I LOVE runner ducks! Currently, I have six females and two drakes who eat a commercial feed designed for ducks. In the winter, they get a little scratch as a treat only. Summer treats are usually refrigerated grapes and frozen peas; in the fall, they devour broken-open pumpkins.
My runners are not nearly as loud as my Iowa Blue rooster. The boys really only mumble, and while I can hear the girls from my house, they are sheltered just a few feet away from the living room window on purpose. I want to know if there are predators afoot. They do tend to be a bit busy at night, but it's not noisy enough to be bothersome to me indoors.
Until it gets too cold and everything freezes, they get plenty of water options -- a kiddie pool, a couple of rubber dishes and a small livestock water tank. My runners will take any opportunity to bathe in anything and will try to crowd into the heated dog water dish when their water dishes are frozen. It's funny to watch the ducks try to see how many birds will fit in a small dish.
During the day, they are loose with the chickens and geese. Although I've heard some people have, I have never had an issue with the drakes trying to mate with any of my chickens. Once in a while, a runner will nip at a chicken, but that's always a squabble over food. The ducks and chickens have separate runs and coops.
My girls are prolific layers who produce lovely, white eggs. Quinn, my runner queen, passed away this year. But she laid beautiful pale green eggs.
In so many ways, ducks (and geese) are easier to keep than chickens, especially in bad weather since they don't really care if it's wet or cold. Often, while the chickens are huddled in their coops, the ducks want to be let out to go play in the snow!
While the chickens will wander off and split into small groups, the runners stay together just about all the time. If you find one runner, you find them all. I like that! Also, because of their tiny wings, a 2-foot fence is generally all that's required to keep them "penned." Once in a while, a brave girl will launch herself over a barrier, only to want to come back to her flock as soon as possible.
While the chickens live in well-ventilated and insulated coops, the ducks' shelter is partially open. One end is enclosed and I run a tarp over most of it for the winter. But they don't require nearly as much protection from winter weather, and it's below freezing for months here.
On the other hand, the runners are so much messier than chickens since their water goes EVERYWHERE, which means their shelter bedding gets wet and smelly, and their run can easily become a mud bath. Cleaning out their shelter is one of my least favorite jobs in the entire world.
They seem more prone to leg injuries, and while mine love me when I'm feeding then, none of them really want to snuggle, unlike some of my chickens.
So, short answer is: Ducks? Yes!
I might be getting ducks this year
