Duck Breed Focus - Cayuga

[MandyJ]

The ones with the lighter area on their chest (I think the two leftmost) are the Swedish. Some people use Blue Swedish for Blue and Black colors or some say Black Swedish for the Black. If your Blue Swedish are black, that will be the only difference. If they are Blue, they should be a lighter gray with a lighter spot on their chest.

Baby pics from my flock:

Black Swedish


Blue Swedish


Cayuga

I notice one of the baby girls has a tiny (and I mean tiny) spot of yellow on one foot. One has a little bit of cream on her face. But the other two have the cream chest. I guess I will just have to wait until they get older to figure it out. After all they are only 2 days old.

Thanks for the info. I'll try to get more pictures. But they are NEVER still! LOL

 

[lonebluetear]

Wow. That is sad. Thank you for posting this information. For a moment I had thought of maybe getting a boy duck - but after reading that, highly doubtful. I hope 2016 is full of great times for you and your ducks.

 

[CayugaRunner]

Reading through this whole thread and seeing all your feathered children have gotten me really excited now, I have 4 Cayuga's going to be delivered on May the 25th I have read on BYC that Metzer is a good hatchery, so I ordered 4 Cayuga's 1Drake and 3Ducks, as well as 5 Runners- 1 Black Drake, 2Chocolate females and 2 Blue females...... The closer it gets the more excited I get, I have picked up or ordered all the brooder supplies that I will need, and I am making a place in my house to set up the brooder, and I have been trying to decide on how I want to build an overnight predator pen in the back. They will be free range in the day, but locked up at night. I know what all the pen needs to be predator proof, I am still unsure on how large i need to make it. I have been looking for sqft per bird, but keep getting different numbers. so I am totally unsure at this point.

Please Keep posting these adorable pictures, I can easily get absorbed into looking at all these adorable feathered children

~Erini

Will

 

[MandyJ]

Reading through this whole thread and seeing all your feathered children have gotten me really excited now, I have 4 Cayuga's going to be delivered on May the 25th I have read on BYC that Metzer is a good hatchery, so I ordered 4 Cayuga's 1Drake and 3Ducks, as well as 5 Runners- 1 Black Drake, 2Chocolate females and 2 Blue females...... The closer it gets the more excited I get, I have picked up or ordered all the brooder supplies that I will need, and I am making a place in my house to set up the brooder, and I have been trying to decide on how I want to build an overnight predator pen in the back. They will be free range in the day, but locked up at night. I know what all the pen needs to be predator proof, I am still unsure on how large i need to make it. I have been looking for sqft per bird, but keep getting different numbers. so I am totally unsure at this point.

Please Keep posting these adorable pictures, I can easily get absorbed into looking at all these adorable feathered children

~Erini

Will

This is my duck enclosure. We used a metal dog pen (10 x 10) from Tractor Supply. Husband made the platform. In the back is a dog crate that he put hinges on, so I can collect eggs from their laying boxes which are inside.

Good luck with the babies!

 

[N F C]

This is my duck enclosure. We used a metal dog pen (10 x 10) from Tractor Supply. Husband made the platform. In the back is a dog crate that he put hinges on, so I can collect eggs from their laying boxes which are inside.

Good luck with the babies!

That's an awesome duck enclosure!

 

[CayugaRunner]

That is an awesome idea for a dusk enclosure and If I wanted to house my Runners and Cayuga's apart, I can just split it in half right down the middle. I had an idea of using an metal shed. I had one, that is 8x10, Given to me, and if added enough vents I think should work, it is new in the box....... any thoughts? I plan to lay solid vinyl flooring to make it easier to clean, and go with a nice deep bedding method. I am only getting 7 females so a total of ten nesting places along the walls should be more than enough choice for the ladies, I have already picked up everything I need for the brooding stage, I just need to decide what I am going to use for the actual brooder, and a spare room that stays warmer than the rest of the house. They should be set up after that. I will pick up bags of feed and lots of nice greens the day before bringing them home, and I am making a list, it should help with the "oops I need to go pick up this or that" moments.

