Muscovies vs. Campbells... which to get?

[rachel]

At the risk of turning the backyard into a much more urban farm than my neighbors would like... I'm thinking about ducks in addition to my chickens. My house is on a fifth of an acre so I don't want to be too loud. The one that's been most recommended to me in terms of volume is the muscovy, but from what I've read, they are only moderate layers. The other breed I'm considering is of course the Khaki Campbell. I would prefer the Campbell due to the increased laying and the fact that they are about a million times better to look at, but I'm concerned about the volume of the females, can anyone here give me an idea of how loud they are? I'd be getting either 3 girls or 3 girls + 1 drake.
My point of reference for volume is my RIR that makes a ruckus whenever other hens are laying. Will they be that loud? louder? ... and are they loud all the time, or is it just every once in awhile?

 

[Sparrow]

I vote for the Khaki Campbell anyday! I love my Truffle.

I don't think ducks are much, if any, louder than chickens. My chickens cause more of a ruckus than my ducklings ever do.

 

[chicken_boy_Kurt]

If you are concerned about noise than get muscovies (how dare you think they are ugly). But if you want eggs and aren't too concerned about noise get the Campbells. They aren't nearly as loud as calls.

 

[SueNH]

Muscovies are pretty quiet but the puddle ducks are much more fun to watch.

I do admit it's pretty amazing watching a muscovy snatch a fly out of mid air which is the only reason I have them.

 

[rachel]

Well, I think I'm definitely leaning toward the muscovies now. How much room would three ducks need? The pen is roughly 20' square and has a 5 foot fence around it, but I'm afraid the ducks would fly out and possibly into the neighbors' yard where there is a German Shepard that would no doubt appreciate them. If I clip wings, will that be enough to keep a muscovy behind a 5 foot fence?
Finally, if I get 1 drake and 2 girls is that okay or would I need more girls?

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I say get campbells. All the ones we have had werent as noisy as the cayugas. The bad thing about muscovies is that they love to fly and they lay like mallards, only maybe 30 eggs a year. Muscovies are good meat birds.

 

[UncleHoot]

I can't provide anything useful from my own frame of reference, but I was reading about Muscovy ducks here: http://www.quakerfarm.com/duckduckgoose.html and they make a lot of points for choosing Muscovies...

EDIT: (link was bad)

 

[rachel]

Thanks for the link UncleHoot! I think I've decided that Muscovies will be the best first duck for me. The quietness factor is really important, since all that separates me from my neighbors is a chainlink fence and the animal area is about 25 feet from their house. Later I may venture into the KC's though...

 

[Double-T-Family-Farm]

we raise khaki's, mallards, rouens, buffs, and chocolate muscovies.. teh khaki's are the loudist decent layers.. mallards teh best of our layers.. the rouens not very loud lay pretty decent.. buff are quiet and not very good layers.. teh muscovies are quiet very gentle arent very flighty at all decent layers good parents.. so if i would recommend getting ducks in town i would say muscovies.. tehre not really that cute but there pretty neat to watch..

-Matt

 

[DuckLady]

I love the scovies because of the friendliness and intelligence. If you are just wanting eggs, don't bother with a drake. Drakes are sweet, intelligent and friendly, but rather brutal in the mating.

Scovies like to go broody,too, so you can use them to hatch out chicken eggs if you need to. You would need to keep an eye on them in case she tries to take the chicks swimming. LOL

For just eggs and entertainment, runners and khakis are great.
If you want something to laugh at you when you fall in the mud outside, pekin girls are perfect for that. ( Pekins are the duckiest of ducks)
For pretty, cayugas, rouens, buffs, appleyards etc are decent layers.

I think they are all pretty, but I am assimilated, so I have to think that way.