SWEDISH Duck Thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jsmith2065]

I've been thinking about adding some ducks and Swedish is one of the main breeds I'm considering but my problem is I don't know what color to get.

One hatchery only carries one (I forget which one) but that hatchery is more expensive anyway.

The other one carries both blue and black.

I know they're technically the same breed and should be exactly the same besides color, right?

But the issue is I only want maybe 4-6 ducks (well I WANT more but am forcing myself to start small lol) and I wanted to try other breeds, basically getting one of each breed.

So basically, what would you get, blue or black? Is it just personal preference?

Or do I splurge and just get both anyway? Haha

Other breeds I was considering were Rouen, Welsh Harlequin (thinking about a pair), Buff, Khaki Campbell, and the Swedish. And maybe a Pekin or Runner.

I have 6 Swedish 2 black and 4 splash I like my blacks Thayer have good color and I have a buff and a Campbell I love them all they are good breeds

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yes- same breed. Black is the typical Donald Duck look. Blue is more difficult to obtain and is the one with an APA standard. Unless you're planning on showing or starting a breeding operation, black is MY preference. They just look more---Duckish!

I'd get both! LOL You know...duck math!!! One black and one blue! Just enjoy! They are a hoot!!

@KDOGG331
Black has wonderful Iridescence, blue has many shades and texture, they are both beautiful.  I love my mixed flock.  Personally, if you do get a runner, I would get 2.  I'm sure a solitary runner with other ducks would be perfectly happy, but at least in my flock, runner-runner interaction is on its own level (like they have a secret language only they share) plus they come in many great colors, so you don't have to get two of the same.  I love my mixed flock and if you are not planning on breeding ducks I highly recommend a mixed flock - easy identification makes it easy for you to know personalities and flock dynamics which is so much of the fun of having pet ducks.  Also if you aren't breeding, you want to get them from someplace where you can have them sexed and get all girls.  Drakes can be very aggressive and if you have more than one (in a 4-6 duck flock), they may even kill your other ducks.  Also if a drake tries to breed with a chicken, they can kill them (ducks are built much different than chickens).  I have 2 drakes in a flock of 15.  One isn't too much trouble, the other is nothing but trouble (from April - November anyway) enough that he needs his own place to stay, his own food and water and his own pool because he can't be left unsupervised with the rest of the flock.  We love him a lot so we won't rehome him or send him to freezer camp, but he is nearly as much work in the spring/summer/fall as the rest of the flock together.

I hear what you're saying about identification! I have 5 pekin hens!!! I can't tell one from the other! Yes to all hens!!!! I can't handle the aggressiveness of the drakes. BUT hens can get pretty loud, with 5 of them! Whew!!! Glad we're in the country with no neighbors! LOL So like you, I agree, all hens! Love 'em!
Mandy

Thanks for all the info everyone! I hadn't realized black didn't have a standard. I guess that's why the one hatchery only carries blue? I looked up what color they had ha

So sounds like I need to either get just black if I narrow it down or both if I don't?

I hadn't realized drakes could be so much trouble!

Although I was planning on getting all sexed females except the WH pair so no other males but I could just get a female and no drake.

I've heard with ducks it's usually the opposite of chickens though, that the females are the loud ones, and judging by what Mandy said, that seems to be true? That somewhat concerns me since we have close neighbors in the back BUT I could put the ducks in a separate location as the chickens further from the neighbors. Although my chickens can be very loud when they want to be and the neighbors think they're gorgeous so it maybe it won't be a problem lol and also the dog can be way louder cause my dad lets him bark so they're probably more likely to complain about him than ducks I guess. We have some veryyyy obnoxious wild birds too.

The ducks will be like music to everyone's ears lol

But that said, like I was saying, I heard the ducks can be loud and some people get just drakes? At least if they get them for pets. But you say drakes are aggressive? So is all drakes not a good idea? Or are they only aggressive with females around?

I'm thinking all drakes might not be a good idea anyway as I want the eggs even though they're going to be pets too. Plus I don't think they would be very happy with no females?

