What is the healthiest duck breed?

We've had ducks since 2020.  Although we had been researching breeds since 2016, when 2020 rolled around, we didn't have choices since everyone was getting ducks that year.  We brought home the first two breeds we could find.

It is now 2022, two years and four months later.  From our four original ducks, we lost one duck of each breed so far; both were sudden deaths unrelated to predators. One duck died from an infection related to yolk coelimitis and we don't  know what the other one died from since vets are not doing necropsies due to the high avian flu risk this year.  We have two lovely ducks remaining.

We have found that about four ducks is a good number for us, but that two ducks is plenty for the amount of eggs that we eat.  We gave away a lot of eggs to friends and neighbors when we had more ducks.

That is to say, we aren't looking for the duck that lays the most eggs, or the duck that puts on the most weight.  We seek the healthiest breed that will be our garden companion (pet).  The ducks provide our land with nutrients and eat any slugs that we see.  And so we seek the healthiest duck (rather than a breed bred for egg or meat production).  A quiet breed is a bonus; we are not considering call ducks.

Does anyone have any recommendations as we restock our small flock in the spring?

Welsh Harlequin Ducks
- calm a must for pets
- great forager
- eggs
- 5lbs

Hi Sabi,
I don't have a lot of experience with ducks, and I am not saying that this is the reason... but please keep in mind that diet and environment will have a great impact on health in any animals, just like it does with humans.

We have Muscovy here, not a true duck but taste great. They reach goose size and free range the property eating insects at twice the rate the chickens do. Our friends have noticed how few pesky flies and mosquitoes we have. ( property is surrounded by national forest)
Treat the meat like beef when cooking, not like fowl.
They are pretty entertaining to watch, very tough birds. All the other animals give them space when they demand it.
No quacking, just a gentle hiss or grunt.

Most breeds of domestic duck originated with the mallard, and all quack, call, etc.  The below list all descended from mallards.
Rouen (meat)
Khaki Campbell (Meat & eggs)
Pekin (meat)
Indian runner (prolific eggs/no meat)
Cayuga (iridescent black feathers)
Tuxedo (Many colors with a white bib)

Since you have all the eggs you need, I'd steer clear of the Indian Runner & Khaki Campbell.  Also, since you aren't interested in meat, I'd take Pekin & Rouen off the list as well.

If I were in your shoes, I'd visit all of the common poultry hatchery websites & choose a "package" that suits your needs.  They even have ornamental crested breeds that you may find interesting.

Another option is to peruse sites like Craigslist for local adult birds that people no longer want, especially after the Easter ducklings season.

The Muscovy mentioned in the previous post is the only exception to mallard types that comes to mind.  My experience with them are as barnyard flocks, not pets.  However, they are layers of large eggs, naturally protective mothers, and generally a quiet bird.  They make a hissing sound that is pretty unique.

We have raised Pekins, Pekin crosses, Rouens, Rouen crosses, Khaki Campbells, Cayugas, Runners, Runner crosses, and Muscovies.

In my experience, Muscovies are the toughest and healthiest. They raise their own and are fierce mamas. One of our mamas literally fought off the dang hawk that keeps going after our flock. Two other gals survived hawk attacks and are just fine despite not letting us get near them to take care of their wounds. They don't lay as many eggs, and some people think they taste different, but the only difference I've found is that their shells are harder to break. They also eat less feed by a lot and forage like mad, even from a day old.

If you want mallard-type ducks, we have found Rouens to be pretty tough and the Rouen/Pekin crosses to be healthy, hearty birds. More eggs, too.

I don't farm anymore but did have several breeds of ducks when I did. I found that Muscovy ducks are so great at eating insects, slugs and in general anything that moves, including mice. They lay seasonally (only in early spring into summer), lay every day (most of the time) and are often broody. I had a drake who was very friendly! He never was aggressive or unfriendly. He kept the girls (I had 12 ducks) in line and was a pleasure to have. I know they make the best mothers! And the males do dress up nicely.

You should look for the Muscovy breed that is good for meat (some are larger than others). Some males might dress at 12-18#. They are best if brined prior to roasting and shouldn't be overcooked. I have sold my (certified organic) ducks for $6. per #, dressed and in FoodSaver bags.

I loved my Muscovy ducks and wouldn't have any other breed. They are much smarter than other Peking breeds. Easier to train and herd into the barn at night. The Peking breeds were most uncooperative at night and I spent a lot of time getting them into safe quarters every night. The Muscovies went in without any trouble.

I hope you figure out what works best for your situation!

I have a couple of questions for people recommending Muscovy ducks. How did you train them to not eat your garden, to go in the coop, to let you clip their wings? When we lived in Costa Rica, we had Muscovies that basically went wild and flew all over our farm eating all our greens from the garden (they Loved kale) and getting into our bananas. They were too smart! They learned in one go that following a trail of feed into any enclosed space meant getting their wings clipped. After that, they ignored any piles of feed on the inside of a door. Once their wings grew out again, they flew out of the duck fence for good and became a menace. Any thoughts? Make sure to clip the wings often enough from the start that they never learn they can fly? The previous farm manager had given them very little attention thinking that independent ducks were a good thing. Not true for Muscovies!

