First egg from Cayuga

[Terraalexandria]

Hello y’all
Excited to join the community & hopefully get a better understanding on my family’s Cayuga ducks. Mainly for information and advice regarding one of our ducks who just today laid her first egg(s). We found one in her house and another near the pool, but unfortunately it was broken. I feel like an excited grandma patiently waiting for her new baby to arrive

We do have every intention of letting the egg hatch naturally, but I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing from now on just to help the situation. Should I check the yard every morning for more eggs and if any are found move them into her house with the one that was found recently? Or leave them be? Anything special to be on the look out for? Etc lol

P.S. They are backyard ducks with a section of yard for their housing/pool. But occasionally we spoil them and let them hang out on our deck

anyways my name is Terra and thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Poultry mum]

Hello y’all
Excited to join the community & hopefully get a better understanding on my family’s Cayuga ducks. Mainly for information and advice regarding one of our ducks who just today laid her first egg(s). We found one in her house and another near the pool, but unfortunately it was broken. I feel like an excited grandma patiently waiting for her new baby to arrive

We do have every intention of letting the egg hatch naturally, but I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing from now on just to help the situation. Should I check the yard every morning for more eggs and if any are found move them into her house with the one that was found recently? Or leave them be? Anything special to be on the look out for? Etc lol

P.S. They are backyard ducks with a section of yard for their housing/pool. But occasionally we spoil them and let them hang out on our deck

anyways my name is Terra and thanks in advance for any feedback.

if this is her 1st laying season my advice would be to collect all eggs laid and enjoy them for breakfast….
I wouldn’t let her sit on eggs until next season or unless she becomes quite broody
and look for the drake “squishing” any of the girls this will also help in determining who is more likely to be broody and who is more likely to try egg napping and raising for them selfs… lol. Good luck

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Hello y’all
Excited to join the community & hopefully get a better understanding on my family’s Cayuga ducks. Mainly for information and advice regarding one of our ducks who just today laid her first egg(s). We found one in her house and another near the pool, but unfortunately it was broken. I feel like an excited grandma patiently waiting for her new baby to arrive

We do have every intention of letting the egg hatch naturally, but I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing from now on just to help the situation. Should I check the yard every morning for more eggs and if any are found move them into her house with the one that was found recently? Or leave them be? Anything special to be on the look out for? Etc lol

P.S. They are backyard ducks with a section of yard for their housing/pool. But occasionally we spoil them and let them hang out on our deck

anyways my name is Terra and thanks in advance for any feedback.

Yes, if you want them to go broody just leave the eggs alone. You can put eggs you find outside back in the nest, but if they are super dirty or laid in the water I would throw those out.
You may want to get a sharpie and start numbering them daily. You may not necessarily have one go broody right away and you'll want to start removing eggs that are getting 10-12 days old.

 

[Terraalexandria]

if this is her 1st laying season my advice would be to collect all eggs laid and enjoy them for breakfast….
I wouldn’t let her sit on eggs until next season or unless she becomes quite broody
and look for the drake “squishing” any of the girls this will also help in determining who is more likely to be broody and who is more likely to try egg napping and raising for them selfs… lol. Good luck

We have one drake and the rest are his girlfriends, but we have singled out his favorite and the one he seems to enjoy drowning from time to time she’s also the only one who knows how to escape their enclosure which is why I scoured the yard after finding the first egg lol you don’t think there’s a possibility it’ll hatch?

 

[Poultry mum]

Yes, if you want them to go broody just leave the eggs alone. You can put eggs you find outside back in the nest, but if they are super dirty or laid in the water I would throw those out.
You may want to get a sharpie and start numbering them daily. You may not necessarily have one go broody right away and you'll want to start removing eggs that are getting 10-12 days old.

agreed…. The other option you have too is if you have an incubator collect eggs for 10-12 days and then place them in the incubator and hope for the best… it’s always a little less stressful hatching them that way as mumma ducks don’t always want to leave the nest for baths or food or water or pooping lol.. and trying to get a duck of the nest “forcefully” isn’t fun…

 

[Terraalexandria]

Yes, if you want them to go broody just leave the eggs alone. You can put eggs you find outside back in the nest, but if they are super dirty or laid in the water I would throw those out.
You may want to get a sharpie and start numbering them daily. You may not necessarily have one go broody right away and you'll want to start removing eggs that are getting 10-12 days old.

What does broody mean? And is numbering them for consumption purposes because although eventually we might eat them… our main hope is to get a duckling lol we are treating this situation as first time grandparents haha

 

[Poultry mum]

What does broody mean? And is numbering them for consumption purposes because although eventually we might eat them… our main hope is to get a duckling lol we are treating this situation as first time grandparents haha

broody is when the girl duck starts sitting on her eggs…. She may make a nice big pile 1st before this happens…. All eggs can be eaten if you collect and wash them and pop them in the fridge… “squishing“ is the nice term for mating… drake looks like he is squishing the girls…. ionce I see this happening a few times I either leave the eggs in the hope she goes broody or I collect them and pop them in the incubator once I have my desired amount…

 

[N Good]

It is not recommended to let a duck sit on eggs until it is at least 1 year old. Chances are she will not sit well or will not mother well. She's not fully mature, no disrespect to anyone who has had a child while young, but it is the difference between a 15 year old and a 25 year old getting pregnant and having a baby. Are they both physically capable of it? Yes. Are they equally emotionally and socially prepared for it? No.
So if this duck is less than a year old it's better to wait and eat the first eggs for a while or to use an incubator.
As the duck matures she'll start making a better nest and always lay in the nest, you can encourage this with a nest box in the house.
Where that egg is laid in the house, it's just dropped on the ground, there's no nest, that's not really a good sign for hoping the duck will go broody.
Broodiness is a hormonal change in the duck that tells her to sit on the eggs, she'll do most of her eating and just sit for 28 days. That's a pretty big deal and it takes a bit of time for broodiness to fully kick in!
Also, some breeds have broodiness bred out of them so that you almost need to use an incubator. Cayugas may go broody, but they're not necessarily known for it

 

[N Good]

@DabblinDuckDabbler just recently had a broody Cayuga. Any suggestions?

Also, you might look at this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-want-my-cayuga-to-go-broody.1453452/

 

[Poultry mum]

It is not recommended to let a duck sit on eggs until it is at least 1 year old. Chances are she will not sit well or will not mother well. She's not fully mature, no disrespect to anyone who has had a child while young, but it is the difference between a 15 year old and a 25 year old getting pregnant and having a baby. Are they both physically capable of it? Yes. Are they equally emotionally and socially prepared for it? No.
So if this duck is less than a year old it's better to wait and eat the first eggs for a while or to use an incubator.
As the duck matures she'll start making a better nest and always lay in the nest, you can encourage this with a nest box in the house.
Where that egg is laid in the house, it's just dropped on the ground, there's no nest, that's not really a good sign for hoping the duck will go broody.
Broodiness is a hormonal change in the duck that tells her to sit on the eggs, she'll do most of her eating and just sit for 28 days. That's a pretty big deal and it takes a bit of time for broodiness to fully kick in!
Also, some breeds have broodiness bred out of them so that you almost need to use an incubator. Cayugas may go broody, but they're not necessarily known for it

That’s the point I was trying to make was just trying to be a bit more tactful lol…