Duck Breed Focus - Pekin

[MandyJ]

I'm not Miss Lydia but just wondered if it was Cayuga's you were asking about...here's an image:

I am not sure what I am looking for! LOL I will be putting them with 2 Pekin hens I already have. Are Cayugas smaller than Pekin? They are beautiful!

 

[N F C]

I am not sure what I am looking for! LOL I will be putting them with 2 Pekin hens I already have. Are Cayugas smaller than Pekin? They are beautiful!

Here's the duck focus thread on Cayugas, take a look (some great pictures):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1037130/duck-breed-focus-cayuga

And here is a post with links to all the duck focus threads that have been done. These are the ones that encouraged me to order 10 ducklings yesterday (a mix of breeds)...beware the duck focus threads, lol!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1024526/duck-breed-focus-project

 

[casportpony]

Took a couple of pictures today:


-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

-Kathy

 

[N F C]

Beautiful Kathy!

 

[Miss Lydia]

-Kathy

Aww K I didn't know you had Pekin too. How pretty.

 

[MandyJ]

Took a couple of pictures today:


-Kathy

So pretty! Mine never are sitting still when I have my phone/camera handy. LOL

 

[MandyJ]

I'm not Miss Lydia but just wondered if it was Cayuga's you were asking about...here's an image:

You have convinced me, I MUST have a few of these! Oh dear...now the question is how many. Hummmmm?!

 

[N F C]

You have convinced me, I MUST have a few of these! Oh dear...now the question is how many. Hummmmm?!

There's a fine balancing act...how many is enough and how many are too many?

 

[Tevyes Dad]

What breed of duck is the black one? It looks like a black pekin.

Sorry I took so long, I was on the road the last two days. In the book, there are three black ducks:

Big black duck: Cayuga
Small black duck: Runner
and Big black duck with white chest: Swedish

I want to reinforce what Miss Lydia said about herding. While they are still hard to get remember, they have a great built in handle, their neck

While you shouldn't squeeze their necks or pick them up by their necks, it is a part that is easy to quickly but lightly grab with one hand and just hold them them long enough to get your other hand near them. I had to do this in the beginning with my ducks. Now I can herd them to a corner some place and they will usually let me catch them with very little protest. Also to get them used to you, if you sit on the ground and feed them peas or meal worms or whatever drives them crazy. Get to where they hang close and you throw treats at them, then get them to take a treat from your outstretched palm, then bring your palm in closer eventually you will get them to feed from your palm against your body (which means they are stretching over your legs. Then occasionally grab one and hold it in your lap and let it feed (gorge) out of the cup the treats are in, for a few seconds, then let it go and let it walk out of your lap and repeat. Slowly increase the time to a minute or two. After that, it depends on the duck... some will take a lot more and some won't. I still have a few ducks that won't eat treats while being held, but most of mine I can cradle on their backs and they will still eat treats. (But none of them EVER volunteers to be picked up.)