Cleanest Duck Breed (Is There Such a Thing?)

[Nocila]

So I'm hoping to get some ducks in the near future, and am trying to figure out what breeds would be good for me...

I love the faces of the muscovies, and the runners are absolutely adorable, but I plan to keep the ducks with my chickens, so it would be nice if I could avoid a total mess. I only plan on getting two or three ducks at most, but I was wondering if anyone who had experience with different ducks knew of a breed that seemed to make smaller messes...

The four things I'm looking for in ducks:

1. Cleaner. From what I hear, ducks are notoriously messy, so if I can, I'd like to avoid the messiest breeds...

2. Soft feathers. I've pet a couple of ducks, and they've always felt so soft, which is part of the reason why I want to get ducks. If the breed has soft feathers, it's a definite plus!

3. Something odd about their appearance is always a plus (Muscovies have the red faces, and runners stand up straight. My favorite chickens include araucanas, who have no tails, and modern game bantams, who look like raptor-birds... I'd like ducks that fit in with my misfit chickens)

4. Nice temperament. I love my chickens, so I want to know that any ducks I put in with them won't cause my birds too much trouble.

Any tips on what breeds would best fit my coop? Thank you very much for your time!

 

[subhanalah]

A quacking drake with Muscovy hens. They would produce mules. The boys are sterile and good for eating. The girls are called hinnies and lay infertile eggs.

 

[Nocila]

I'd actually kind of like to be able to breed my birds... I've been working on getting hens that like to go broody so I can have a sustainable coop... Also, I don't have any need for birds that are good for meat, as we don't kill our birds, we just sell the eggs (I like muscovies for their face, not the fact that they are good for meat). Thank you very much for the suggestion, but I don't believe it will work overly well for my coop.

 

[subhanalah]

Muscovy drakes would likely be ytoo much for your chickens to tolerate being confined together.
Quacking ducks are just that...quacking ducks, other than the drakes. Mscovies are broody.

 

[Nocila]

What about a runner duck pair/trio? Would a runner drake be too much for my chickens? Also, how messy do runners tend to be in comparison to other breeds?

The other option would be to get a pair of one breed, and a muscovy hen to hatch the eggs from the pair...

 

[subhanalah]

Runners are quite talkative (loud) I really like the welsh harlequins, they are great layers, good mothers and pretty even tempered. Not as loud as runners.

Right now I'm hatching Ancona's. They say they are quiet ducks, I'll let you know how true that is, lol.

 

[Nocila]

I don't mind talkative birds (I usually have between 1 and 5 roosters (I currently have 3), and I never hear them crowing, so I get the feeling that a talkative duck won't bother me.) I did notice that runners don't tend to go broody, which is kind of a bummer...

I was looking up duck breeds that tend to go broody, and the cayugas seemed to be broodier birds... Do you think a cayuga drake would be too big to be confined with chickens? If so, do you think I could do a runner pair with a cayuga hen or two to adopt the runner eggs? I like to blow out eggs every now and again, and I feel like the cayugas might produce some lovely eggs...

Also, sorry for asking so many questions, I've wanted ducks for years, but never been able to get them before, so I want to know that I'm getting the right kind of birds for my flock.

 

[Going Quackers]

Mixing with chickens is the tricky part, yes people do i am not one of those people lol My chickens do free range with the ducks but live separate, drakes are known for getting a bit to lovely with chicken hens and chickens peck catching ducks eyes.

As well ducks mess up water like you wouldn't believe, the term waterfowl is beyond appropriate. Chickens don't take fondly to mucked up, dirty water.

As for cleanest duck? yeah, plastic.

I keep calls cannot get any smaller.. they are just as messy as the big ones... they need water to swim/bathe and eat and that creates the mud and slop, ways to reduce it? for sure but they will never be as "clean" as chickens are... basically tradeoffs.

As for breeds? if you want broody scovies win that prize, annoyingly so truthfully, i own quite a few..... girls are pretty quiet, drakes only hiss. They do fly though and well, plus are roosting ducks so that bench you had? yep it's gone to the ducks.

 

[Nocila]

Thanks for the thoughts, I had heard that call ducks tend to be cleaner (or so an ad on craigslist claimed), so it's good to know that that isn't true.

I've been trying to get birds that go broody frequently, as my main brooder is about 3 or 4, and I want to have more on hand for when she stops going broody, or in case something should happen to her. I got an asil two years ago, and she seems to be pretty protective, but she hasn't actually hatched any chicks yet, so I have no idea as to whether she'd be a good mother (I'm a little worried that she'll attack my other birds for just existing near her babies... In all honesty, she's been off the nest so much, I was certain she'd killed them, but they're still growing, so I guess we'll see on hatching day :/) I'm trying to start raising araucanas, so I want to have a fairly steady stream of broodies to put the araucana eggs under, so I don't have to buy more, and I figured ducks would be a good way to go, as chickens, no matter what breed they are, tend to be a hit or a miss (plus, a broody duck can take more eggs!)

I've got a few ponds in the yard, so I figure that I can probably let the ducks out a couple of times a day to let them take a nice long swim, and the main pond has fish and frogs, so it's okay if that one gets a bit muddy, as it already has algae.

Looking at weights of birds, Runner and Mallard drakes seem to weigh less than the average rooster, so, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like they'd be less likely to hurt my hens... right?

If I do get ducks, would a runner pair and a cayuga or muscovy female be the best option for my chickens?

 

[laughingdog]

You'd be better off just having separate pens for your ducks, down hillfrom your chickens. muscovy will be what you are thinking would be good with your chooks. they are better all around average than all mallard ducks. unique as have raising crests, walk like an Egyptian lol, eat poop of other birds and bugs mallard brerds and chooks won't that they attract, only need gallon waterers to put whole heads in to wash selves in, not whole bodies all time like mallards should have always.
next of mallards you'd want runners or cayugas, but cayugas can be bullied easily, and killed even left broody with chickens attacking. runners may do ok, but even more fragile though faster than cayugas.

my scovy take care of selves really well eating every thing up to med rats etc. chickens that can and do attack are grabbed by head and neck and bashed against ground or tossed away till chickens seem to stop wanting to attack and stay out of way. otherwise scovy are friendly easy to handle and can raise thirty eggs set under to adult poultry. any birds like scovy that can and have taken after a BOP through air, or would and have attacked weasel and dogs to defend young until my dogs got there,have my respect.
Scovy roost, not just laying in filth of selves and other birds..