Whenever we purchase any animals for our backyard, we first consider whether the animal is friendly. If they aren’t, we don’t look any further. We want friends and family to feel comfortable at home, especially in the summer when we are outside- where all the animals are. If our friends and family feel unsafe around our animals, it’s not worth having them. For instance, whenever we had roosters, we had to rehome them because they would attack our daughter when she would go in to collect eggs. That’s a no-no, so they had to go!
Friendly Duck List
Cayuga Duck
Our favorite duck is the Cayuga. Its black feathers with an emerald sheen are beautiful and striking. What’s interesting about Cayuga Ducks is that their black feathers will start to turn white as they age. Just like their eggs, their feathers will lighten as they get older. They have a calm demeanor; if you can catch them, they will stay calm in your arms. They are calmer and can lay black or gray-colored eggs. Don’t get too excited for these colored eggs; they will lighten as the season progresses. They will lay 130-180 eggs per year. A picture of our Blue Swedish and Cayuga Duck is below.
Blue Swedish Duck
We have fully enjoyed our Blue Swedish ducks. We have a male and a female. They are a great pair. Our male Swedish duck has never been aggressive or gentle with his ladies. Their coloring is gray, and the male has a white patch of feathers on his neck. The female lays tinted, blue, gray, or green eggs. She will lay about 120-180 eggs per year. My Blue Swedish Duck lays cream-colored eggs.
Indian Runner Duck
Although these ducks are fast, they add a different look to a duck flock. Because of their upright stature, they resemble penguins. We have a Blue Indian Runner Duck and have had a Fawn and White Indian Runner Duck in the past. She was beautiful! These ducks will lay 100-180 a year. These eggs will be white or light green. If you are interested in Indian Runner Ducks, look into the Chocolate Runner at My Pet Chicken. It is so beautiful. I love brown feathers. I have Chocolate Orpingtons in my chicken flock, which are so beautiful.
White Crested Duck
These striking, beautiful, and calm ducks are so much fun in a backyard flock. The little poof on top of their heads is the best part of these ducks—that makes them different from all the rest. Our Crested Duck was very docile and a favorite with my daughter. She let us dress her up with a crown and was the one duck that allowed us to hold her without too much coaxing. They lay about 130 eggs a year. Our Crested Duck has been our friendliest and had the most gentle demeanor out of all our ducks. Some bloggers and other websites claim these ducks are unethically bred because of the poof on the top of their heads, causing holes in their skulls. I haven’t ever had an issue with this deformity. However, it is something to be aware of before purchasing.
Buff Duck
These ducks are the Buff Orpingtons of the duck world. Buff Orpingtons are also among my favorite chickens for a backyard family-friendly flock. It’s no different with the Buff Duck. They are so sweet, relaxed, and friendly. These ducks will lay 130-180 white or tinted eggs per year. These ducks are a great way to add a different color to your flock. You can see our young buff duck in the water with Gerty Goose below.
White Layer
If you are looking for a duck with a huge egg-laying yield, the White Layer Duck or the Golden 300 Hybrid Duck would be a good choice. Both are docile and friendly. They both lay 200-290 white eggs a year. That’s a lot of duck eggs! If you are allergic to chicken eggs and looking for an alternative, these might be the perfect ducks. You can see the beautiful white of the White Layer below in the back of the picture near the pond.
About Duck Eggs
Just like chickens, your ducks will need supplemental light to continue laying in the winter. Remember that the egg-laying averages above are for an entire year. If you live in a climate with a snowy winter, the amount a duck lays will decrease. We don’t give our ducks supplemental light, so they lay from early spring to fall. They will not lay if they are molting, much like chickens. You also have to realize that ducks love to hide their egg nests. I once thought that our ducks weren’t laying until one of our ducks was missing from the flock, and I found her laying on 8 eggs she had been hiding. Ducks will usually lay in the morning, but if they would rather build and find a nest elsewhere, you must go on an egg hunt. Stress and inadequate lighting seem to be the two major factors that contribute to ducks not laying.
Caring For Ducks
Sadly, ducks are easy targets and are prey animals. The term “sitting duck” rings true for backyard flocks. Be aware that if your ducks are not put in at night into a safe enclosure or coop, you will risk losing them to predator animals. The predator animals we have seen in our backyard are owls, hawks, and raccoons. We didn’t think we had any predator animals in our neighborhood because we had no issues with our chickens, so we would leave our ducks outside their coop at night instead of making them go into their coop. This turned out to be the worst-case scenario for us. In learning how to keep ducks on our backyard farm, we learned that our waterfowl must be in their coop every night, or predators will come to find a meal.
If you want to learn how we put our ducks in at night, get my FREE Duck Download.
Consider a Guard Goose
Our second go around with ducks, we got a goose. Her name is Gerty Goose, and she does an amazing job protecting her flock of ducks. I would suggest that when you purchase your ducklings, you get a gosling as well. They grow up together, and the goose will automatically know her job. I also believe that having a goose helps male ducks not protect their ladies aggressively. Below, Gerty Goose keeps an eye (literally) on the sky. If she sees something that could be a predator, she honks and makes noise to alert the ducks and keep predators away.
Consider Our Easy Clean Duck Coop
Before we purchased our first small flock of ducks, we had to build a shelter for them that I could clean quickly and efficiently. That’s how Our Easy Clean Duck Coop came to be. We designed and built a perfect coop for a small backyard flock of waterfowl. It’s easy to clean, keeps our flock safe at night, and has great curb appeal! Get your DIY Plans today!
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