Help me pick the right duck

[PolloAdoro]

I am looking for a few decently friendly ducks that I can keep along side with my chickens who are good foragers and great egg layers, what do you reccommend? I was thinking Khaki Campbell, but am open to all opinions. I free range on 2 1/2 acres of Conifers and Pine trees ( and a few aspens) what would camoflauge(sp/) well for that?

 

[Bleenie]

Do you have close neighbors? That could be a deciding factor since duck hens can be quite mouthy!

I will almost always reccomend Muscovies because of their sweet disposition & quietness. mine are excellent layers & still laying in this chilly winter weather. I do know that not all are as good as mine though.

Khakis are great layers but i am not sure on their friendliness... I only had a few as ducklings and they were pretty flighty, even with daily handling. I hope someone comes along that can give you more info on Khakis!

 

[FenDruadin]

Personally, I'm not crazy about khakis. I think they're boring, flighty, and low on personality. But a good strain can produce lots of eggs.

I like my Runners, but they are not friendly either. Just funny.

Other choices for great laying and reasonably calm personalities are Welsh Harlequins (lots of fans here--I've never had them), anconas, and magpies. My magpies are WAY calmer than the Runners--I think they just are too fat to run away, lol.

How you raise the babies has a HUGE impact on how friendly they end up. Handle them a lot, and feed them out of your hands several times a day, and you'll have ducks who are always glad to see you. Also, raise them in small batches--two or three is ideal for friendly ducks, but five or six can still be handled a lot too. Larger batches tend to become more attached to each other and not as friendly.

 

[6chicks&aduck]

Muscovies are def the friendliest ,esp if you hatch them in an incubator

 

[stoo]

I've only had two kinds of ducks. Rouen and Pekin. Between those two I would choose Pekin because they are friendly and excellent egg layers. I've heard they don't live very long though due to their weight and their legs go in time. I've heard 5 years is good for a Pekin (makes me very sad). My Pekins are excellent with my chickens too.

 

[katharinad]

I have Saxony ducks and they are quite winter hardy. They are large and produce a lot of eggs (190-240 per year). They are also very large, which is good when you have dogs etc. I live in high elevation with poderosa pine and aspen trees. My property turns yellow in summer due to lack of rain water and they blend in well. Even in winter they blend in well.

 

[FenDruadin]

Oops--I missed the bit about needing camouflage. Anything with a lot of white would probably not be good--so cross magpies and anconas off the list. Welsh harlequin would probably be good--they've got a nice broken pattern that should camouflage well.

 

[katharinad]

I agree on the camouflage thing, but you have to put it into perspective. Beige tones and even white/black will work in dry or high dessert climates. Perhaps not so well in lush green pastures. The best protection is to have shrubs around, so they can get underneath it.

 

[FenDruadin]

Oh, and don't forget that you can't rely on camouflage to protect them. That's asking for trouble. They'll still need a predator-proof enclosure at night and good fencing during the day if you have daytime predators.

 

[PolloAdoro]

Yes, they will have a duck palace that is predator proof at night, a "watch dog" during daytime free ranging. My neighbors aren't very close- but I defenitly dont want obnoxious loudness either I only want about 4 of them. Thanks for all the reccomendations. I do want to hatch these, so please spam me with reputable breeders I can purchase eggs from. Thanks.