so successful here as an introduced species. They will roost in trees at night, can fly, and all around do a good job of taking care of themselves. I want those traits rolled up into something that isn't a Muscovy.

 

[Roo5]

All ducks poop like that, for that matter, all ducks are Vermont’s, no matter what bird they poop all the time, in this matter ducks may not be for you.Literally every duck I owned has been an absolute mess.Their just messy animals and doesn’t take long before their cage is a mess, and it’s just part of keeping them.

Muscovy ducks are generally held in very low regard in Florida. I mean no offense when I say that. Its just how it is. They are feral in many places and they make messes. My office is located by a public lake and the Muscovies there poop on our parked vehicles and all over the side-walks. I just can't bring myself to have them. Even if I got used to them, guests from my office would react to them about like me free-ranging some sort of vermin and they wouldn't want to park my yard. That's how strong people feel about Muscovies around here.

You have to remember that Florida is home to all sorts of introduced wildlife and they're all considered nuisances at best and major ecological threats at worst. Florida had wild hogs hundreds of years before anywhere else in the US, and I was raised to regard them a lot like cockroaches. I don't know how long Muscovies have been here but they're very controversial. Many state agencies quietly make efforts to eradicate them from public waterways over the objection of animal rights advocates or citizens that enjoy seeing or feeding them.

Its the traits that I'm looking for in a duck that make the Muscovies so successful here as an introduced species. They will roost in trees at night, can fly, and all around do a good job of taking care of themselves. I want those traits rolled up into something that isn't a Muscovy.

 

[Roo5]

Nothings dry when keeping ducks.

 

[Going Quackers]

All ducks poop like that, for that matter, all ducks are Vermont’s, no matter what bird they poop all the time, in this matter ducks may not be for you.Literally every duck I owned has been an absolute mess.Their just messy animals and doesn’t take long before their cage is a mess, and it’s just part of keeping them.

Your not wrong there. Honestly, OP i get it.. totally but what you describe is a Muscovy and their unique traits.

I have free ranged call, Pekin, buff orpington ducks and Muscovy Buff X's... The scovies are the only ones who do what your wanting. My Muscovy buff x's do somewhat but are not quite as "roost" oriented as the purebreds.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

If I can’t find something that will roost itself, I will have to possibly rule out ducks.

I’m surprised there are not domestic breeds of the various non-mallard wild ducks or domestics that are closer to wild mallards.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

Well it looks like Florida law prohibits ducks from being free ranged anyhow unless its a Muscovy or a white Pekin. Our state wildlife agency considers all mallards and domestic descendants to be wildlife under their jurisdiction. They only make exception for white Pekins and Muscovies which are of course not mallards anyhow. Their rule is that all domestic ducks descended from mallards, besides white Pekin, have to be permitted and they must be caged.

I know good and well that duck owners in Florida don't abide by that. But as where I'm a criminal prosecutor by trade I'm obligated to follow the law even when the law is silly.

What caused me to look into that was a prohibition on a hatchery website against shipping mallards to Florida.