the quacking

[hfchristy]

I have one duck that is LOUD. Really loud. And bossy sounding. Seems to think she's a dog and bark at every little thing that goes by. Our other duck is a Pekin, which I was lead to believe would be loud but pales in comparison. And a bunch of drakes (for now) who just sound like little frogs.

We're in a residential neighborhood, and I'm beginning to worry about what the neighbors must think. She may need to go.

My main question is: Is the quacking partly a dominance thing? I don't want to get rid of "the loud one" only to find out that the reason the Pekin was being relatively quiet is because the pesky little bantam was keeping her in line!

Also, why do they quack? Is there anything I can do to reduce it? The Pekin's quacks sound like she's making small talk. The bantam sounds like she wants SOMETHING and she wants it NOW!!! But I have no idea what she could possibly want.
She makes a fuss if she sees us and they don't have food, or want clean water, and I can understand that. I can even understand the squawking about kids riding back and forth on scooters.
I try to make sure they have food and relatively clean water, and putting up a visual barrier so that they can't see the street directly seems to have helped some. Is there anything else I could do?

Christy

 

[ChicagoDucks]

I have a couple 14 week old ducks that are pretty loud at times. we're in a residential neighborhood too and I am hoping that they'll calm down soon. How old are your drakes? I have a theory that ducks are calmer in the presence of a mature drake who chases away "danger". I had to cull my older drakes this spring because they just weren't tolerating the new ducklings (after weeks of trying). I noticed that the skittishness and noise increased a lot without the drakes around.

When the kids and I spend a lot of time outside in the yard it seems to kind of desencitize the ducks to neighborhood noise. We have chain link fence on all sides, and I tend to think our ducks would be more alarmed at hearing neighborhood noise and not being able to see the source.

One thing I do when their quacks get on my nerves is that I run the sprinkler at low pressure for a while and sacrifice a bit of lawn for them to dabble in mud. It keeps them occupied, and seems to tire them out. I hope you get some good suggestions, 'cause I could use some advice on this too!

 

[hfchristy]

They're all 3 months old, so not quite grown up yet.
I sure hope that having adult drakes around will calm the girls - if they keep up this level of noise PLUS add in the mating ruckus, I'm pretty sure someone is going to hate us.

 

[DejaLou]

Some ducks are just suuuuuper vocal. My rouen is a reasonably quiet girl. My 22 week indian runner on the other hand, is a talker. She just laid her first egg yesterday, as well as another today, and wierdly it is the first time she has been a bit more polite about her quacking.

She still shouts at me in the mornings, following me around and excitedly telling me about her day, but this is a huge improvement. It used to be a constant quacking assault of 'HEY! HEY! HEY! WELCOME HOME FROM WORK! COME OUTSIDE AND PAY ATTENTION TO ME!! HEY HEY HEY THERE IS A SQUIRELL IN THE YARD!! HEY! HEY HEY!' Since these are my first ducks it didn't bother me (I actually think its hilarious) and have become attuned to listening for her 'duck car alarm sound' that means there is a hawk near by, but I bet the neighbors weren't huge fans of it. Maybe your chatty cathy will calm down once she starts laying? I know when I was a youth / teenager I was convinced that everything I said was super interesting and worth listening too, pretty sure young duck girls are the same way, haha.

 

[hfchristy]

Oh, it would be so lovely if she would tone things down a little once she starts laying.
I think some of it lately has been that she's feeling a little frisky and the guys just aren't reciprocating. (Do they take longer to mature than the girls?) She stands on the pool step, faces away from the other ducks and just squawks as loud as imaginable. Thinking maybe she's trying to alert any REAL drakes in the neighborhood that there's a new duck in town...

 

[Paigej]

'HEY! HEY! HEY! WELCOME HOME FROM WORK! COME OUTSIDE AND PAY ATTENTION TO ME!! HEY HEY HEY THERE IS A SQUIRELL IN THE YARD!! HEY! HEY HEY!'

That is so my Rouen when I get home, and when she starts the rest of the girls do too. They don't talk to my husband nearly as much as they do me and I think he's a little hurt they make such a ruckus when they see me at the end of the day.

 

[Mum]

Basically, you have more chance of changing the behaviour of your neighbours than you do your ducks.
Talk to your closer neighbours and ask if it is disturbing them

Bribery with eggs (when they begin laying) is also helpful.

 

[downsm75]

I have 4 pekins... One boy, 3 girls. One in particular, QUACK QUACKS LOUD anytime she sees me. I'm guessing to alert everyone that I'm coming. They don't care for me being close unless I have food for them.
I have 2 Muscovy ducks that are quiet. The female follows me everywhere. For food I'm sure. I asked my neighbors if the pekins quacking drove them nuts, and they can't even hear them. AT ALL!! I would ask them and maybe give them some eggs... Alsi, my neighbors bring tjeir grand kids and family members to my fence to watch my chickens and ducks

 

[hfchristy]

I'll be happy to share eggs when we have them. And neighbors on one side, anyway, don't seem to mind. But oh my god, she is LOUD.

I don't expect to be able to stop the quacking, or get her to quack more quietly, but the quack sounds so demanding. The Pekin sounds like she's making conversation - oh look, a cricket... maybe I should go for a swim... is there any more food? But the little black duck sounds like she's so very dissatisfied with *something* and wants someone to fix it. Since it seems like she's barking about something or at something, if I knew what she was barking about, maybe I could reduce the number of times a day that it comes up.
Things like realizing that she's yapping at someone walking a dog on the street that I didn't even realize they could see from their pen, so moving the pen a few feet so they can't see it.

 

[ChicagoDucks]

hfchristy, how is your little black duck doing? Still loud, or chilling out a little?

I am going to jinx myself as I write this, but things are a little quieter here. We culled some drakes and a couple of ducks a week or so ago and we have a smaller flock and a little better male-female ratio. Our "alpha" drake is also getting to the point that he wants to chase danger. He's run at my legs when my back is turned a few times, but he's still not sure what to do when he gets there. Soon enough though, my pant legs will be marked up with "dirt lipstick" from him nipping at my calves

!! Oh well.

So anyway, I think one or more of these factors has contributed to a more contented flock and a quieter yard:

1. Fewer boys picking on the girls
2. Smaller flock means water stays cleaner and food bowl stays fuller longer = happier ducks
3. Smaller flock means fewer "flock brained" panic attacks and "where did you go?" alarm calls
4. The maturing drakes are finally doing their job and chasing danger (mainly me, the dog and the occasional tricycle) putting our ducks' minds at ease so they can focus on other things (oh! bug! yum!)
5. The ducks are now 19 - 23 weeks old, past their first molt and (hopefully) past their adolescent insanity
6. Coincidence