Need duck breed recommendation

[comp6512]

Need ducks that are (in order of importance) :

1. Broody

2. Not flighty

3. Light feather color

4. Not too scrawny

5. Reasonably quiet

Thanks!

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

Muscovies! They're known for being excellent moms! You can get different colors, though buff tends to be more pricey. White is the most common. Scovies don't quack, but make soft hissing or squealing noises. The drakes are quite sizeable, though the duck hens are much smaller than the drakes. I wouldn't define them as flighty, because sometimes I'll not even notice they're there when I walk past until the drakes start hissing, their way of talking. They can fly, but you can trim one of their wing tips to stop this from happening as much.

 

[Goat_Walker]

But scovies do fly

 

[FenDruadin]

By "flighty," do you mean skittish, or do you mean "can fly"? If you just mean skittish, then muscovies are your duck:

Excellent broodies.
Calm & personable.
Come in many colors.
Sturdy and plump.
Quietest of all domestic ducks.

But--they do fly. Of course, you can always pinion their wings to keep them from flying, but then you'll hamper their ability to escape predators. And they're not likely to fly away--domestic ducks get comfy with their home territory and won't usually leave unless they have to for food or safety reasons.

Enjoy.

 

[comp6512]

Yeah, sorry, I meant they should not fly. We are on an acre in a city, so... don't want them to end up in the neighbors yard.

As far as clipping, I thought about that, but kind of scared of hurting the ducklings.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Oh! you dont clip a ducklings wings!! lol, no, you wait till they are adults and fullyfeathered before you cut the feathers to keep them from flying away

 

[pirtykitty]

Welsh Harlequins are great.

 

[Wifezilla]

Another vote for Welsh Harlequins. Only I am not sure the QUIET part will be what you want. My drake isn't noisy but drakes in general are not. Of my 3 Welsh Harlequin girls, one is really loud. The other 2 are quiet.