Cayuga Ducks

[smv0822]

I bought two Cayugas from tractor supply at Easter. Not sure if it's a drake and hen or two hens. They've started randomly laying eggs. Some grayish/white others dark gray/blackish. Could they be from the same hen or do you think they may both be hens?? I'm an avid waterfowl hunter but domestic ducks are new to me and very enjoyable to watch in the yard. With game ducks the drakes are more colorful, hens are kind of dull. One of my Cayugas has a lot more color than the other. Thoughts??

 

[JadeComputerGal]

I bought two Cayugas from tractor supply at Easter. Not sure if it's a drake and hen or two hens. They've started randomly laying eggs. Some grayish/white others dark gray/blackish. Could they be from the same hen or do you think they may both be hens?? I'm an avid waterfowl hunter but domestic ducks are new to me and very enjoyable to watch in the yard. With game ducks the drakes are more colorful, hens are kind of dull. One of my Cayugas has a lot more color than the other. Thoughts??

Well, it's safe to say that a drake isn't laying eggs, and it's absolutely possible for egg color to vary even with the same duck, so you know you have at least one duck.

At four months old, there should be a very noticeable difference in their vocals. Females have a loudish quack, though Cayugas aren't the loudest ducks, and drakes make a more muted, raspy noise. Drakes also usually, but not always, have a little curled tail feather, or 2-3 of them. I can find some pics of that if you need them.

Congratulations on them! They are gorgeous ducks!

 

[smv0822]

The two different colored eggs were throwing me off. I didn't know that she could lay different colored eggs. I'm pretty sure it's a drake but no curl feathers yet. Guess they may come this fall? She laid two today a darker colored one and a whitish one.

Here's a pic. Probably can't see their colors too well in it. Very pretty ducks.

 

[smv0822]

Thanks by the way!!

Mine run with all my chickens and get along very well

 

[JadeComputerGal]

The two different colored eggs were throwing me off. I didn't know that she could lay different colored eggs. I'm pretty sure it's a drake but no curl feathers yet. Guess they may come this fall? She laid two today a darker colored one and a whitish one.


Here's a pic. Probably can't see their colors too well in it. Very pretty ducks.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they're both ducks. It is very unusual for a duck to lay two eggs in one day unless you mean a 24 hour day and a huge spread, like 20 hours apart. Also, at 4 months old, it would be unusual not to see something of a sex feather on the drake, which I don't think is a drake. Do they both quack?

 

[jtn42248]

I bought two Cayugas from tractor supply at Easter. Not sure if it's a drake and hen or two hens. They've started randomly laying eggs. Some grayish/white others dark gray/blackish. Could they be from the same hen or do you think they may both be hens?? I'm an avid waterfowl hunter but domestic ducks are new to me and very enjoyable to watch in the yard. With game ducks the drakes are more colorful, hens are kind of dull. One of my Cayugas has a lot more color than the other. Thoughts??

If you could post pictures it would help in determining gender. Based on your egg colors I would guess two females. However you can't be sure. Usually the first few eggs are darker and get progressively lighter with each lay eventually ending up white.

 

[smv0822]

Here are pictures of what I am thinking is the drake.

 

[smv0822]

Here's the one I'm thinking is the hen.

Here they are together. The "drake" is on the left, quite a bit bigger.

 

[smv0822]

I had two eggs again today. 1 grey, 1 white. Just like yesterday!

 

[Orca5094]

They have to both be hens due to you getting two eggs a day twice in a row. It's just not possible for one duck to lay that many eggs in that time period. I think the one you thought was a drake is possibly a mixed breed. Those faded mallard-like lines you can see on it's face is an indication of that. Pure Cayugas will not have markings like that. So I think that one is just bigger because it is mixed with something else. My Cayuga/Rouen mixed breed ducklings from this year have markings like that on their faces.

Wanted to add a pic of my young ones to show the facial markings:



My girls have much stronger markings than your big girl does (and some white on their chests), so yours is probably much closer to a pure Cayuga. Like maybe a grandfather/grandmother was a different breed and the rest of the family were Cayugas. My mixed girls are also already bigger than their Cayuga mother at 2.5 months old.

At any rate, beautiful ducks you have there! Sorry about all of my post editing and adding pictures. lol