Oh and I know this is the Swedish thread but are there any breeds on my list that you would cross off? Or any to add? It would be nice to eventually get all of those breeds but I'm trying to limit myself at first. If I got a single WH rather than a pair then that would free up a slot to try another breed but I should probably still try to keep it limited. I want friendly (or at least not mean) and they're pets so good personalities and maybe good layers too. Or maybe I should get less of the other breeds and more Swedish? Ideas?

Thanks again for all the info and help and sorry for all the long posts

 

[ShrekDawg]

And Pekins are the loudest ones!  My runners make more noise (frequency and intensity), but when Allie (my Pekin) wants something to be known, I can be indoors with the radio going and I know it!

Maybe I should skip the Pekins and the Runners then? Lol

I have 6 Swedish 2 black and 4 splash I like my blacks Thayer have good color and I have a buff and a Campbell I love them all they are good breeds

Thanks for the info

So black seems to be the consensus? Good to know about the buffs too and is campbell khaki campbell or different?

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thanks for all the info everyone! I hadn't realized black didn't have a standard. I guess that's why the one hatchery only carries blue? I looked up what color they had ha

So sounds like I need to either get just black if I narrow it down or both if I don't?

I hadn't realized drakez could be so much trouble!

Although I was planning on getting all sexed females except the WH pair so no other males but I could just get a female and no drake.

I've heard with ducks it's usually the opposite of chickens though, that the females are the loud ones, and judging by what Mandy said, that seems to be true? That somewhat concerns me since we have close neighbors in the back BUT I could put the ducks in a separate location as the chickens further from the neighbors. Although my chickens can be very loud when they want to be and the neighbors think they're gorgeous so it maybe it won't be a problem lol and also the dog can be way louder cause my dad lets him bark so they're probably more likely to complain about him than ducks I guess. We have some veryyyy obnoxious wild birds too.

The ducks will be like music to everyone's ears lol

But that said, like I was saying, I heard the ducks can be loud and some people get just drakes? At least if they get them for pets. But you say drakes are aggressive? So is all drakes now a good idea? Or are they only aggressive with females around?

I'm thinking all drakes might not be a good idea anyway as I want the eggs even though they're going to be pets too. Plus I don't think they would be very happy with no females?

Oh and I know this is the Swedish thread but are there any breeds on my list that you would cross off? Or any to add? It would be nice to eventually get all of those breeds but I'm trying to limit myself at first. If I got a single WH rather than a pair then that would free up a slot to try another breed but I should probably still try to keep it limited. I want friendly (or at least not mean) and they're pets so good personalities and maybe good layers too. Or maybe I should get less of the other breeds and more Swedish? Ideas?

Thanks again for all the info and help and sorry for all the long posts

Oh and relatively quiet or at least not obnoxious

 

[Tevyes Dad]

All drakes wouldn't be aggressive unless they turned their eyes to your chickens, then that would be a nightmare. But that would also mean no eggs.

Female ducks are definitely the loud ones but contrary to popular believe, happy ducks don't spend a lot of time quacking. There are many other sounds they make and all of them are quieter more like a chicken clucking. But just like an upset chicken can get loud, so can ducks. Their quack is louder than a chicken (and although more pleasant to my ear I would even say louder than a rooster), but generally only one or two from a flock will quack at any given time. They will quack when they signal for a gathering (treats, or for defense against and animal/person they are wary of). They will do this when they are distressed (pecking order challenge fight or any other animal that either is a threat or needs to be challenged) and sometimes just to express themselves. They will also quack directly at you (once they realize you are their grounds keeper) when something is amiss. I had one Pekin who walked under a 100 gallon stock tank that we had inverted and placed on a couple chairs so that it would dry thoroughly. She was making low level sounds and when she walked under the tank, they echoed a bit. She stopped and stood up straight so that her head was inside the empty inverted tank and she quacked. The quack echoed like crazy. Then delighted, she hopped up and down under the tank quacking for about 5 minutes just to listen to herself echo. Ducks usually quack first thing in the morning when they come out of their house. Other than that, most of the day happy ducks are fairly quiet.

 

[jsmith2065]

Maybe I should skip the Pekins and the Runners then? Lol
Thanks for the info

So black seems to be the consensus? Good to know about the buffs too and is campbell khaki campbell or different?

