Favorite duck breed and why?

[KenjiQuacker]

Hello! I'm getting ducks soon, and I was wondering what your favorite ducks were, and the reasons you like them. You can post pictures of your ducks too if you want! (this is kinda just a thread for talking about your ducks lol).

and if you want to help me figure out a breed that fits this description that would be nice, but you can just share your favorite breed if you'd like . I'm looking for a friendly / easy to tame breed that will eat slugs in my moms garden and lay lots of eggs. If you guys have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

 

[Quatie]

I have several different breeds. I have welsh harlequin, pekin, khaki campbell, saxony, swedish, and muscovy. I am currently raising cayuga and runner ducklings. I really enjoy the variety. It is hard to pick a favorite since they all have wonderful aspects.

I have enjoyed all my different breeds. The only one I would never get again would be my pekin. While she is a wonderful character, they have too many leg issues. I have lost two Pekins to leg injuries.

I really enjoy my swedish, and they have a very curious personality, good foragers and calm ducks. My cayuga ducklings seem pretty similar but a bit more social.

My saxony have been another favorite, because they are my more social breed and very chill relaxed ducks.

My muscovy are another favorite. They are just such sweet little characters. They don't quack, but they do fly. They are very broody and good mothers. They don't lay that many eggs.

My welsh have been the most skiddish, but can still be sweet.

My khaki campbell are the most high energy ducks I have and have lots of character. My smallest duck is a khaki, and she is one of my dominate duck. They are fearless.

 

[fatty and friends]

friendliness depends on how you raise them and not based on what breed lol

both my khakis love to dig around for bugs so khaki campbell might be good, this is my khaki hen, scout (i don’t eat their eggs and give them away but i think khaki are one of the best laying breeds)

 

[SolarDuck]

Thanks for the info! Do you have any tips on how to raise them to be really friendly?

Ducks are so awesome and there's just so many to choose from! My mom only wants 2 ducks, so I think the easiest way to do that is to get a couple of the same breed. I wish I could just get all the duck breeds though

May I suggest 3 instead of 2? 2 do fine together, but in an unfortunate situation if something bad happened it would leave you struggling to try and quickly find another duck nearby, and that can be difficult.

 

[Percipen]

My favorite are my runners. They're quiet, very sweet and theyre the goofballs of the flock. Theres never a dull moment with them. Another thing I like about them is that they come in so many colors and patterns. We have a pair of blues, 2 fawn and white hens and we are getting some lavenders when the weather warms up over here

 

[EverythingDucks]

Welsh Harlequins! Quite friendly, will eat slugs, and they lay tons of eggs! Plus they're really pretty

 

[KaleIAm]

I would agree that a duck's personality is largely influenced by how you raise and treat them, as well as by their other life experiences and their flock members. Plus, each duck is an individual, just like people are. For example @Quatie has a fearless dominant khaki. Where my khaki campbell was more shy and reserved, letting all the other ducks boss her around and eat first. And my welsh harlequin is my bravest! My crested pekin is awesome, however her health issues have dug me into an early grave with worry and cost me a fortune in veterinary expenses - so I'm not sure I can recommend that breed. I also had a cayuga before and she was delightful, too. I guess I enjoy having a variety!

 

[3bird]

I'm looking for a friendly / easy to tame breed that will eat slugs in my moms garden and lay lots of eggs. If you guys have any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

It sounds like you are describing silver Appleyards! We keep a small flock of silver Appleyard ducks, and they are very much part of our garden plan. They have devoured our slug and snail populations, and their bedding/manure is great for our raised beds. We get, on average, 250 eggs per year per hen. Ours are remarkably friendly (perhaps even adorable little beggars at times), and they come when called. They are a large breed duck.

 

[KaleIAm]

It sounds like you are describing silver Appleyards! We keep a small flock of silver Appleyard ducks, and they are very much part of our garden plan. They have devoured our slug and snail populations, and their bedding/manure is great for our raised beds. We get, on average, 250 eggs per year per hen. Ours are remarkably friendly (perhaps even adorable little beggars at times), and they come when called. They are a large breed duck.

Your ducks are just like mine in the videos! The slug eating (even the, oh no don't eat another you are still choking on the first!), the gardening, going on walks, and being excited to play! I just love your ducklings!

My pekin is not a great forager... Lol. She's quite lazy and wants me to hand feed her. Which is really quite charming as well.

 

[KenjiQuacker]

Hello! Just decided on some welsh harlequin runner duck cross ducklings nearby. Thanks for all the help!