As for the metal shed, the doors will be taken off and given home made doors with much more ventilation and a nice vent on the back wall near the top. I will also make panels for the bottom vents on the door to cut the wind down in the colder months, although Texas didn't really have a winter last year, is does sometimes happen that we get ice and I need to be able to cover the lower vents in this case.

All in all I am more excited as Duckling Delivery Day (or D.D.D. as I call it) gets nearer.

I am finally feel more confident that I can do this duckling rearing after reading all the information I have found here!

Let me know what ya'll think about my shed Idea...........

Inquiring minds like to know....

~Eirini
Will

 

[MandyJ]

That is an awesome idea for a dusk enclosure and If I wanted to house my Runners and Cayuga's apart, I can just split it in half right down the middle. I had an idea of using an metal shed. I had one, that is 8x10, Given to me, and if added enough vents I think should work, it is new in the box....... any thoughts? I plan to lay solid vinyl flooring to make it easier to clean, and go with a nice deep bedding method. I am only getting 7 females so a total of ten nesting places along the walls should be more than enough choice for the ladies, I have already picked up everything I need for the brooding stage, I just need to decide what I am going to use for the actual brooder, and a spare room that stays warmer than the rest of the house. They should be set up after that. I will pick up bags of feed and lots of nice greens the day before bringing them home, and I am making a list, it should help with the "oops I need to go pick up this or that" moments.

As for the metal shed, the doors will be taken off and given home made doors with much more ventilation and a nice vent on the back wall near the top. I will also make panels for the bottom vents on the door to cut the wind down in the colder months, although Texas didn't really have a winter last year, is does sometimes happen that we get ice and I need to be able to cover the lower vents in this case.

All in all I am more excited as Duckling Delivery Day (or D.D.D. as I call it) gets nearer.

I am finally feel more confident that I can do this duckling rearing after reading all the information I have found here!

Let me know what ya'll think about my shed Idea...........

Inquiring minds like to know....

~Eirini
Will

I think ducks will be happy wherever. Ventilation should be a high priority. And clean out, that is a BIG priority. As you can see from my picture I just take a water hose and spray it clean, let dry and are ready to go.

On the number of nesting boxes, remember the hens will use only a few of the boxes, they will lay their eggs where the other ducks do.

Prepare yourself for the fast growth of ducks! It seemed that as soon as I got a new, bigger box fixed they were too big for it. I went to a furniture store and got a dresser box. It was about 4 x 4. Finally, something big enough for them until they went outside at about 7 weeks. Once they were fully feathered out at about 7 weeks they were wearing their down coat, as one BYC member told me! LOL

My husband built a wooden divider with hinges in the middle. It is a wooden frame with chicken wire. It's 10 feet long. Hinged in the middle. This way when I had the babies outside in the pen with the adults they could see each other but not touch. The divider was about 2 feet tall. It was wonderful!!! Keeps the ducks from forgetting each other. Made it easy introducing new members of the flock to my 2 adult Pekins. I kept the babies in the pen inside the large pen for about 1 1/2 weeks. It has worked beautifully for me.

Enjoy, there is nothing cuter than a duckling!!!

 

[Julie Birb]

Yes. Ducks are very precious and adorable and wonderful. And they have webbed feets.

 

[CayugaRunner]

This will be my broader, after looking and deciding and thinking on it. I bought two of these. If they start to grow out of one, I can move some of them to the other. As it is way warm here in Texas, we will spend our days wandering the back yard after the first week or two, and them after they are outside full time, these stock tanks will become their ponds. They have built in drain hose that will be attathed to hoses, runnimg one to the garden, and one to my breeder daylily bed. Instant fert. water. Thoughts on this?

 

[cayugaducklady]

I haven't used stock tanks as a brooder. But I do have that exact same stock tank for my adult ducks. They like to use it and like to stand on the ground and play in the water at the tank's edge. They can just barely reach it.

I've only ever brooded ducks in cold climates so they have to stay indoors until late spring or early summer (depending on temps & weather).

My gut tells me that they'll probably outgrow one tank fairly quickly. Seems like they grow the fastest in those first two weeks.