Cayuga Duck Eggs

[nannyqueen]

Good to know thank you. This is my first time raising ducks and I was so excited when they started laying and equally excited when we got our first "black" egg! You can only imagine my surprise when the "black" came off.Lol!

 

[helios]

I'm so glad this thread has kept alive!

I love seeing the "fading toner" in the progressive egg carton[jtn]...I'm sure others do, too! I've only bred specific pens one summer; I more or less left them to their own proclivities last summer, as I had several young hens.

Keep the pics coming of the beautiful blooms! Anyone who wants to chime in about the base egg color [thanks, learycow], I would appreciate the data...I have a flock 3 generations bred from some hq show stock. I wish i had the time to breed more seriously...for now, the poultry is wonderfully ornamental albeit a wintertime PITA.

 

[RunamokRanch]

my cuyuga ducks started laying about a month ago, do they all lay every day? at first it was an egg every other day then it varied from one to two a day, then they started to hide them. now every time i find where they are ,they find a new spot. they are in my backyard, i feel that i know the spots, but now i am only finding one at a time. whats going on?

 

[Miss Lydia]

my cuyuga ducks started laying about a month ago, do they all lay every day? at first it was an egg every other day then it varied from one to two a day, then they started to hide them. now every time i find where they are ,they find a new spot. they are in my backyard, i feel that i know the spots, but now i am only finding one at a time. whats going on?

Do they have a house they sleep in? if so gather the eggs and place them in there, you can even make them a little hidey hole by taking some scarp wood and leaning it up against the wall secure it with screws so it doesn't fall on them they will go under and lay they love out of the way private places. make it high enough they can walk under to make their nest. I don't have Cayuga but most ducks when they first begin to lay might only lay every other day then they get into a rhythm and will lay everyday till they lay out then they take a short break and start all over again.Some ducks lay year round with short breaks in between make sure they have a good quality feed plus Oyster shell on the side for extra calcium if they need it and you should get plenty of eggs. Hiding eggs is natural they have it in them to do this so they can lay a clutch then brood on them to hatch ducklings, that may not happen with yours because alot of ducks have had the broodiness bred out of them but they still have the instinct.

 

[RunamokRanch]

ok, will do. also was wondering how long I should wait to hatch some out?

 

[Miss Lydia]

ok, will do. also was wondering how long I should wait to hatch some out?

Once you move the eggs to a secure place wait a bit and see if one of your girls get the urge, or take some crack one open to make sure it's fertile then put the rest in the bator you could try both ways either your ducks will brood or they won't. you never know till you let them. I wouldn't take all the eggs from your ducks nest though or she'll be looking for another place to hide them. you can also buy fake duck eggs to replace the real ones with to keep her coming back to lay in the same place.

 

[RunamokRanch]

ty

 

[nannyqueen]

This is my first time raising Ducks, I have 3 Cayuga hens,2 magpie hens and 1 mallard hen with 1 Mallard Drake and 1 Magpie Drake. The 6 hens have made 3 nests and are laying their eggs together, is that normal? Also, if I decide to hatch any suggestions on how to separate them to know which eggs with which breed? I only get 1-2 black eggs daily so I know those are Cayuga's.

 

[Eliaria]

I have a single Cayuga lady (no worries, I have 3 welsh harlequins (2 girls - 1 boy), an ancona, and 2 pekins as her friends). Her first egg was a very, very dark grey. One end was nearly black, the other was a dark grey. Her eggs have gotten lighter and lighter over the month, which I expect since all my birds naturally do this. Every once in a while I get a darker grey when she hasn't laid in a few days.

Nanny - all my girls lay in a single corner of their house. If you want to hatch pure breeds, you need to establish breeding pens. Keep a single breed together so the males stick with their girls and theirs alone. It can be very difficult telling many of those eggs apart, especially if the only difference is size (and who's to say a small layer might pump out a big one and vice versa). I believe you should keep them together for... what is it? 10 days before you collect eggs to hatch? That way you know any other males sperm won't be in the newer eggs. (the number might be off a bit).

 

[DPs Eggs]

We just had our first Cayuga egg it is amazing!