Sad news...

[loopy12]

My cayugas are very quiet...and totally gorgeous and follow me everywhere...actually they only quack when I'm otuside with them or when they are hungry it seems.
We are moving house (moving to another country) soon and DH and I were considering just getting cayugas next time instead of chickens even!
Muscovies are quiet but I'm not a huge fan of their looks

So sorry you have to give them up.

 

[dutchhollow]

All of my wh hens are loud, not as loud as the calls quack, but very loud and they do it every time something gets their attention. Go with the musocvies, if they have to be quiet. I don't like the looks, the females don't bother me, but the males I don't like, but you do get used to it and they have great personalities.

 

[PlumTuckered]

I'd suggest Muscovies if you want a quiet duck. I've got Pekins, Mallards, a Runner/Magpie cross and a Muscovy. My Muscovy is also the calmest, tamest duck, I can pick her up and carry her around ..she was hatched out by one of my Pekins and raised by her. My other ducks were hatched/raised by me and they're nowhere near as tame as my 'scovy. I have to admit when I got my first ducks almost two years ago I was against 'scovies because of the caruncling, but you sure do get used to it. If I were to start all over I'd have nothing but Muscovies

Michelle

 

[Kedreeva]

The words 'quiet' and 'ducks' don't go well together in the same sentence unless there's an 'are not' between them, especially if you are looking for females.

 

[duckluck]

I think you're going to have to stick with drakes if you need them to be quiet. I find Call drakes to be quiet and unobtrusive when kept in a bachelor drake type of situation where they have no access to females.

 

[lovesduckies]

muscovies are quiet quackless birds and have the CUTEST personalities!!

 

[Big Dreamer]

THANK YOU EVERYONE, this has helped me a lot, but do you think that welsh harlequins will be to loud for nieghbors, only 1 next to me and the other is vacant, and then i have a canal so not to worried about that, and like i said the pen will be atleeast 20 or more yards away from his house, so i dont know at all...thanks agoian for all the feedback.

 

[chicksbestfriend]

Of all the breeds of ducks that I have raised, I am the biggest fans of Muscovies. Not the prettiest of all the breeds, but they do not quack, they hiss, they eat every bug imaginable under the sun, including slugs and snails, and are the lowest maint. ducks I have had, and they have a wonderful personality. I prefer not to clip there wings, but they do fly around alot, but they have never flown away. I would think with such close neighbors as you described, if you chose to get this breed, you would want to clip their wings, most neighbors are not fond of ducks flying on top their roofs and pooping. As for laying eggs, mine lay egg almost everyday, and xl eggs. I collect some and also allow them to hatch some, I would be over run with ducks if I allowed them to hatch them all out. Muscovies duck eggs take 38 days to hatch, where all your other breeds hatch at a faster rate. Unlike all the other breeds, Muscovies are the only duck that you can not sex at hatch, but the drakes and hens do start showing the characteristics of their sex at around 3-5 weeks old. Good luck on deciding which breed to raise. Oh, and Muscovy's, I think that their meat is the leaniest and tastiest of all the ducks, resembles the taste and texture of ham or veal.

 

[Big Dreamer]

is there any muscovies with little bubbley skin on their head, or do they all have a lot of that skin on there head?

 

[chicksbestfriend]

LOL! Not laughing at you, laughing with you! I am not sure what you are referring to as the bubbley skin on their heads, but all drake muscovies have those carnicles all over their faces, and the older they get, the more pronounced they get, and yes, on their heads, down their necks. One of my drakes has a pretty cause of them going on and it looks like he has a white mohawk going on. Can get pretty disgusting looking, I mean, pretty exotic looking as they mature. You will actually get use to them, and they are pretty interesting to study up close. None of the females, at least mine, dont have one carnicle on their face.