How To Keep Ducks Quiet? (7 Interesting Facts)

One challenge you may encounter while rearing ducks is that of noise. Ducks can be rather noisy at times. And this leads to a question on how the ducks can be kept quiet. In this article, you will find information on how you go about keeping your ducks quiet.

This is how to keep ducks quiet: by providing them with adequate food and water, ensuring that they don’t get bored and getting rid of things that may scare them. Locking them up at night also helps. And if they are female ducks, introducing a male may work, in making them quieter.

The key thing is to understand the common reasons for ducks quacking loudly. That is the first step, when it comes to managing duck quacking.

If your ducks will not stop quacking, there has to be a reason. Once you identify the reason why a duck won’t stop quacking, you can then figure out what to do about it.

So you come up with effective strategies, on how to keep your ducks quiet.

Right from the outset though, you need to be realistic in your expectations. Don’t expect to be able to completely quiet down the ducks.

Thus the question shouldn’t be on, say, how can I get my duck to stop quacking completely? Ducks will always be ducks. Therefore they will always quack.

Instead, you ought to be thinking in terms of, say, how do you calm down a duck that is quacking too loudly. Now this goal – of calming a particularly noisy duck – may be achievable.

Similarly, if you have a duck constantly quacking, you can work towards reducing the frequency and/or intensity of the quacking.

Do Ducks Make Noise?

People who are new to ducks tend to perceive them as being quiet, slow and docile birds.

The idea that ducks may be noisy is one that people who are unfamiliar with them may receive with skepticism.

Thus it is not uncommon to find people asking questions like, are ducks noisy? Or are ducks loud?

Now the true position about ducks – just like most other birds – is that they do make sounds. In some settings, those may be perceived as ‘noisy’ sounds.

To be sure, ducks are not exceptionally noisy. Just ask yourself, are ducks louder than chickens? And the answer is largely ‘no’. The sounds that ducks make can’t be compared with, say, cocks’ crowing sounds.

Nonetheless, there are times when you do find ducks quacking loudly. Some people then perceive these as loud duck noises.

People who are considering adopting ducks as pets may at times ask, are ducks noisy to keep? Or you find them asking, do ducks make a lot of noise?

And the best way to answer is usually by saying that while they are not exceptionally noisy, ducks do at times make loud sounds.

Sometimes, the sounds from ducks can be bothersome (at least for some people). You do at times find a duck owner lamenting ‘my ducks won’t be quiet‘ or ‘my ducks are too noisy‘.

It is pretty much impossible to find absolutely quiet ducks.

So given all these facts, we can say that ducks do make noise. They are not exceptionally noisy. But they do at times raise some ruckus.

Why Do Ducks Make Noise?

Having established that ducks do indeed make some noise, the next question is on why they do it.

Some people may rephrase this question to be, why do ducks quack constantly?

As it turns out, there are several reasons as to why ducks make noise.

There are times when ducks may make noise because they are hungry or thirsty.

At other times, ducks may make noise because they are bored.

And if ducks perceive anything as a potential predator, they make lots of noise. This is with a view to warn each other of the danger.

Ducks also make noise as part of their mating rituals.

And it would seem that ducks are among the animals/birds that keep track of each in the field using sounds.

Excitement too can cause ducks to make noise.

Thus there are many possible reasons for ducks making noise.

It is also worth understanding that some types of ducks are noisier than others. For instance, there is a variety of ducks that is called the ‘Call duck’ and which is very noisy.

If you research on why are Call ducks noisy, you find that it is largely due to their genetic heritage.

Further, it is worth noting that the reasons for ducks quacking at different times may vary. For instance, if you read up on why do ducks quack at night, you will see that it is different from why they quack during the day.

Even the ages of the ducks may influence their reasons for quacking. So baby ducks may quack for different reasons from adults.

Consequently, you find that when it comes to the aspect of how to keep baby ducks quiet, the applicable strategies may sometimes be different from those for adult ducks.

What Kind Of Noise Do Ducks Make?

The primary sound that ducks make through their mouths is called ‘quacking’.

But listening to the quacking tones, you can perceive that there are coos, chatters, grunts and croaks. There are also barks, growls and it may even be possible to hear hisses at times.

So the primary sound is quacking. But listening to the quacks carefully, and also observing how the ducks behave while making them, you see that there are different tones and meanings.

