Quietist ducks?

[frias]

My neighbour would like some ducks. She had some before but chose Mallards as they are supposed to be quiet. I think of Mallards as being wild so I'm trying to persuede her to get something else but she's worried about other neighbours complaining about the noise. Anyone know which ducks are quietist? Also is it OK to only keep one male and one female?

[Birdie Wife]

Go for muscovies (large duck, almost a goose in fact) They are virtually noiseless, okay a bit on the large side but really super personalities. I got some last year and they are brilliant They do like to fly though so clip the wings if there are a few houses around.

As to the male/female ratio, it would be better to have at least two females to a male, otherwise the poor girl will have to put up with a lot of unwanted attention!

[Hilary B]

Mallards are simply the wild ancestor of all ordinary domestic ducks (apart from muscovies).
I think I heard somewhere that runners are a bit quieter than most of the mallard-derived breeds, but mucovies are SO much more interesting!
They are also the one type of duck where you MIGHT get away with a pair (a trio is better, and for most other types, one drake is enough for quite a number of ducks).

[flighty1]

With respect I think it really depends on what your the neighbour wants ducks for. If it's for eggs then unfortunately any duck will be a bit noisey as it's the female which quacks. If just for pets why not have a small group of males which are by far the quieter of the species. We used to keep 10 khaki campbell ducks & 2 drakes & if I am honest they were never really noisey, however I think it depends on how willing the neighbours are to accept a bit of quacking

[CoraxAurata]

muscovies = quiet ( the boys so of hiss in conversation and the girls make the sweetest little sounds), intelligent, cheeky great broodies not great layers, Runner girls are just as noisy as others my silver appleyard girls too, boys are quieter with all the duck breeds, call ducks are NOISY!

Have been told that, Mandarins and Pintails are fairly quiet, and true Aylesburys (pinkish bill not bright yellow!) while huge seem to be pretty quiet natured i.e. quack less often...)

Oh and while muscovie drakes are big the girls are quite modestly sized (mine are much smaller than the Silver appleyard girls.... Does she want some eggs? :P lol jk