I am well on my way to a landrace duck breed.  I started with locally available ducks... all picked up for free on Craig's List.  Pekins, Rouen (barnyard type, not exhibition) ancona, welsh harlequin, and some sort of slim white duck that I am pretty sure was an egg laying hybrid.
I select my flock for light mallard color (although I still have whites and "dark mallard") as well as general vigor.  I don't have a good way to measure egg production between individuals to select for egg production.  My flock has been "closed" for about 4 years - nothing new added genetically.  

I would say that just stay away from any "extremes" in size or production qualities, and then just work with what is available and you should be able to establish a flock.  

I want to start a flock of muscovies.  I have a place (separate from the mallard-type ducks) and got local eggs last year, but none hatch.  It was my 2nd attempt with muscovies.  I will try again.

We never clip our birds wings, and we work to raise all our livestock to be comfortable with being handled - including the muskovies. For our acreage, and geology, fencing the whole place in isn't an option. Any beds I don't want destroyed by our critters or livestock must be within its own protective enclosure - and so far, I've not done much of that, so my goats and birds have all had their share in the demise of my gardens, that were left exposed, but I can't say the muskovies were even close to being as hard on our gardens as the chickens, turkeys, or goats.

We've talked about clipping their wings but haven't due to hawks and such around. We have one who refuses to go in the barn at night and instead flies up high into a tree. We worry about her, but she is quite determined.

Honestly, ours haven't flown into the garden at all, even though I keep expecting them to. One thing a Muscovy guy told my husband once is that they are good driven ducks. They will stay around of there's food, and if you have enough food outside of the garden, they don't go in the garden. So far, that seems to be true.

Thank you Sabi for your question. I toy with getting a couple ducks when the leghorns expire. I would be in a similar boat: would like some eggs, but care more about breed heartiness.
Thank you very much Carina for your spot-on response.

My experience with ducks is rather limited since I've only had Pekins for meat. It turned out to be the best for our situation: We live in sand and do not have access to a pond of any size. I built them one with 2X4s and tarp. They loved it but it had to be cleaned every other day. This precludes keeping them over the winter in our zone 4b. or else I would, and have more of them. [I had 15 and they all made it to freezer camp in good health.]
They reach good size by week 8 and my biggest problem has been to find a butcher shop that would schedule them in time. Because of that, they got butchered at 6.5 weeks and did not reach quite the size they should have.
They are a delight to keep around and I really enjoyed their antics. They were quite young and I was very surprised to see them peck at a TV screen laying there to kill some grass. They would all get on it and peck, peck, peck. What could hold them so fascinated? They would roll on top of a wet tarp after the rain and that is when I realized that although they were not feathered and too young to go in a deep pool, they were still craving getting wet.  The appearance of water as attractive to a duck as a water mirage is to a thirsty person! The reflection of the sky on the TV screen made it look like water.
So I took some 2X4X10 and made a square pond. I placed it over a natural hollow in the orchard to be a little deeper and covered the whole thing with one of these big blue tarps. The saying goes: Taking to it like a duck to water. They really did. they were not feathered but could just walk in it, so no drowning.
I'm looking forward to raising some more next spring. At 8 weeks, I will butcher them myself. This way, I can also make a couple of down pillows.
If you are thinking of getting ducks, but are not sure, having some Pekins would help you get your feet wet [Ha, ha. I could not resist that one]. During the warm days, I didn't mind cleaning the pond: The yucky water was diverted to apple trees Which greatly profited. But some folks really don't care to clean up the mess. Yes, they are going to poop everywhere and you have to be ready for it. Mine stayed outside for the whole day, so their litter remained clean in the shed I had built. [Keep their water and food outside so they don't need to go in until supper time].
I find chickens even worse for cleaning as they will go in and out of their shelter all day. Also, chickens roost high enough that you will have to clean the walls as well. AAARRRGH. Plus they are stupid. Ducks stay together, so you can gently move them all at one time where you want them to go.
Pekins don't roost, of course, so changing the litter and changing the pond water was pretty much all I did for them.

We have had chickens for several years but decided to add ducks and turkeys this year. For ducks, we chose a breed called Duclair (Murray McMurray) and while they seem to be a smaller breed, they grew quickly - you could have a 3-4 lb table bird in 2-3 months. They are calm, friendly (not aggressive), forage well and not at all flighty. They are said to be decent layers, though we didn't get to see that before fall came and laying slowed. Just thought I'd throw out another option to look at.

I chose to get silver appleyards for several reasons.

It's early days yet, they are still ducklings, but I am happy so far. We don't have heat lamps or any electrical way of brooding, have just kept them close to the wood stove, which is off overnight. They are growing quickly and look healthy.

I was looking for a dual purpose duck, mainly a large breed for meat but also for some eggs. I wanted good foragers that would sit on eggs and raise their own ducklings. I looked at Storey's raising ducks book and narrowed my choices down to ancona, saxony, or silver appleyard, it was easier to find silver appleyards locally so that is what I chose.

We've also had Muscovys in the past, and they went well here free ranging without any additional feed for a while, but sadly they got picked off by predators before we had a guardian dog. I might consider getting Muscovys again one day as they were very healthy.