Ducks or chickens (repost from "Managing your flock" section).

[GardenerMoon]

Hi I'm a new poster to BYC (though a long-term stalker of the forums) and first of all would like to say hi!

Anyway, I'm considering adding some poultry to my garden to go along with the vegetable and fruit patch I have started this year. However I am having difficulty choosing between chickens and ducks, what would you suggest? I think that this has been heavily debated in the past but I'd still like to hear from you all So far these are the things I like in each:

Ducks:
- I can have males and females in our semi-urban setting, which means babies
- Good layers
- Can eat garden pests such as slugs (do chickens eat slugs and snails?)

Chickens:
- Many coloured eggs and pretty breeds!
- Seem to be simpler in care?
- I have heard they are less messy?

One thing I am struggling to get info on is noise levels, would you say duck breeds such as welsh harlequin, khaki campbell and runners are any quieter/louder than laying hens? I don't want to upset my neighbours so this is a quite important factor.Thanks for any help!

 

[cosbackyard]

You've got a pretty good list of pros and cons there.
Chickens will also till your garden after the harvest with their claws and mow down any leftover plants. A nice benefit for a garden.

My campbells haven't been too noisy in the past, but they will walk around quacking quite a bit. My current young ones make a whole lot of noise. Loud quacking as soon as the sun comes up and any time they want something. I'm hoping they tone it down a bit or I may have a problem.

 

[GardenerMoon]

You've got a pretty good list of pros and cons there.
Chickens will also till your garden after the harvest with their claws and mow down any leftover plants. A nice benefit for a garden.

My campbells haven't been too noisy in the past, but they will walk around quacking quite a bit. My current young ones make a whole lot of noise. Loud quacking as soon as the sun comes up and any time they want something. I'm hoping they tone it down a bit or I may have a problem.

Okay thank you so much! Would you say the ducks are louder than the chickens? That's the one thing I'm really worried about.