non muscovy - what are the quiet 'lap' duck breeds? Looking for quiet (ish) - on par or less than a runner (will be a girl) not sure if size is an issue My runners are friendly, but I'd like another really friendly duck that will hang out near us other than when they think I have food. My girls don't stay far away as possible, but they don't usually stick too close unless they thing I have something for them.
My Saxony girls are very friendly and get actually hang around me when I am cleaning their night pen,even when I don't feed them.Ihave some friendly runners, they just scatter if I move fast, but if I stand still they come underfoot. Mini-ducks are very friendly, but they are vulnerable if not in protected pens.(small tasty morsels)
If I understand right,Calls are sweethearts but I think they quack a lot. I was thinking of getting one.
My mature Cayuga girls are very calm, as are my Khaki Campbell and Welsh Harlequin girls. Not the young ones though... After they're about a year old and realize that you're not actually gonna eat them, every year they get calmer and calmer. Much more so than my Runners who still get nervous if I get too close. I had to be the provider of tasty snacks to win them over initially... but the only reason they come over to hang out with me is because they think there might be tasty snacks in my vicinity. Ducks don't really care about much except snacks, worms especially. Easy to win their love if you help them dig worms and give them lots of peas. I made the a deal with the ducks that during snack time I wouldn't attempt to pet or otherwise handle them, but only those brave enough to climb into the worm patch while I dig or eat the peas out of my hand can get them. Everyone else has to rely on whatever treats are being scattered in the yard from the compost bowl (whatever they're willing to fight the chickens for, that is)
Since ducks don't like to be picked up, they really are not the best choice for a lap pet. If you want a pet to sit in your lap, you will be happier if you chose another type of animal. With the exception of Muscovy, all ducks are loud and noisy. To reduce noise level slightly you could keep only drakes. They are noisy, but the volume is much lower. Just be warned that drakes treated as a lap pet tend to go mentally unstable and try to reduce the human to a lower place in the pecking order. Not a lot of fun, and it gets a lot of drakes killed for bad behavior.
