Best ducks for pets?

[ducksupernewbie]

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.

We original were going to get pekin, but everything I read, is about them being more vocal than other ducks, so defo a rethink on those. We were thinking that we could try out different ducks, and if some are not working, we can always eat it, and try another, but saying it, and doing it are two different things! lol

 

[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!

 

[Amykins]

My Wobbles nips, but it's not out of malice. She literally is trying to groom my face and hands just as she does with her own feathers. Silly thing.

 

[smonkeySK]

My Wobbles nips, but it's not out of malice. She literally is trying to groom my face and hands just as she does with her own feathers. Silly thing.

My girl Crispy is the same; she preens my beard and has taught her babiest to do the same
Of course she's a wild bird so she does have a nasty food possessive streak - but she'll only ever savage my hands, and then only when we're digging as she thinks I'm stealing her worms!

Stick your face in front of her while she is in that mood and she makes a soft cooing, preens the beard and settles back down!

Gotta love ducks

 

[1243]

Are call ducks sweet? I really like them,but someone told me they are like the chuiauas of the duck world

 

[Amykins]

Are call ducks sweet? I really like them,but someone told me they are like the chuiauas of the duck world

Well...they ARE small and noisy, hehe! But trust me, they're one of the sweetest, friendliest ducks in the world. Wobbles is as attached to me as any dog I've ever owned, and is just as affectionate. They're more like bulldogs than chihuahuas, in that their original purpose became outlawed so breeders swapped focus and began breeding purely for personality and cute factor. And they succeeded!

 

[Richb353]

Welcome,
Love me some Cayugas and Welsh:

Seeing that you are not going to eat the ducks, maybe consider rare breed endangered ducks. You can find a list of endangered ducks at The Livestock Conservancy
Also, check out the Duck Comparison Chart at the Metzer Farms website for information on how active or docile each breed is.
Both the Cayuga and Welsh Harlequin breeds are endangered and some of the calmest birds Metzer sells. From personal observation, I get a loud "quack" at random, but most of the time the flock just seems to be chatting among themselves.
Enjoy,
Rich

 

[1243]

What about. Khaki Campbell's. I was considering them

 

[Amykins]

What about. Khaki Campbell's. I was considering them

I'm afraid I'm no help there, the only ducks I have direct experience with are mallards, calls and runners. Any Khaki owners who can speak for their fundamental friend dependability? (50 bonus points for whomever gets that reference!)