Best ducks for pets?

[ducksupernewbie]

We are getting three ducks and trying to do all our research now. We are moving to the suburbs. While we have no neighbors to either side of us, there are two houses across the street, we also have a small son. We'd love eggs, but we're not going to eat the ducks.

Can anyone suggest what they would consider the best fit for this situation?

Thanks.

 

[willowbirdks]

I'm not Mighty Ducks, but it sounds like we are in a similar living situation... We are in the suburbs with our house situated in such a way that the closer neighbors are across the street. We live just off a major state route that is extremely busy, especially in the summer. Having birds that didn't wander onto that road was a major concern.

So far Anconas and Magpies have been a great fit at my home. They have not ever tried to leave our yard, though they do enjoy roaming through the whole lot. We have .8 of an acre total. They are very adjusted to the daily routine and have been known to put themselves to bed at night if I don't make it out at the regular lockup time. They really are great at foraging and clearly enjoy it!

My ducks are louder than my friend's chickens, but they are not bothersome in terms of noise level. They don't seem to be overly loud or loud for no reason. The females do talk and chit chat, girl ducks being louder than boys in general. And they express their opinion to me if they want to be out of the run andI'm not making that happen! The neighbors are not hearing them, though. And there are times when we actually have to look around the yard to find them, because they aren't talking constantly. They're just social and also keeping everyone aware of what is happening.

 

[Duck Drover]

I love my Australian Spotted ducks and out of all the ducks I have raised they have the most personality. Any hen will make some noise but the Pekin hen noise is driving me crazy! I have someone coming for my last 8 hens and I will not raise Pekins again. I remember why I did not like them years ago but I ended up with a sweet hen so I gave them another try. I found a nice drake for the hen but I decided to sell them too because the Pekins eat leaves off my trees, which the Australian Spotted ducks leave alone. Having one Pekin hen might not be so bad but a group of them honk at each other too much for me.


I also have Calls and when they are quiet they are nice to look at but they do get loud if something upsets them. I am still debating whether or not to keep them. I have had Indian Runner ducks in the past and the breed seems hyper to me. I thought it was just mine but I have seen other flocks running around like crazy everywhere in one big group so I suspect it is the breed. I actually love Muscovy ducks but they are large for a backyard. I had mine on 40 acres and they survived when I had coyotes close by that came into my yard at times. Because I also raised wolves at the time, the coyotes kept their distance from the house and the ducks hung out under the trampoline.

There are many nice breeds of duck so you could even try a mixed flock if you are just eating the eggs and not hatching them. The best way to know what you like is to try different things and see what is best for you and your living situation.

 

[willowbirdks]

I have one 6yo son who is around the ducks often. We have never had an issue with biting or aggression. That said, the ducks are still fairly young (~5 months) and the drakes just recently reached sexual maturity. Even so, I do not anticipate any issues based on their personalities and behavior. They are not quite as tame as I might have hoped, but that is because we have not worked with them as hard as we could have. They are interested in what we are doing, but usually like to keep a bit of a distance... Except at dinner time, when they come beg to see if we will toss cucumber ends, etc off the deck!

But in general we have no concern about our son being around the ducks, and have never seen any issues at all. Obviously as in all animals, you can get individuals who are aggressive or cause issues. And we are new to ducks as of April, but we have been very, very happy with our Anconas so far. Just waiting for that first egg!!

 

[MightyDucksVT]

Thanks everyone for all the help!!

MightyducksVT, are the Anconas noisy? we seem to be in a similar situation, in regard to neighbors and a busy road etc.

I'm not Mighty Ducks, but it sounds like we are in a similar living situation... We are in the suburbs with our house situated in such a way that the closer neighbors are across the street. We live just off a major state route that is extremely busy, especially in the summer. Having birds that didn't wander onto that road was a major concern.

So far Anconas and Magpies have been a great fit at my home. They have not ever tried to leave our yard, though they do enjoy roaming through the whole lot. We have .8 of an acre total. They are very adjusted to the daily routine and have been known to put themselves to bed at night if I don't make it out at the regular lockup time. They really are great at foraging and clearly enjoy it!

