Cayuags flew:UPDATE

[hendrix25]

If it helps, my house is a double wide trailer, but still that's pretty high. and to fly over it they were in the air for a while.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

There needs to be a scale in the picture. Try getting a picture of them with something like a yardstick or a ruler. If you don't have one of those, try something more common like a soda can, cinderblock, or simply having someone hold them for a picture.

It is hard to tell the size of something when there is nothing to compare it to.

They are beautiful, just puzzles me that they flew. I'm thinking they are East Indies though. My cayugas trip over the water hose on the ground. No flight capabilies there unless I ship them in a box on a plane.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Yep Cayuga come out of their eggs at 2 pounds each! for most of the waterfowl even the huge geese, there is a brief period in their youth when they can fly. After their wings develop and before they really start packing on the weight. It helps if there are other flying birds around to show that it is normal and fun, and there are suitable 'runways' available. AS for size I had two huge Muscovy Drakes that I got rid of because they insisted on roosting on the peak of my house and pooping on the roof.

 

[hendrix25]

So I contacted the breeder and she told me she got all of her's from a hatchery, and she ordered Cayugas. She said that her's would get off the ground like 2-3 feet but that was it. And that was rare for them to do that. All her Cayugas are huge! This is strange. Monday evening they flew from the very front part of the yard, over the house, and circled around to their pen area. One didn't get high enough and smacked into the house

. That flight was about 300-350 feet from taking off to where they landed. I stand in awe when they do this. This last time they probably got 40-50 feet in the air, except for Axel, he faced planted into the side of the house. So for all you Cayuga owners, do I need to feed them a high protein food in order to make them gain weight, so they can't fly? I live 90 yards from Lake Lanier, (large lake in Ga). I do not want them to take off and find the lake. We have wild ducks and geese fly over our house all the time, could mine take off with them? Do you think the crows are influencing my ducks?

 

[Duck Keeper]

Hurry and clip one wing's feathers before they find the lake and think it's okay to go there!

Usually young ducks can fly a little easier because they're smaller, but to have them circle the house?

If you teach them young (by clipping feathers) that flying won't get them anywhere, they should grow out of it before they even start to get big. Then once they're really large it would be easier to keep them grounded because of their weight.

 

[hendrix25]

Quote:
And how do I do that?

 

[1lpoock]

Spread one wing and clip the 10 or 9 primary feathers...they are the ones that stick out the most...only clip them to the secondary feathers....here is a Picture

 

[Duck Keeper]

Search it...?

You make sure the feathers aren't blood feathers (meaning there is a supply of blood going to them, because they are new feathers just coming in), and just use scissors to clip their primaries on one wing.

It should throw them off balance, but even if they do start to fly again, it'll only be in circles.

(One wing clipped)

 

[1lpoock]

Here is an awesome picture...

 

[Sebrightmom]

My cayugas could never fly. They are too fat. Mine don't even get off the ground. This is a very interesting post.