HELP!! My Neighbours have complained twice now!

[CALLDUCKS29]

HI Everyone, Im running out of Ideas and getting desperate any suggestions would help.

I have 2 Drakes and 7 Duck Calls.

One female in particular is constantly quacking from when I let her out on and off all morning and various outburst during the afternoon and evening. Its not really a quack its literally like high pitched screeching.

In the duck house they have a very larger 2 metre long pond which is 2ft deep various dry areas and a big coop which has two levels with ramps inside which when I let them out in a morning the come up through a hatch at the top and have some upper decking levels to sit higher up if they want to during the day which some do and some don't.

There Food Hopper is always full and in a morning they get fed Kale, Peas and Mealworms, They get these everyday at the same time of day so they know when to expect it and I take the food out with me when I go to let them out.

Going back to my noisy duck who is screeching, Everytime she does it I run out and stop her but within 5 minutes she's doing it again, Im like a Yo-Yo up and down all morning, I love her to bits but Im just so stressed and on edge all of the time and feel like a prisoner in my own home as I'm afraid of going out incase she kicks off and won't stop.

The neighbour complained about some quacking about 6 months ago but that was when my ducklings were very young and only just gone outside, the ducks settled down all bar one.

Is there any way I can stop her from quacking?

If I can then I hate to say it but she's going to have to be rehomed which isn't what I want but I equally don't want my neighbours to complain to the council and then get told by the council I can keep any females.

I feel like my hands are tied. Wish I could just get rid of the neighbours! Haha.

PLEASE HELP !!!!

Lauren from UK

 

[Miss Lydia]

HI Everyone, Im running out of Ideas and getting desperate any suggestions would help.

I have 2 Drakes and 7 Duck Calls.

One female in particular is constantly quacking from when I let her out on and off all morning and various outburst during the afternoon and evening. Its not really a quack its literally like high pitched screeching.

In the duck house they have a very larger 2 metre long pond which is 2ft deep various dry areas and a big coop which has two levels with ramps inside which when I let them out in a morning the come up through a hatch at the top and have some upper decking levels to sit higher up if they want to during the day which some do and some don't.

There Food Hopper is always full and in a morning they get fed Kale, Peas and Mealworms, They get these everyday at the same time of day so they know when to expect it and I take the food out with me when I go to let them out.

Going back to my noisy duck who is screeching, Everytime she does it I run out and stop her but within 5 minutes she's doing it again, Im like a Yo-Yo up and down all morning, I love her to bits but Im just so stressed and on edge all of the time and feel like a prisoner in my own home as I'm afraid of going out incase she kicks off and won't stop.

The neighbour complained about some quacking about 6 months ago but that was when my ducklings were very young and only just gone outside, the ducks settled down all bar one.

Is there any way I can stop her from quacking?

If I can then I hate to say it but she's going to have to be rehomed which isn't what I want but I equally don't want my neighbours to complain to the council and then get told by the council I can keep any females.

I feel like my hands are tied. Wish I could just get rid of the neighbours! Haha.

PLEASE HELP !!!!

Lauren from UK

I don't have calls or ducks that quack[Muscovy but there are a few call duck owners on here @Lacrystol being one
@Amykins being another maybe they will have some tips on what to do.
Just thought of another call owner @RavynFallen

 

[Ravynscroft]

Yes, Miss Lydia, I sure do have Calls, lol...

Lauren,

I'm sorry to say, but Calls were bred specifically for that 'joker laugh' you are describing... sounds like she is either your Alpha female or the guard female... she will continue to sound off anytime she feels the need or want to... you could rehome her, but I have a feeling another will just fill her role... this is what Calls do... they can be very noisy at any point in time, there really isn't a way to 'just keep them quiet'...

If you aren't allowed noisy animals, you may need to rethink the breed you are keeping, maybe Muscovy like Miss Lydia has?

I am not saying this to be mean, just trying to be realistic... maybe others have different advice, but I don't see a way to stop something that is as natural as swimming is to a duck...

I hope you can get this resolved and I really wish you luck!

 

[WVduckchick]

I dont have Calls, but as Ravyn says, that's their nature and I expect she is right that another would likely take her place.

You could try rehoming and see what happens... It sounds like you have an awesome setup though! How long have you had them, and what's your long-term goal? I mean, do you want more in the future? I'm just thinking you might be fighting a losing battle.

Best of luck!

 

[Amykins]

Unfortunately, Ravyn is correct - even if you gave up your precious alpha girl, another will simply take her place. Not gonna lie, I'm kinda mad at your neighbor. I love the sounds my birds make! But yes, calls were bred over a very, VERY long time specifically to make that high-pitched sound. My Bean does "Joker duck" all the time, and if she feels threatened she'll sound the alarm, a very high-pitched and shrill "MAAAAAHP!.....MAAAAHP!.....MAAAAHP!" until I come running and she feels safe again (they live indoors so "safe" in this case means realizing she isn't lost even though she's only ten feet away in the next room, silly moo).

