**What Breed for eggs and kids**

[mamaof2wi]

I am torn on what breed to add the our small flock. Right now we have Ancona's and a Cayuga. In the past we have also had Appleyards and Welsh Harlequins. These are my kids (11 & 12) ducks and they take care of them. So we are looking for ducks that are friendly and lay a good amount of eggs.

What I am thinking..
Blue Swedish
Appleyards
Welsh Harlequin

Thanks!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Growing up, my duck flock had a pekin hen (Mr. Nibbles) and a few blue and black swedish. The Swedish were going broody constantly though but unusually were still good layers

 

[Isadora]

My pekin girls lay very well. Pekins can be prone to weight gain which can cause leg issues and should be supplemented with extra niacin. My ladies are a year old and friendly. I have them with a lot of indian runners,

which seems to keep them more active. They're a little boring in terms of coloring since they're just white, but I like their sweetness.

 

[Percipen]

Indian Runners are my favorite. They're sweet and such goofballs.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@mamaof2wi have you thought about call Ducks?

 

[mamaof2wi]

@mamaof2wi have you thought about call Ducks?

I have but heard they are loud

 

[Newfowler1]

I really loved my Perkins, great personalities. Blue Swedish, Appleyard and Welsh H all have a nice temperament. I have almost all large bodied ducks and worry about their legs so I try to make sure they won’t get overweigh.

The Welsh Harlequin is a slightly more petite duck than the others mentioned. Nice personalities are common in what you mentioned however if I were to buy another duck it would be a regular Pekin, not Jumbo Or a pair/trio of Runners. I say this strictly on personality alone.

 

[Wafflecat]

Welsh Harlequins are what we went with for same purposes. We wanted a small flock to be friendly pets, with the side benefit of eggs . Our Harlequins have been very calm.

We also picked up a couple swedish (one black, one blue). The black swedish is one of our calmer birds, but the blue swedish is the most skittish in our flock. I don't know whether to chalk this up to breed or individual personality, but it's what we've seen so far.

Our flock is 3 Welsh Harlequin, 1 black swedish, 1 blue swedish and 1 golden hybrid 300.

The 300 is about middle of the road. Not as calm as the WH, but calmer than the blue swedish by far.

 

[rp riley]

I love my blue Swedish. She is very sweet and has a big personality

 

[Wafflecat]

I'm hoping ours calms down a little as she grows. They're still a young flock yet, and we handle her a little bit every day.