They are the same my Khaki Campbell she is a sweetheart when she was younger she didn't like to be held but now she doesn't mind it

 

[Tevyes Dad]

They are the same my Khaki Campbell she is a sweetheart when she was younger she didn't like to be held but now she doesn't mind it

Our KC was the last duck we decided on and she was kind of an after thought: "Well we have all the others, might as well get one of these." She has turned out to be one of the sweetest ducks with the most personality in our whole flock. She and our Pekin are the most domesticated of our ducks and tolerate handling and kisses on the head and squeezes (@Julie Bird would love these two) better than any of the other ducks. And she is in the top 5 for purposely engaging us at all times (probably hoping for treats): They are our Pekin, KC, Cayuga and Blue & Black Swedish - the Swedish are typical when it comes to handling and our Cayuga is very against it but she likes to be close interact as long as we don't touch her.

 

[ShrekDawg]

All drakes wouldn't be aggressive unless they turned their eyes to your chickens, then that would be a nightmare.  But that would also mean no eggs.

Female ducks are definitely the loud ones but contrary to popular believe, happy ducks don't spend a lot of time quacking.  There are many other sounds they make and all of them are quieter more like a chicken clucking.  But just like an upset chicken can get loud, so can ducks.  Their quack is louder than a chicken (and although more pleasant to my ear I would even say louder than a rooster), but generally only one or two from a flock will quack at any given time.  They will quack when they signal for a gathering (treats, or for defense against and animal/person they are wary of).  They will do this when they are distressed (pecking order challenge fight or any other animal that either is a threat or needs to be challenged) and sometimes just to express themselves.  They will also quack directly at you (once they realize you are their grounds keeper) when something is amiss.  I had one Pekin who walked under a 100 gallon stock tank that we had inverted and placed on a couple chairs so that it would dry thoroughly.  She was making low level sounds and when she walked under the tank, they echoed a bit.  She stopped and stood up straight so that her head was inside the empty inverted tank and she quacked.  The quack echoed like crazy.  Then delighted, she hopped up and down under the tank quacking for about 5 minutes just to listen to herself echo.  Ducks usually quack first thing in the morning when they come out of their house.  Other than that, most of the day happy ducks are fairly quiet.

Thank you for all your help and the information! It does make me feel better about them. Louder than a rooster is slightly concerning since I didn't get a rooster for that reason but knowing that it's only for part of the day makes me feel better. Especially since roosters can probably be slightly unpredictable with the noise. That Pekin sounds like a funny duck for sure! Lol

 

[ShrekDawg]

They are the same my Khaki Campbell she is a sweetheart when she was younger she didn't like to be held but now she doesn't mind it

Our KC was the last duck we decided on and she was kind of an after thought: "Well we have all the others, might as well get one of these."  She has turned out to be one of the sweetest ducks with the most personality in our whole flock.  She and our Pekin are the most domesticated of our ducks and tolerate handling and kisses on the head and squeezes (@Julie Bird
would love these two) better than any of the other ducks.  And she is in the top 5 for purposely engaging us at all times (probably hoping for treats): They are our Pekin, KC, Cayuga and Blue & Black Swedish - the Swedish are typical when it comes to handling and our Cayuga is very against it but she likes to be close interact as long as we don't touch her.

Wow sounds like I should get a KC then. I almost crossed them off the list but I definitely need to add one now

 

[Julie Birb]

Our KC was the last duck we decided on and she was kind of an after thought: "Well we have all the others, might as well get one of these."  She has turned out to be one of the sweetest ducks with the most personality in our whole flock.  She and our Pekin are the most domesticated of our ducks and tolerate handling and kisses on the head and squeezes (@Julie Bird
would love these two) better than any of the other ducks.  And she is in the top 5 for purposely engaging us at all times (probably hoping for treats): They are our Pekin, KC, Cayuga and Blue & Black Swedish - the Swedish are typical when it comes to handling and our Cayuga is very against it but she likes to be close interact as long as we don't touch her.

EEEEEEEEE yes Tony. I would. I'd never keep my hands off them. Perfect cuddly companions.