Cayuga Duck Eggs

Urucubaca

Chirping
6 Years
Dec 30, 2013
125
21
83
Brisbane, Australia
Hello,

I am just curious if any Cayuga Duck owners actually get eggs of that wonderful dark grey at the beginning of the season.

I have a beautiful drakes and just gave him a girl (with more along the way). Not sure what to expect yet.
 
My cayuga does lay eggs with the sooty overlayer however she kept doing this throughout the laying season but it was a very light grey.
 
I just found this thread searching for Cayuga eggs (I've got a theory about shell color, actually). I'm hoping you've seen your blackest eggs appear this spring!

Just to clarify: I've got 5 hens laying this spring. One lays eggs with a white shell, two lay eggs with a pearl grey shell, and two lay eggs with a pale green shell. The attached photo is of the first two eggs I found this year; they are most probably from the three-year old hen (who lays the darkest green shells) and the softshell egg from one of the two-year old hens (her daughter, and I only think it was one of the older girls because of the larger-than-pullet size and earlier-than-pullet timing).

In general, I think that a white egg shell in Cayugas is a sign of a watered down breeding pool somewhere along the way...I don't hatch with white eggs. I also think (and, mind you, I have not substantiated this) that hens laying darker shelled eggs pass more pigment along to their offspring.

I have also noticed that the pigmented film on the eggs seems darker overall on the green-shelled eggs, then grey-shelled eggs, and even the very first white-shelled Cayuga egg this year had a very light gray film on it. Cayuga females will develop white feathers over injuries and with age...guess which of my hens has a mantle of white feathers at two years old, while her mother has just a few specks of white? The white-shell layer. However, she's my most diligent and protective broody, and I'll use her again this year (and as a bonus, I can tell if she "adds" any eggs to my chosen clutch).

I am sitting on (pun intended) a few dozen green- and grey-shelled eggs for hatching. Some are definitely too early/old to incubate, but they marbled black and grey over green eggs are sometimes just too stunning to eat...I find myself going for the chicken eggs first every time! I'll try to remember to take a picture of my stash when I get home.

They have been laying since March 14, so I should be in peak fertility right now (and the ladies are definitely ready to nest). I'm considering listing hatching eggs, but I have to get my clutches in order first.



And, yes, I know this thread is kind of old...hope it helps someone out there!
 
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Just got our first two eggs in the same nest box. We have three hens and just installed a heat lamp. Think that is triggering the winter laying. We were expecting dark eggs. Still delicious.
 



Just got our first two eggs in the same nest box. We have three hens and just installed a heat lamp. Think that is triggering the winter laying. We were expecting dark eggs. Still delicious.
Very pretty, daylight is what triggers egg laying the longer the daylight the more they lay, I never have heard of heat lamps causing it unless you have a reg light bulb. I'm not a proponent of using heat or light during winter. ducks that slow down during winter months need to rest their bodies for spring when things begin to get going at full speed, Some ducks will continue to lay off an on during winter just like chickens though. And then using heat, well that's another controversial subject, Domesticated ducks are very hardy [they wear down under their feather] the only ducks I would say couldn't take the frigid weather would be Runner ducks due to their slim upright bodies. But using heat may cause more harm than good, 1 heat lamps are dangerous and those of us who have been here for a while have seen the heart break of someone losing their coops/barns/ flocks do to a heat lamp starting a fire. then you get them use to the warmer temps and lose power for any length of time then that is hard on them. If they have a sturdy secure house with ventilation up top they can mange just fine without heat. Most Cayuga eggs I've seen are very dark maybe it has something to do with just starting to lay and they will get darker. Gorgeous ducks too. I'll get off my soap box now.
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Thank you for all the good feedback Lydia~

The heat lamp is a red bulb type, and being first year birds, we weren't expecting any eggs til spring. All the pictures of Cayuga eggs I've seen were very dark, with the literature saying the got lighter as they got older. I guess we'll see how things progress on that front. Two of the three have a random white feather~ I wonder if they are the white layers?

The main reason we installed the lamp was to keep their water in their coop thawed during long spells of sub freezing. I will definitely rethink how we achieve that.
 
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How I keep my ducks from using them as hot tubs.
If you have elec. why not go with heated buckets? I don't put mine inside because of the mess they make but I have used heated buckets for about 4 yrs now and my goodness can't say enough about them. TSC carries them I use the 2.5 gal for my ducks.

And you may not get many eggs since we're going into the darkest part of the year but enjoy the ones you do get they are yummy for sure.

I have heard of Cayugas having the random white feather and getting whiter as they get older too. happens to us all. lol
 
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