Cayuga Duck Questions *Update* with a PHOTO

I have a drake and a hen. I've had them since April of 2010 when they were under a week old.

When should I start to look for her to lay?

What are some signs that she might be getting ready or is laying already. Never found any eggs if she ever has.

They go everywhere together, he guards her all the time. When she lays will he do the same while she lays.

If she does lay will she automatically want to sit on them to hatch them or will she be fine just laying and going on?

sorry I only have the two ducks and doesn't seem to be much information online about them other than it will be spring before she starts laying. I also have read the eggs will be black/gray and get lighter as they are laid.

My ducks dont lay till spring. Im not sure how old a duck has to be before she lays her frist egg. Most ducks will lay a nest of eggs before they want to sit on them. Most of my ducks lay about 12 eggs before they want to sit on them.

I have several different breeds and they were also mostly hatched last spring (March, April and May). My Runners and Campbells I have seen lay the eggs. The Cayugas, no. They lay a blackish egg to start with and I haven't found any that color so I am sure they are not laying. I do not have a Cayuga drake but some in other breeds and right now they all run together.
I do not expect my Cayugas to lay for another 2 months. They hatched in April, like yours. I think they must just start later because a few Runners were hatched at that time and they have been laying for a while now.

If you want to find her eggs you need to coop them up at night. She will most likely lay between 4am and 11 am every day. I have on occasion found an OOPS egg out in the yard or on the farm in the afternoon when I let them out of their pen. Mostly ducks lay in the mornings though.
Has she been bobbing her head at your drake? that is a sign of maturity. I have not seen my Cayugas do that but my Runners are forever flirting with the drakes.
Your drake should be fine with her when she lays but I suggest more ducks for him as he may over breed her. She of my girls were missing a large patch of feathers on the back of their heads this fall. Obviously favs of the boys.

She will most likely lay her eggs and go on about her business. I am not sure how broody Cayugas are. I don;t think they are likely to go broody until they lay more than 10 eggs, anyhow but your girl may not go broody at all.
They do not use a nest all the time either but I have a nest box in my coop for mine. The Runners use it often but my Pekin and Campbells do not.

There isn't much info online. That is what makes this place so wonderful!

Yes she has been bobbing her head up and down at him for quite some time now. Everytime I clean out their pool they get in and mate. They wait for me to get it refilled so they can do so. Today I saw her submit in the water for the very first time and then he mounted her. He has grown very protective of her lately. Maybe a little over protective? When you walk by them if you will turn around and look he is chasing after you, lol. I notice he pushes and snaps at all of the other chickens now in the yard as well if they come close. They both have gotten very talkative with each other lately. He is a very good mate to her. He definitely stands his ground to keep her safe. Can ducks pelvic bones be checked like chickens? If they are 2 to 3 fingers apart and pliable then they are getting close or is that only with chickens?

cayugas usually for me start early, mine have been laying for over a month now. Main thing to watch is the hens rear.
When she gets "eggy" her butt will swell and nearly be dragging the ground when she walks. Once you see this swelling in the rear, she has eggs inside her and will be laying within a day or so, as for age, she's ready to go any time now

Here is a pic of the eggs that my cayugas have laid. I got rid of the ones that layed the green eggs and kept all of the ones that layed gray to black eggs. Its pretty hard to find ones that lay black eggs. I have one hen that lays the real black egg, one year her eggs lightened up alot as she layed, then one year they didnt lighten up at all, they stayed pretty dark.

I'm guessing she will lay in spring or early summer and if your lucky sometimes cayugas lay an all black egg!!! super cool one of mine did once it was AWESOME!

I have a Cayuga pair. Thelma started laying when she was just over six months old. Her first egg was black, but now they're all off-white. She lays 'em and leaves 'em. However, she had made a couple nests a few times, but never set. Just laid 'em there and wandered off. So I gathered the eggs.

Louie loves her very much. He loves ME too. But he is so protective of her. Its adorable. If she ever sets, I'm going to let her try to hatch her eggs.

Thank you all for answering my questions. My wife was telling me today she thought our hen was walking a little lower to the ground, lol. Maybe we are in for a surprise soon. I will be sure to post when it happens with pictures. Thanks!

Oh as a side note I'll have to post a picture of my drake. He is crested, just wondering if that is normal or if that means he's some sort of a cross breed? He looks exactly like the hen just has a small poofy crest on him.

I have two female Cayugas that we got on April 7th (just hatched and shipped and arrived). We got our first duck egg on September 6th and the second one started laying September 7th. The very first one was jet black. Both of our ducks layed regularly in the corner of their house up until last week. Their house is a dog house with hay in it and we hinged the roof so we can get the eggs and clean it out. One egg would be ready when I checked in the morning and the other egg would be ready just before I left for work. We do not have enough daylight now to sustain egg production and know they will resume laying in the spring. Kiera layed eggs that were uniform in size and color. Gabrielle layed many double yolkers quite often and her egg size was very inconsistent (big, little, big, big, little etc). Kiera's eggs lightened up to a light gray. Gabrielle's eggs did get lighter but they are more of a darker gray. I can easily tell the difference between the eggs and who laid which one. Either way, they are yummy and now I'm being picky on the recipes I use them for since I only have a dozen and a half left.

Even though I have two girls, they do show some of the same signs. Look for a lump between her legs and tail where the egg is. It's pretty obvious when there is one there ready to be laid. It just about drags on the ground - very low clearance! Both do the bobbing head thing and also domininance in the pool thing too. We didn't need little ones so I got two females. I can't comment on a mated pair though.

They are very beautiful wonderful ducks. Enjoy!