I love all of my ducks...I have some pure breds and some mixes and I find that they all have very endearing personalities...the Pekins and the loudest, biggest, fatest with an extreme waddle factor...they are loud and friendly...totally silly...they lay very well and give me the largest eggs and often double yolkers...
I have a very old Black Swedish duck who went broody and hatched a dozen ducklings, some of them even her own as I have some young Black Swede mixes out there...I think that was probably her last hurrah as she is a senior citizen in the duck yard...she is freidly and opinionated...
I have a crested Rouen drake I named Don King for his wild hair do...he has three fawn and white runner ducks who would follow him to hell and back...in the big mix they are always together and if one of the girls goes missing, Don gets frantic and flits here there and every where until he has located the missing...he is very charming and watchful of his babes lest one of the other drakes gets any ideas about stealing one of them...
I have a buff and a plain brown duck...both are old and quite the moochers...always hanging about my ankles waiting for me to drop something like dog food, an egg, anything at all that they can scarf up...they watch my hands and my face...always hopeful for a snack...
There is a black Runner duck out there who has identity problems...she was not raised with geese but thinks she is one...she has an insufferable "crush" on my White Chinese gander...she follows him every where and stays with the goose flock rather than the duck flock...she quacks at him and head bobs and he looks at her like she is a total lunatic but never offers to harm her...once in a while he gets tired of her and bonks her but not wickedly...I am sure she embarrasses him...
I have two Ancona/Pekin crosses with very pretty markings, both girls and very loud...
I love them all and they each bring something different to the table and I do not mean the food table...I spend hours just watching them and laughing my butt off...they are better than tv, movies, all that stuff...it is totally hilarious when the group of six or seven bachelors (guys who have no ducks of their own and who hang together as a group) argue over something...they get into pushing contests, chest to chest, and really get down with the shoving...the non combatants gather around in some sort of cheering section and encourage the mayhem...better than fake wrestling on tv...they shove and push, plant their big feet and really give it a go until one backs up or backs down, then it is off to the pool for a dip with a mouthful of celebretory oatmeal...they a a total crack up...
There is no such thing as an ugly duck and they all have the charm factor in full force...it all comes down to personal preference and the quack factor...if you have neighbors, which thankfully I don't, loud ducks could annoy some people...Muscovies are quiet, lay well, brood their own, are very delcious tho I have no personal experience with that aspect, and fly like bandits...if you want to keep them honest, you may have to clip wings...I recently acquired five of them and am smitten...one drake and four ducks...they come in a variety of colors and that is nice...easy to name them, differenciate and all of that...
