What are the best breeds for an urban environment?

[Rex Mom]

Hello all~

I am in the planning stages for a duck pen.. I think I have that part worked out. However, I am still trying to decide what breed to get. Can anyone give me some feedback on what breeds would work best in a urban/suburban yard? From what I've read I'm leaning toward Cayuga's or Welsh Harlequins. I thought I would ask the duck people here what they thought.

Thank's for any input!

Susan

 

[sred98]

I am not a duck expert, but if you are worried about noise, my Muscovies are quiet. I

them! I was supposed to be raising them for meat, but don't think I'm going to do that.

I just adore them. They have great personalities, will follow you around like puppies, and aren't nearly as messy as my friend's mixed batch of ducks. I have a little blue wading pool for them, and they rarely go in except when it's really really hot. Mostly they just stand around it splashing their heads around, doing their little hissy whispers and wagging their tails.

Mine don't fly, not even to roost. They sleep in a pile on the floor of the barn in wood chips, kind of like a pile of puppies! LOL! They also come in a lot of different colors. I think the males are supposed to be pretty aggressive (like overcrowded roos) but I've got 2 drakes and 7 females and don't have any problems.

Mine aren't aggressive to people at all. If anything, they get a little too much under my feet...or actually, they stand on my feet waiting for some petting!

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Shelly

 

[Rex Mom]

Thank's Shelly!

My friend has Muscovys... they are nice and quiet. However I want mine for eggs and from what she told me they aren't very prolific egg layers. Great for meat... but not for laying.

I did consider them.. until my husband saw one and thought they were ugly... LOL I know their personality makes up for it.. but I need to get him to go along with this.

Susan

 

[HottentotTeal]

Hi Rex Mom,

I live in the city and bought some of the quietest ducks in the world recently: Hottentot Teals.

They are quieter than the doves that i feed around the house.

They only seem to make noise if they are startled, like when i am entering the aviary to feed them and i startle them by walking too close to them.

They are getting used to me, so they are hardly doing that, but if anyone else walks up to look at them from the outside and they get a little scared they make a very soft low-pitched whistle-blowing combined with the most whispering type quack i have ever herad noise. It's not high pitched but kinda like the sound a dove makes when it flies off, but much quieter. I honestly can't even describe it as a quack, because they make more noise flapping their wings than vocals.



I was worried to death about how loud they would be and i was worried for nothing. They are very small, too. Just barely larger than a well-fed dove.


Of course, if you want a duck that you would like to hold and pet, I can't recommend them. They are still wild ducks.

When i put out food the past 2 days, the drake has come really close to me. Today he actually came within 2 feet of me to come eat from the food bowl, while i was cleaning the aviary out. He would come sneak up and i would look down and not at him, because they both seem to get more freightenened if you look directly at them from that close. So if i looked down at the rocks i was cleaning, he would inch up to the bowl and grab a pellet or 2 of food and run a few feet away to eat and then come back and he did that a few times. It was pretty cute.


edit: just saw your new last post about wanting to use them for eggs. Might want to take mine off the list.

 

[pardygwyn]

Unless you want them to be pretty, go for Metzer's Golden 300s. I've had a lot of ducks, including the infamous Khaki Campbells, but I've never had egg layers like these gals. They lay big and they lay a LOT. Don't know which one it is, but I have two of them and am getting three eggs per day this summer.

If you want pretty ducks, too, you might look into Welsh Harlequins. I have those as well right now, and find them to be very calm - definitely calmer than both Khakis and my Goldens - and their egg-laying reputation is well deserved. They do seem to be louder than the Goldens, but only when they think I'm going to feed them. LOL

 

[Javamama]

I have 8 Welsh Harlequins and they aren't any louder than my chickens. Granted, my chickens are pretty vocal and there are a couple of drama queens in the flock. So far the ducks are only noisy when they need to be fed. The chickens are noisy all day long. I much prefer the duck noises.

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

muscovies can lay decently well - I've had them before and they lay about 3 eggs a week. - and muscovies are by far the quietest domesticated ducks.

Welsh Harlequins are gorgeous, good layers, but if your late on feeding them - they have no issue with telling you. Same with any breed of duck though - they all quack and make a fuss -except muscovies who hiss instead. Also Muscovies are the most heat tolerant duck - and don't need pools or ponds - just one or two large containers of decently fresh water.