Cayuga Ducks in the big city

[Pomi]

Hello,
I am looking to buy a few ducks or ducklings this weekend. I'm really hoping for Black Cayugas and I was wondering if anyone else has these birds in a urban setting and if they could shed a little light on there personalities. I have read everything that I can find about them but would love to hear from someone with them in there yard.

 

[ChicagoDucks]

Hello,
I am looking to buy a few ducks or ducklings this weekend. I'm really hoping for Black Cayugas and I was wondering if anyone else has these birds in a urban setting and if they could shed a little light on there personalities. I have read everything that I can find about them but would love to hear from someone with them in there yard.

Welcome to the forum!!! You are going to enjoy having ducks. My family keeps ducks in Chicago. Our flock used to include some Cayugas and they are very pretty ducks. I have heard others say that Cayugas are a quiet breed, but I haven't really found them to be any quieter than my Campbells.

Muscovies are very quiet ducks (they can't quack), but they're not known as great egg layers. Campbells are great layers and foragers, but perhaps a little skittish. Pekins have a reputation for being loud. Call ducks are bred to be noisy, and mallards may fly out of your yard.

All ducks are messier than chickens, and they are happiest with a place to splash and swim, so if your yard is really small you may have a challenge keeping up with the mess. For us, we have a yard that is around 300 square meters (3200 sq. ft), and we've found that 6 or 7 ducks is all we can easily accommodate.

In my opinion, quacking is one of those things that is more individual than breed specific (if you are concerned about noise in an urban area). And I think that there is a lot you can do to raise a duck to be quieter and calmer (because a happy duck is a quiet duck!). Be warned though, that ducks seem to go through a loud phase when they are around 12 weeks of age.

If sharing duck eggs doesn't help your neighbors to get past the occasional bout of quacking, a bottle of homemade wine just might do the trick.

Best of luck with your new flock!