Hi all,

i am looking to get a duck(s) which i can have from an egg and raise myself. I am looking to get a small duck which isnt too noisy (i live in a semi detached city house) and also one which is very friendly and enjoys human company.

Any advice?

Thanks

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Owned by Sweep (border collie) Dash (Long coat Chihuahua), Alaska & Wispa (cats), Lily, Tomtom and Oscar (ferrets), Sky (budgie), Valo (California Kingsnake), Larry (weather loach) and Ross, Chandler, Joey, Pheobe, Rachel and Monica (gerbils)

You need to check that you are allowed to keep livestock in your garden before you get them - most town properties forbid any livestock, including ducks etc., on the deeds so do check!
You also need to remember that ducks are incredibly messy and will turn even a large garden into a smelly grassless mud patch in a very short period of time!! - so I would advise if space is limited then a paved/concrete area that you can hose off daily would be the best place to keep them and just cut a piece of turf for them to graze on a few times a week to keep them happy.
It needs to be well fenced to prevent vermin, as ducks attract rats where ever you are - rats loooove ducklings so do be careful!
They also need a pond that is easy to clean as you will need to empty it once a week in summer time to clean it or it will smell awful and harbor disease. You need to shut them in at night or something will eat them so can be quite a tie if you want to go out!
You also need more than one duck - they stress if on their own - they do get used to people easily like any you find in a park and will feed from your hand, don't expect them to be cuddly sort of birds as they aren't!

If you are looking at hatching your own then you'll need an incubator, heat equipment, chick crumbs and pen until they are old enough to leave the heat and be introduced to their outside run - there are books on keeping ducks on amazon so well worth reading up before buying!! You can buy ducklings very cheaply at poultry sales although usually they are pretty stressed and cold so do expect a few to die.

I used to keep alot of types of ducks and the nicest ones we found were the khaki Campbell's - very good layers, although can be noisy, the saxonys are also lovely ducks, runner ducks are also great pets and layers. Just watch the meat breeds like the aylesbury/saxony etc as they tend to get fat very quickly if you don't watch their diet, which means they can often get too heavy for their legs to carry so have to be put down - or they go nicely with roast spuds!!
The quietest were the muscovy ducks - although technically a member of the goose family - so they can't quack - so are pretty good if you have neighbors, but you need to keep their wings clipped, like any of the lighter types of duck, as they are good fliers, the drakes can get aggressive though and they are quite big birds!
I would read as many books/internet sites as possible, visit a duck farm and speak to some breeders - you can see then just how messy they are and if they are for you!!

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I would just like to add to alexarts post

Where he mentioned you will need a pond, not all ducks need a pond domestic ducks are totally different to wild ducks, tho if you would like them to have one then you can use a kids regid plastic pool tho will need cleaning every few days, this is what i use.
domestic ducks are totally different to wild ducks.

keep an eye out on my website tho its not finished yet im still added to it. There is a page on breed of ducks, it tells you around how many eggs you get a year, if they are quite and if they are good for the garden.


mitch

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My new website bits still under construction http://www.gardenquackers.weebly.com
Ducks - Crested bali runners, Cayugas, Muscovys, Chickens - Silkies, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, Lemon Millefluer Sablepoots

http://chickensandpoultry.co.uk/data...ster_flyer.pdf

Sorry I didn't make myself clear on the pond thing - you're quite right chickenrun they don't need a pond as such but do need a container big enough for them to totally submerge themselves in and flap their wings under water - I used to have a cow water trough thing - a big round plastic thing about 2ft deep by 5ft wide - worked really well but I wouldn't go any smaller, you can sink them in the ground or just have steps upto it, an old bath tub also works for the small breeds of duck!!
By the way Chickenrun I'm Alexandra not er!!!

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so sorry alexandra

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My new website bits still under construction http://www.gardenquackers.weebly.com
Ducks - Crested bali runners, Cayugas, Muscovys, Chickens - Silkies, Silver Spangled Hamburgs, Lemon Millefluer Sablepoots

http://chickensandpoultry.co.uk/data...ster_flyer.pdf