I need help! What is a good, quiet, friendly pet duck breed?

[cas062720]

Alright.. This is my first time on this, so Im hoping I came to the right place. I need help! I buying a duck this spring. I'm going to hatch it and everything, but I don't have any idea of what breed?!?! I cannot have any flying breeds. Let me just put this out there.. I do not like muscovies. Every website said muscovies are good, but I disagree. I need a quiter breed because I don't want to bug my neighbors too much. I did some research on a cayuga, but I don't know if they are friendly enough. Any suggestions are welcome. I am completely stuck!!

 

[Americano Blue]

What size are you looking for?
Welcome to BYC

 

[veronicasmom]

Welcome to BYC.

I beg to differ about the Muscovies. They are AWESOME. I was uncomfortable with their looks initially, but as everyone said, you grow to like it. They are the most friendly, calm, quiet breed I have ever had (have 4 girls). They make adorable little noises. In the list of breeds I have owned are Blue Swedish, Mallard (LOUD), Pekin (LOUD), Runners (LOUD), Saxony cross, mallard cross, Runner cross (LOUD), Ancona. They all made noise, and a lot of it. My muscovies are so quiet, they are fearless and really funny. I, personally, don't like that I have to mix them in with my other flock of mixed ducks. They can bully them sometimes. If I could, I'd keep the Muscovies in their own area, but I can't. So I recommend keeping a small flock of them, or whatever other breed you choose. Or maybe one Scovy and two other comparably sized breeds.

And, please, don't just get one duck. I don't think that is fair, they live in flocks, they are not solitary birds. So if you get one, it will live a lonely existence. They thrive on other ducks for company.

If you are hatching, you cannot be sure of the sex. So be aware of that.

There "stickies" at the top of this forum for new duck owners, you should take a look at them, tons of good info.

Good luck!

 

[needlessjunk]

Well... Muscovies are the quietest but if noise is a big factor I would only get males. Most domestic ducks can't fly and the larger Ducks tend to be friendlier. Also friendlyness seems to be more of an individual trait. I have a super friendly runner and a welsh harlequin who shys away. Welsh harlequins are suppose to be super friendly and runners are suppose to be skittish. You also will need more than one duck as they are flock animals and need the company to be happy.

 

[TracyLovesDucks]

I'm mostly reiterating what the others have said so far:

I strongly encourage you to hatch out at least two ducks. A single duck could become sad and lonely, they are very very social creatures. Additionally, there can be complications when hatching your own eggs, resulting in loss. So you might not have very good odds with one egg. I've never hatched, this is just from what I've seen on the forum.

It seems to me that if your ducks are hand-raised and receive a lot of attention and are handled frequently (but gently!) from day 1, they will grow to be friendly and comfortable around humans and make for great pets.

As for the noise thing, I've heard that female muscovies are the only truly quiet breed because they whistle instead of quack. However, males of any breed of duck are quiet because they don't quack either, they rasp. It's the females of mallard derived breeds that quack loudly (pretty much every breed except muscovies).

 

[veronicasmom]

I should have said that drakes are quiet too, thanks to others for mentioning it. And a small drake flock can work very well if managed properly. Just no eggs!!

If you don't want flying breeds, don't get the smaller breeds. My runners can fly pretty well, as can the mallard and mallard crosses. If you clip wings, then problem solved. You can clip one or both wings to keep them on the ground.

 

[Amykins]

Wait, your runners can FLY? That shouldn't even be possible! They must be some sorta Arnold SchwartzenEGGers!

To the OP: I adore Cayugas, they're relatively quiet and they are very, very friendly! Muscovies are hands-down the quietest, and they also can be quite friendly, but they are BIG and have very large, sharp talons. If you need to wrangle one up for vet care or if one's being too stubborn to go into the duck house at night, you're in for one heck of a fight!

My vote goes for cayugas, since they're just so darn cute. All ducks will quack, but they don't seem to do it as much as others I've seen, like Appleyards, Runners, and especially Calls! Just beware the morning quack. Females will make a noise like The Joker laughing!

 

[buff goose guy]

Wait, your runners can FLY? That shouldn't even be possible! They must be some sorta Arnold SchwartzenEGGers!

To the OP: I adore Cayugas, they're relatively quiet and they are very, very friendly! Muscovies are hands-down the quietest, and they also can be quite friendly, but they are BIG and have very large, sharp talons. If you need to wrangle one up for vet care or if one's being too stubborn to go into the duck house at night, you're in for one heck of a fight!

My vote goes for cayugas, since they're just so darn cute. All ducks will quack, but they don't seem to do it as much as others I've seen, like Appleyards, Runners, and especially Calls! Just beware the morning quack. Females will make a noise like The Joker laughing!

While true males are very large they are also very tame(Most of the time ) it is the smaller females who can fly away / try to get away from going up at night.



some of our males that have been arm trained , like as in holding a hawk trained, they can perch on your arm and fly off on command.

The females are also very small compaired to the males and are about the size of a mallard with a 2 centimeter size difference between the two ( Muscovy being taller)




some of our girls ( and one boy )

 

[Blue Rooster]

You should get at least get two, ducks are group animals. You should get a couple of cayugas. They are nice and quiet and lay beautiful black eggs.

 

[cas062720]

Ok! Thanks everyone for the help. I don't mind the size. But I have another question about the flying issue... Do they come back or do you get their wings clipped or whatever. I am planning on getting a couple. I have a ton of space for them I just don't know the right breed. Thanks again