My ducks are louder than my friend's chickens, but they are not bothersome in terms of noise level. They don't seem to be overly loud or loud for no reason. The females do talk and chit chat, girl ducks being louder than boys in general. And they express their opinion to me if they want to be out of the run andI'm not making that happen! The neighbors are not hearing them, though. And there are times when we actually have to look around the yard to find them, because they aren't talking constantly. They're just social and also keeping everyone aware of what is happening.

That's awesome and sound like a great fit! How are they around kids? obviously, I know kids can be little jerks, so we'd probably have to watch the kids more than the ducks. But is biting etc a problem?

I have one 6yo son who is around the ducks often. We have never had an issue with biting or aggression. That said, the ducks are still fairly young (~5 months) and the drakes just recently reached sexual maturity. Even so, I do not anticipate any issues based on their personalities and behavior. They are not quite as tame as I might have hoped, but that is because we have not worked with them as hard as we could have. They are interested in what we are doing, but usually like to keep a bit of a distance... Except at dinner time, when they come beg to see if we will toss cucumber ends, etc off the deck!

But in general we have no concern about our son being around the ducks, and have never seen any issues at all. Obviously as in all animals, you can get individuals who are aggressive or cause issues. And we are new to ducks as of April, but we have been very, very happy with our Anconas so far. Just waiting for that first egg!!

Thank you willowbirdks for answering for me! I after I posted I had so much going on I completely forgot to check for responses.

Willowbirdks is totally right about Anconas and Magpies (a close relative) and I have experience the same behaviors with my ducks that are same age its so I couldn't agree more. Mine do get a bit noisy in the morning before I let them out but just as mentioned they usually are not very noisy unless they want something or are in danger. They also roam on our property and the only time they ever went fully in the road the poor guys were being stocked by a fox! Scared the poor ducks to death and it did manage to get one of my girls.

However, without something crazy like that happening they are very content foraging and playing in the pool. Before I build my duck den I would leave the porch light on, and once nightfall hit they would all be gather under it ready to come in. I would just need to open the door and they would hop in! I have also never had any issue with them and children; I had my nephews and friends children hold them as ducklings and I handled them often as they grew. They don't "bite" and they generally keep their distance when strangers are around. They will eat out of my hands and that is the only time I would say they do any nipping. I love this breed and will hopefully be breeding them next year!

 

[SamSimone]

Hello!

I've got a Indian runner duck, they look quite funny but they are really sweet.
They are a handfull when they are in puberty like mine is right now.
But other than that he listens quite good and loves to cuddle.
Hope this helps

 

[CityFarmer202]

Pekins!!! They are a little bigger than most ducks, and are so friendly. Of my 6 ducks (a pair a rouens, 2 cayuga hens, a khaki campbell hen, and a pekin drake) the pekin was the funnest and friendliest He was really quiet, being a boy, but i have heard the females are one of the loudest ducks. They also are not the most prolific layers. My second choice would be cayugas. They are really quiet and pretty friendly. They lay more than the pekin too. Hope this helps

 

[Amykins]

TOTALLY recommend call ducks for pets. They're bred to be cute and especially affectionate. If you can tolerate the noise level, I think they're the way to go!

 

[MightyDucksVT]

Anconas! They are not as small as Calls but not overly big like Pekins. They are great foragers, so if given area to roam they will need less feed and take care of all your slugs/bugs. They are also excellent egg layers. To quote Dave Holderread of the Duck Preservation Center, "They make excellent pond or yard ducks since they tend to stay close to home, do not fly under normal conditions and are large enough so that they are less likely to be preyed upon by winged predators. Typically they have moderately calm temperaments and make fine pets." I have a house and live on a relatively busy street with neighbors, they stay in the yard and people walking by love to look at them. They are the breed I chose to incubate and raise underfoot and I wouldn't have it any other way!


(Some of my Ancona flock plus Rupert the Rouen!)

 

[BantamLover55]

I like Call ducks. They are noisy, but they look just like a stuffed animal and they are very friendly. They are also small and don't take up much space.