If your ducks are noisy then...

Nao57

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So my ducks are noisy only when I go out there.

One of them in particular.

She'll make a lot of excitement even more than the other ducks especially when I go out to feed them.

How do I interpret this? Does it mean they like me if they make noise when I'm there?

And how do you be sure?

Will temporary 'time outs' of a duck away from its flock, make them less noisy?
 

Beekissed

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What Thistle said....ducks don't recognize "time outs" and will likely make more noise due to be separated from the flock. She quacks loudly because she's anticipating the food.

Some duck breeds are more quiet than others....I found my Indian Runners extremely quiet, while the sole Pekin I had could be heard from afar and always gave me a chuckle~she always sounded like some big guy laughing and, in turn, this made me grin. I rather miss her noise.

If noisy ducks are not amusing to you and they wouldn't be to me if I had had more than one noisy duck, you may consider selling the noisy ones and getting those that are less so. I can't say enough good things about IR ducks, so advocate for those....great for the garden, steady layers, quiet and pretty to watch and better foragers than my chickens.
 

Nao57

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What Thistle said....ducks don't recognize "time outs" and will likely make more noise due to be separated from the flock. She quacks loudly because she's anticipating the food.

Some duck breeds are more quiet than others....I found my Indian Runners extremely quiet, while the sole Pekin I had could be heard from afar and always gave me a chuckle~she always sounded like some big guy laughing and, in turn, this made me grin. I rather miss her noise.

If noisy ducks are not amusing to you and they wouldn't be to me if I had had more than one noisy duck, you may consider selling the noisy ones and getting those that are less so. I can't say enough good things about IR ducks, so advocate for those....great for the garden, steady layers, quiet and pretty to watch and better foragers than my chickens.

LOL! That's what my brother says! He insists that when he's fixing cars in the back that my ducks are 'laughing at him'.

So what you said made me chuckle.

With me its the opposite; my indian runners are the noisy ones, but my pekings are quiet. :O

They are all sweet though. I like all of them. Ducks are so beautiful also. Thanks.

With the runner ducks...its sometimes hard for me to know if they've even eaten because they eat less than the others. :O This part is confusing sometimes.
 

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LOL! That's what my brother says! He insists that when he's fixing cars in the back that my ducks are 'laughing at him'.

So what you said made me chuckle.

With me its the opposite; my indian runners are the noisy ones, but my pekings are quiet. :O

They are all sweet though. I like all of them. Ducks are so beautiful also. Thanks.

With the runner ducks...its sometimes hard for me to know if they've even eaten because they eat less than the others. :O This part is confusing sometimes.

Mine too didn't eat as much as the chickens or Pekin duck, so I loved them all the more for that....I love a feed thrifty animal. Mine free ranged, so I knew they were getting what they needed no matter how little grain feed they were eating. They are incredible foragers...could watch them all day long.

Even my female IRs were quiet...not sure why that is but I really miss them. I didn't have a good dog to watch over the flocks this season and all three of my IRs disappeared in one night...not a feather left behind, no sounds of attack. I really miss that little group.

Hoping this new dog will work out to be a good guard up there in the coop area.
 

Nao57

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Mine too didn't eat as much as the chickens or Pekin duck, so I loved them all the more for that....I love a feed thrifty animal. Mine free ranged, so I knew they were getting what they needed no matter how little grain feed they were eating. They are incredible foragers...could watch them all day long.

Even my female IRs were quiet...not sure why that is but I really miss them. I didn't have a good dog to watch over the flocks this season and all three of my IRs disappeared in one night...not a feather left behind, no sounds of attack. I really miss that little group.

Hoping this new dog will work out to be a good guard up there in the coop area.

That's amazing! Thanks.

Are there other duck breeds that are really great foragers also?

I love this kind of stuff especially because it feels like the feed container goes down so fast.

Sorry you lost them. That sucks.
 

Beekissed

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That's amazing! Thanks.

Are there other duck breeds that are really great foragers also?

I love this kind of stuff especially because it feels like the feed container goes down so fast.

Sorry you lost them. That sucks.

I've had a few different breeds of ducks in the past, but none of them impressed me with the foraging of the IRs...could be due to the IRs ability to move faster than the typical duck when chasing down flying insects. If they are hungry enough, most ducks forage well....you can try feeding in the evening, letting them free range all day first. It really cuts down on feed consumption. Feeding fermented feed can cut down on feed costs even more....by almost half.
 

Nao57

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I've had a few different breeds of ducks in the past, but none of them impressed me with the foraging of the IRs...could be due to the IRs ability to move faster than the typical duck when chasing down flying insects. If they are hungry enough, most ducks forage well....you can try feeding in the evening, letting them free range all day first. It really cuts down on feed consumption. Feeding fermented feed can cut down on feed costs even more....by almost half.

Wow that's interesting. I wonder how many insects like nats and stuff they eat...
 

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Wow that's interesting. I wonder how many insects like nats and stuff they eat...

Tons....I got them because of the millions upon millions of squash bugs in the garden that the chickens will not eat and the Jap beetles they couldn't reach. That was last season. This season we saw not a single Jap Beetle, after having years of infestations with them and only a handful of any kind of beetle or bug in the garden. We also had been having a lot of horn worms but didn't have a single one this season....and the ducks weren't even IN the garden this season, but they did such a good job last season that there was nothing left to mate and produce more.

I liked to watch them running across the yard and catching anything that flies, jumps or crawls, sifting under the leaves and top layer of soil like they were getting paid. They do it faster and more consistently than do my chicken flock, who have been carefully culled for years now to only include the best of foragers, the hardest working and most feed thrifty.
 

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Female ducks are noisy while drakes are quiet. It is the exact opposite of chickens where the hens are quiet and roosters are loud.
 
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