Silver Appleyard Decibel level

[amateur_peasant]

I've kept ducks for years, runners, khaki campbells, swedes, etc. and had pretty good luck with egg production. This year I got a pair of Silver Appleyard ducklings. They're gorgeous. However, the duck has started squawking so loud I can hear her 1/4 mile away. Any idea what triggers this behavior?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Some females just love to hear them selves quack. My Buffs will go off like this at times. Have you watched to see if anything is out of the ordinary when she starts this, Maybe a predator even a neighborhood cat or dog? Possibly out of food or water? Mine will also do it if the rest of their flock gets out of view.

 

[amateur_peasant]

Yes, the extremely loud squawking is more likely when the feed dish is empty, keeping it full doesn't prevent it. They've got an automatic waterer (I don't know how anybody would keep ducks without one...) As I've mentioned, I've had ducks for years, the runners, swedes, and kakhi campbells never did this. I also have a Buff Orpington who was so noisy I would put her under a plastic tub when I work in the garden. But now the Silver Appleyard seems to have taken over the role as town crier... The only variable seems to be the breed and perhaps status in the flock. A neighbor does have a new German Shepherd that growls at absolutely everything, including sparrows, but he's at least 100 feet away, out of site.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don’t have close neighbors but I have had in the past and know for a fact dogs can be much noisier than ducks. Maybe she’ll out grow it my 2 buffs aren’t near as loud as they were when young. They still like to sound off but it doesn’t last as long.

 

[amateur_peasant]

I don’t have close neighbors but I have had in the past and know for a fact dogs can be much noisier than ducks. Maybe she’ll out grow it my 2 buffs aren’t near as loud as they were when young. They still like to sound off but it doesn’t last as long.

I guess I'll wait 'till she's a year old and until then wear ear plugs in the backyard..... <8)

 

[Naneth]

I have a Cayuga that I call my sentry, she is an alarm. She is just loud, and ironically her name is Little One. But she always answers when I call to check on them when they are free ranging.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I actually say they are out there telling jokes because they sound like they are belly laughing.

 

[Freie Family Farm]

My silver appleyard female squawks like that too. Shes been named Quackers for a reason. Shes been squacky since the day we brought her home. Even if we pick her up, she squawks the whole time. We just nonchalantly tell her to knock it off then go back to business. Our neighbors dont seem to mind since shes the only one. The rest of our flock is pretty quite

 

[amateur_peasant]

More details about the panicking behavior. The trigger was if I was anywhere in sight. The Appleyard and three runner ducks would crouch, fluff their feathers and start to squawk so loud my ears would hurt and dash madly to and fro in the pen or in the yard. Once the panic started the two other female runners would join in. The Buff duck, about a year older will join the mad dashes back and forth but remains pretty quiet. The Appleyard drake remains fairly calm. Again, I've had runners in the past and never saw anything like this, and the Appleyard is noted to be a relatively calm breed, much calmer than runners. My question is what's different about the four jet-engine-level squawkers? It occurs to me that I ordered 'day old ducklings' which I'd think would acclimate to seeing my huge predatory visage and soon think nothing of me. But what if the supplier actually sent me two-day and three-day olds, who essentially had never seen anything but other ducks during their imprinting period???? Just an idea...

 

[N Good]

More details about the panicking behavior. The trigger was if I was anywhere in sight. The Appleyard and three runner ducks would crouch, fluff their feathers and start to squawk so loud my ears would hurt and dash madly to and fro in the pen or in the yard. Once the panic started the two other female runners would join in. The Buff duck, about a year older will join the mad dashes back and forth but remains pretty quiet. The Appleyard drake remains fairly calm. Again, I've had runners in the past and never saw anything like this, and the Appleyard is noted to be a relatively calm breed, much calmer than runners. My question is what's different about the four jet-engine-level squawkers? It occurs to me that I ordered 'day old ducklings' which I'd think would acclimate to seeing my huge predatory visage and soon think nothing of. But what if the supplier actually sent me two-day and three-day olds, who essentially had never seen anything but other ducks during their imprinting period???? Just an idea...

I got 10 silver appleyards ducklings last spring, 4 ended up being females and we've kept them for over a year. This spring we hatched out another 4 appleyard ducklings. None of them have been extremely noisy (well, we had one of the girls go broody after hatching out eggs in the incubator, she was noisy, but the age of yours none of them are broody.
Not sure what's going on, sounds like they're just not used to you, maybe it will go away with age.