How To Keep Ducks Quiet?

There are many ways in which you can try to make ducks quiet.

The ducks may be making noise because they are hungry or thirsty. So just providing the ducks with food and water quiets them in some cases.

The ducks may be making noise because they are bored. So providing them with facilities to play in (muddy water facilities especially) may help in quieting them.

In some cases, the ducks may be quacking because there is something they perceive as a predator around. This may, for instance, be the dog. Moving it away from them may help in getting them to stop quacking.

If the ducks are all female, they may be quacking for want of male company. Thus introducing a male to an all-female duck company sometimes helps in getting them to stop quacking too much.

If ducks are in an overly stimulating environment, they may tend to quack too much. Moving them to a less stimulating environment may at times help in keeping them quiet.

So in most cases, you need to establish the reason for the ducks quacking first. Just ask yourself, why are my ducks quacking so loud? If it is a single duck, ask yourself, why is my duck quacking so much?

Once you establish the reason for the duck quacking, it is usually easier to figure out the solution.

Just understand that strategies that work for some types of ducks may not work well for others.

For instance, working out how to keep Call ducks quiet may require different strategies, in comparison to those for keeping Muscovy ducks quiet.

It also helps if you have insight into the various duck sounds and what they mean.

How To Keep Ducks Quiet During The Day?

There are times when you may notice that your ducks are noisiest during the day.

Sometimes, that may be specifically during the morning. And so it gets you wondering, why do ducks quack in the morning? Or if yours is specifically a duckling, you start wondering, why wont my duckling stop quacking in the morning?

There are also instances in which the quacking seems to intensify at midday, or during the evenings.

It would seem that the plenty of stimulation that is present during the day is the cause for this.

Moreover, the ducks may feel braver during the day. Quacking at night would possibly alert predators. But during the day, they feel braver to quack.

Whatever the reason, if the quacking is most intense during the morning, you may find yourself wondering, is there a way to stop my duck from quacking in the morning?

Generally though, when it comes to keeping ducks quiet during the day, several strategies work well. Those include providing adequate food and water, and availing facilities for the ducks to play in.

If the ducks are not bored, they are unlikely to quack loudly. In other words, if they have something to occupy their time, the ducks are unlikely to quack too much.

It helps to avoid keeping the ducks in hyper-stimulating situations. So these are situations with too much activity, and especially too much noise. This may help in quieting them.

During the day, you can have the ducks move freely in a fenced yard. Being in less cramped quarters may help in quieting them a bit.

How To Keep Ducks Quiet At Night?

The most bothersome duck quacking tends to be that which happens at night.

Here, we need to start by asking ourselves, why do ducks make noise at night? And this seems to be largely for the purpose of constantly keeping in touch with each other.

In other words, it is about constantly letting one another know of each other’s presence. This is essential in the dark, so as not to lose contact.

It is similar to how other animals use scents to notify one another of each other’s presence. So ducks use quacking to the same effect.

But if the ducks perceive something as a predator, their quacking can intensify.

Locking the ducks up for the night, rather than allowing them to roam around at night, seems to help.

Feeding the ducks before lockup also seems to help.

And if they are all female ducks, introducing a ‘protective’ male also seems to help in getting them to stop quacking so much at night.

These strategies work well too in the context of how to keep ducklings quiet at night.

Final Verdict – How To Keep Ducks Quiet

Ducks make noise because of factors such as hunger, thirst, boredom, excitement and fear.

You can therefore keep ducks quiet(er) by providing adequate food. Properly-fed ducks tend to make less noise than hungry ducks.

Providing adequate water – for drinking and for playing in – can also help in keeping ducks quiet.

Ducks in less stimulating environments will tend to make less noise than those in hyper-stimulating environments. Those moving ducks to spots with less activity, and especially less noise, may make them quieter.

The presence of things that ducks perceive as potential predators can make them very noisy. Thus ensuring that there are no dogs or other animals that could threaten the ducks around can help in quieting them.

Female ducks that are without male company can be very noisy. Thus introducing a male duck to a previously all-female duck group may help in quieting things a bit.

There are also some duck breeds (such as Muscovies) that tend to be quieter than others. And there are those that tend to be louder (such as Call ducks).

If you want to keep ducks, but don’t want too much quacking, you can opt for the quieter types – such as Muscovies.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet duck a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️