Thinking about switching to ducks to raise

[Alex the Chicken]

1. Like everyone said above… 3 or more is best!!
2. they are incredibly and I do mean incredibly messy!!!!!!!!
3. Make sure you can have them where you live because they are very noisy
4.I adore my ducks but they are much much much more work then chickens.

1. Okay, but is 2 okay? 3 is a bit too much to handle....
2. It's okay, I have lots of cleaning stuff
3. The area I live in is a bit of a more urban-ish "kampung" area. And there we can have whatever we want. My grandprents own the land around there so it's fine. Plus the neighbours love animals.
4. We got an entire family to help around!

 

[addctd2plnts]

Also on a scale of 1-10, how good are call ducks at flying? No I won't be needing tips on wing clipping, I prefer them flying because it has benefits for them.

Call Ducks are excellent fliers and if they get away, may not come back. There's no risk in clipping the feathers on one wing to stop them from flying, because the feathers do grow back after a molt. And I'm not aware of any medical benefit to allowing them to fly, only danger from them escaping. I lost a new East Indies show Duck when the breeder shipped her without clipping one wing and she escaped in the pouring rain. We tried for an hour to find her but gave up and never saw her again

As others have said, Call Ducks are VERY NOISY if you get females! You really need to hear it to believe all that noise comes from such a small cute bird! In the mornings when I go to the barn, till they are fed and have water, you cannot even hear another person talking because of the Call Ducks! If you want a more quiet duck, then you'll have to get two males. The problem is that none of the hatcheries will sex Call Duck babies because they are too small, I assume it makes it impossible to be reliable. So, to get two males you'll either need to raise 4-5 Call Ducks and rehome the females or buy them as adults. In my experience, those raised by others are never as friendly as the ones I raise myself. You might also consider male Indian Runner Ducks. Mine have much more character and are absolutely hysterically funny, compared to my Call Ducks. People say their Indian Runners are nervous, but mine are super friendly and curious. They are gentle and comical, in my experience. I have: Pekins, Cayugas, Australian Spotted, Snowy Mallard, East Indies, Butterscotch Calls, White Calls, Gray Calls, White Indian Runners and Penciled Indian Runners so this is what I'm comparing them to.

 

[Alex the Chicken]

Call Ducks are excellent fliers and if they get away, may not come back. There's no risk in clipping the feathers on one wing to stop them from flying, because the feathers do grow back after a molt. And I'm not aware of any medical benefit to allowing them to fly, only danger from them escaping. I lost a new East Indies show Duck when the breeder shipped her without clipping one wing and she escaped in the pouring rain. We tried for an hour to find her but gave up and never saw her again

As others have said, Call Ducks are VERY NOISY if you get females! You really need to hear it to believe all that noise comes from such a small cute bird! In the mornings when I go to the barn, till they are fed and have water, you cannot even hear another person talking because of the Call Ducks! If you want a more quiet duck, then you'll have to get two males. The problem is that none of the hatcheries will sex Call Duck babies because they are too small, I assume it makes it impossible to be reliable. So, to get two males you'll either need to raise 4-5 Call Ducks and rehome the females or buy them as adults. In my experience, those raised by others are never as friendly as the ones I raise myself. You might also consider male Indian Runner Ducks. Mine have much more character and are absolutely hysterically funny, compared to my Call Ducks. People say their Indian Runners are nervous, but mine are super friendly and curious. They are gentle and comical, in my experience. I have: Pekins, Cayugas, Australian Spotted, Snowy Mallard, East Indies, Butterscotch Calls, White Calls, Gray Calls, White Indian Runners and Penciled Indian Runners so this is what I'm comparing them to.

Thanks for the info! Also I won't be getting ANY females because I generally prefer the male's colours and I don't like eating eggs. As mentioned above, I'll be getting 100% all males. And I'll probably just have to take the risk on gender. Maybe I can find out the gender with professional breeders. Thanks for the tips by the way!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Call Duck Males are quieter, it's the females who tend to be really loud.

Yes, they fly fairly well and far.

If you will be gone for a long time, I'd get the ducklings when you get back. You'll need to bond with them if you want them for pets, and that takes daily interaction.

 

[Uwish]

1. Okay, but is 2 okay? 3 is a bit too much to handle....
2. It's okay, I have lots of cleaning stuff
3. The area I live in is a bit of a more urban-ish "kampung" area. And there we can have whatever we want. My grandprents own the land around there so it's fine. Plus the neighbours love animals.
4. We got an entire family to help around!

You can do 2 BUT BUT…. If something happens to 1 of them you now have an extremely lonely duck and it’s not always easy getting another one immediately nor introducing them and hoping they accept each other especially males. Ducks can die from loneliness. Seriously if you care about their welfare 3 or more is what you need. As for noise my male is incredibly noisy my females are much more quiet but that’s not the norm just throwing it out there that it can happen. Poop poop poop everywhere like every 15 min lol not joking so be very very prepared. I cannot express that enough

 

[Floof]

I can't speak to call ducks but I can't imagine my large breed ducks being happy if kept indoors... they get so much joy walking around in my garden and laying down in the grass. It seems selfish to keep an outdoor animal inside. Why not build them an outdoor enclosure safe from predators?

 

[WVduckchick]

Call drakes are very quiet and simple to care for. They can be messy but mainly just with their water. And their poo can be very stinky!

Will you have a spot for a small pool? They do much better if they can swim and bathe. Ducks absolutely need deep enough water to clean their nostrils out. Any kind of small container will do. They only grow to about one foot long, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something, but I would highly recommend it.

This might give you some idea of their sounds. Don’t mind the roosters crowing lol

 

[Alex the Chicken]

Also by flying the duckies can escape the dogs when I take them on walks

I can't speak to call ducks but I can't imagine my large breed ducks being happy if kept indoors... they get so much joy walking around in my garden and laying down in the grass. It seems selfish to keep an outdoor animal inside. Why not build them an outdoor enclosure safe from predators?

Well actually I'll only keep them indoors at night when they're gonna sleep, other times I'll let them roam outside.

 

[Alex the Chicken]

Call drakes are very quiet and simple to care for. They can be messy but mainly just with their water. And their poo can be very stinky!

Will you have a spot for a small pool? They do much better if they can swim and bathe. Ducks absolutely need deep enough water to clean their nostrils out. Any kind of small container will do. They only grow to about one foot long, so it shouldn’t be hard to find something, but I would highly recommend it.

This might give you some idea of their sounds. Don’t mind the roosters crowing lol

Cool! Thanks!

 

[Alex the Chicken]

You can do 2 BUT BUT…. If something happens to 1 of them you now have an extremely lonely duck and it’s not always easy getting another one immediately nor introducing them and hoping they accept each other especially males. Ducks can die from loneliness. Seriously if you care about their welfare 3 or more is what you need. As for noise my male is incredibly noisy my females are much more quiet but that’s not the norm just throwing it out there that it can happen. Poop poop poop everywhere like every 15 min lol not joking so be very very prepared. I cannot express that enough

yeah, maybe I'll purchase a duck diaper.. or just manually clean up. But if they poop that much it'll be quite an issue to bring them here and there