Friendliest Duck?

[NewToQuail]

I'm looking into getting some ducklings next year (it seems to be a bit too late to get them this year and I need to see how I do just caring for my quail). I want them solely as pets, although of course the eggs would be useful for my family (I don't really eat eggs).

What kind of duck is the best in a pet situation? I imagine a lot has to do with how your raise them (I sort of messed up with my buttons and didn't handle them enough so they're especially skittish).

I only plan to keep 3 or 4, if that makes a difference.

 

[Sweetfolly]

As long as you handle them from the start so they're not skittish, I think any of the domestic breeds make great pets. I've seen people here on the BYC forum who claim Mallards are naturally skittish and suspicious of people, but my Mallards are the friendliest, calmest ducks I own.

A lot of people like to keep the heavy breeds (Pekin, Rouen, Swedish etc) as pets because they're supposed to be more calm and quiet than some of the smaller, more active breeds - but I have a Pekin and she's a noisy, unfriendly, broody beast.

Personally, I think the Dutch Hookbill is the calmest breed - and my absolute favorite breed

I did an experiment with my latest batch of ducklings - one at a time, I picked up and held a Hookbill, a Runner, and a Campbell to see who was calmest. The Campbell absolutely freaked out - they're very high strung. The Runner wriggled around a lot, but didn't make much noise - they're energetic little things. The Hookbill sat calm, still, and quiet in my hand, looking around at the surroundings. When the dog walked up to me and tried to sniff the duckling, it hid it's head under my thumb - they're very easygoing and trusting.

Also, I've heard good things about Buff ducks as pets, but I don't know much about the breed. You've got to keep in mind that, here on the forum, we're all biased towards the breed of duck we own - so if you ask us what breed is the friendliest, you're going to get a LOT of conflicting answers.

 

[Wifezilla]

I had one buff, and she was people friendly BUT...
She was obnoxious, bossy and LOUD.

I sold her to a couple who live out of town and have no close neighbors

My friendliest now are my Welsh Harlequins.

Cetawin has Anconas that are pretty friendly.

 

[CityChicker]

It all depends on so many things like how they are raised, how many there are in their group, how old they are when you get them, etc....

The friendliest breed I have ever kept is the Mini Appleyard. Why mine are so friendly, I am not sure. Maybe it is the Call blood? I don't know, but I have heard Calls can be very friendly so maybe that is it.

The next friendliest that I personally have had would be a tie between Australian Spotteds and Dutch Hookbill. My Anconas, and even some of my Runners, were great too.

The least friendly I have had so far would be Black East Indies and Welsh Harlequins. Of course, there are plenty of other people that have had the opposite experience. I am not sure why, except maybe it depends on things we have little control over like their genetic background. Who knows.

 

[Wifezilla]

It does seem like the smaller number of ducks you brood at one time, the friendlier they are.

For my Welsh Harlequins, I only had 3.

 

[pirtykitty]

One of my two cayugas will sit in my lap and eat out of my hand.. and two of the 3 Welsh Harlequins will sit in my lap and eat out of my hands.
Still working on the other two.

 

[kawonu]

We had a black swedish drake that would follow us around. He even came in the house at night and went camping at the lake with us. If you keep one by itself from very young, then it will be friendly towards you. When you add others is when they realize they are ducks.

 

[Cetawin]

I truly believe that handling them is the big key. My Anconas are sweet friendly ducks and so are my Welsh Harlequins, however, my girl WHs are stand-offish compared to the males. The males are my buddies.

Look up the various breeds you are interested in and research them...decide if you want good layers, friendly, non-flying, small, large etc etc and then just keep your groups small like 3 or 4. The larger groups tend to make them want to spend time with each other rather than human companionship. I have 11 and I believe if there were fewer they would be even more friendly.

 

[NewToQuail]

I live in a neighborhood (and not really the kind that has people keeping ducks, or even having vegetable gardens for that matter) so I really can only have a few. I'm not sure yet what the laws say, I know you can have up to 6 chickens though... But I really only want 2 ducks, perhaps 3.

Not flying is probably the most important thing, as we will probably be fencing in our yard, which would mean the ducks could just have free reign of that part during the day.

We also have a cooper's hawk that frequents the area, so I think any small ducks would be out of the question because I wouldn't want them harmed, although the hawk is fairly small.

I will read about all the species listed here. Thanks!

ETA: From a basic search, I like the Welsh Harlequins the best, especially how they look. The Mini Appleyards are also really pretty though...

Also, since egg production is not really an issue, it would not matter if I got drakes, correct? Does sex affect personality?

 

[Cetawin]

I cannot say about the sex and the personality...my Harlequin males are sweeties but my Ancona females are the sweeties in that group. One male Ancona is spoiled rotten by my daughter so he is a doll too.

The Harlequins are smaller than the Anconas but both are good layers.

In this picture all 4 of my GWH drakes are in the center together and if you look around them you will see my Anconas in front and to the Left and Right...there is a size difference.

In this one you can see one Drake between the two Anconas and see a difference in their body length and so forth

For eggs you only need females but if you get a drake, keep one drake to 2 - 4 females. If you have more drakes than that ratio you may have some bigtime fighting and your girls will be over bred...not a good thing and it is hard on them.

If you are only getting a few like three, I would pay the extra money to have them sexed and get a trio...1 drake and two females. I believe Metzger's sexes them. Wifezilla got her girls sexed, ask her about it.

With that Cooper's, I would make sure they have stuff to hide under and not leave them unattended all day. While the Cooper's would have a hard time picking up one of them and carrying it off, it can kill or seriously injure a full grown duck. Do not underestimate the little hawk.