There's no chance your neighbor's complaints could ever result in your birds being taken away...could there? I mean, I really don't want them to have to be re-homed 'cuz like VW says, it sounds like they have the life there with you! Great home, an awesome owner, kale, peas, mealworms? Sounds like ducky bliss!

 

[CALLDUCKS29]

Thanks for the advice so far.

I have had call ducks for 10 years.

Initially I just had a pair of white call ducks.

For 8 years I had just the pair and the female never really quacked, she did once in a blue moon but that was all.

Then unfortunately the female died and I got 2 more Females

When I bought my females The breeder I bought them off told me not to worry about eggs turning into ducklings as apparently my male was too old being 8 years old. Ha Ha.

When these females started laying I thought well if the eggs aren't going to turn into ducklings I will just let them carry out their natural behaviour for a few weeks and sit on the eggs.

After a few weeks I went in and what I thought was a dead rat was two dead ducklings. , Then saw a few more ducklings pipping their way out of the eggs. At this point I set up an incubator that I had from years ago and put the others in the incubator as I was going to just let them die that would be cruel.

So 9 ducklings came along.

When they were about 6 weeks old they went outside in the day and I brought them in at night for about a week but then I had no choice but to leave them outside 24/7 as I was going on a mammoth holiday to USA for 4.5 weeks and an old lady was coming feeding them for me.

When I went away they couldn't quack, they could when I got back I found out first hand off the neighbour, They had been quacking every morning for 2 weeks of the time I was away everyday at 4am.

They were left to their own devices as they are in a secure compound with no chance of nothing getting in and no chance of anything getting out.

When I was told this we immediately build them a duck house and agreed to put them to bed at night and let them out a 9am.

This solved the night time problem pretty much straight away.

I had to rehome 3 males in August as my male to female ratio was totally wrong and I didn't want them fighting.

I now have 9. 2 Male and 7 Female.

I only dare rehome 1 at most otherwise the ratio would be wrong.

And after spending £175 GBP on one of my males when he got his manhood injured I don't want to get rid of him and I don't want to get rid of my male that has been here going on for 10 years now.

All I want is to keep my current ducks I don't want any more or any less and certainly won't be breeding from them.

Since I ended up with 6 more ducks I have spent £1000 GBP on expanding their duck house and making things more fun for them.

Thanks

Lauren from UK

 

[CALLDUCKS29]

To Add to my last post here are some photos of the duck house which I have spent a lot of money on and me and my partner have spent hours and hours expanding.

The duck in the middle of the photo is the culprit (Alpha Duck) She is a Blue Fawn Call. )

 

[pattyhen]

You have a beautiful sit up for your ducks and they are gorgeous. I'm sorry for the problem you are having. Is there anyway to put up a fence between you and your neighbor? That might block some of the noise. You might even talk to your neighbor and tell her you are trying your best to keep your ducks quiet. To bad you can't get your neighbor to see how cute they are and get a couple of her own. I hope things work out for the best for you.

Patty

 

[revans2003]

Unfortunately, Ravyn is correct - even if you gave up your precious alpha girl, another will simply take her place. Not gonna lie, I'm kinda mad at your neighbor. I love the sounds my birds make! But yes, calls were bred over a very, VERY long time specifically to make that high-pitched sound. My Bean does "Joker duck" all the time, and if she feels threatened she'll sound the alarm, a very high-pitched and shrill "MAAAAAHP!.....MAAAAHP!.....MAAAAHP!" until I come running and she feels safe again (they live indoors so "safe" in this case means realizing she isn't lost even though she's only ten feet away in the next room, silly moo). 

There's no chance your neighbor's complaints could ever result in your birds being taken away...could there? I mean, I really don't want them to have to be re-homed 'cuz like VW says, it sounds like they have the life there with you! Great home, an awesome owner, kale, peas, mealworms? Sounds like ducky bliss!

Depending where calldicks29 lives there is definitely a chance they can be taken away. If the ducks are housed in a residential area then the city and/or county may have ordinances on livestock and will definitely have ordinances on noise complaints. This is something I have to be very careful with.

That said, if there are no ordinances then maybe you can work with the neighbor or put up a fence with ivy to help block the sound?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Depending where calldicks29 lives there is definitely a chance they can be taken away. If the ducks are housed in a residential area then the city and/or county may have ordinances on livestock and will definitely have ordinances on noise complaints. This is something I have to be very careful with.

That said, if there are no ordinances then maybe you can work with the neighbor or put up a fence with ivy to help block the sound?

Giving fresh eggs maybe an insentive too. who doesn't like fresh eggs.

Your lil ducks are so cute @CALLDUCKS29