Cayuga colors

[chasing ducks]

I have 2 cayugas that are 12 weeks old, both female. They both developed beautiful black feathers with green sheens. Now, all of a sudden in the last week, one of them has developed a ton of white spots on her chest! The other is still as black as she was. Will this go away or should I pull her from my breeding stock?

 

[Pidgey104]

No expert here. But I think it has to do with the hatchery bloodlines. I had a female that came from ideal and she started getting white feathers all over.

 

[rgn87]

I have three females and one has a white dot on her chest, but the other are jet black. I read that with females it is perfectly normal, in fact as they get older they will turn increasingly white, but with males it is a disqualification when showing them. I hope this helps. i forget where I read this but if you Google Cayuga ducks you can find more information on this.

 

[CityChicker]

There are two different kinds of white in question- juvenile white and aging white. Juvenile white is fairly normal and I have had some from great breeders that have already had some white from their first couple featherings on. Aging white basically expands every year and females are more known for getting it. Some can turn almost solid white over several years.

 

[chasing ducks]

So she is fine to breed in spite of the white on her chest? I am trying to breed only desired qualities and am a little lost.

 

[toadbriar]

just out of curiosity, I wonder if any of the white spotting relates to/can be predicted by some cayuga ducklings having more or less yellow fuzz on their chests when they're hatched.

Anyone notice a pattern like this?

 

[NYREDS]

Quote:
Absolutely correct. Also, white is a show disqualification in both males & females.

 

[HiddenHill Heretic]

On a side note, there is a guy selling "blue and splash" cayugas on ebay"very rare colors" anyone heard of this, seen any blues?

 

[goobermom]

I also have Cayuga ducklings, one has a white dot on its back, visible only when the wings are spread. When calling a breeder about getting more, he asked me "are those the ones with the white dot?" Do all Cayugas have a white dot? That would be news to me! Not sure he knew much about them, and I'm new to this, too.
So do white dots in young birds indicate females?

I bought 4 more black ducks from him. This was out of a crowd of about 100 different ducklings, all different colors. Separated from the parents, I have no idea which ones were the corresponding adults. For all I know I just bought 4 ordinary Black Ducks.

This same seller also had a pair of swans. "Oooh, do you have any cygnets?" I asked He was puzzled, "hmm? you mean BABIES?" This is no bird expert.

the two older ducks are feathering out with green heads and blue wings. Any suggestions as to how to tell the girls from the boys?

 

[CityChicker]

Quote:
The Blue/Silver form has been around for several years. At least a couple people here on BYC have had them. It may even be a member here that is selling them. Do you know what the name of the person on Ebay is?