Need help - Cayuga, Rouen and Black Swedish owners! How can I tell...

[kitkatbahr]

Hi,

I have a chance to get some duck hens from a lady that has a flock of several breeds of ducks. I know how to tell the male and female pekins apart, as I have pekins, but how do I make sure I get females of Cayuga, Rouens and Black swedish? I am not familiar with them at all. Do the boys have drake feathers like the Pekins? I certainly don't want or need any more boys, as I already have too many and it is causing a problem. I have three boys and four girls and the boys are really wearing the girls ragged. So, I am going to get three hens, if possible to add to the ones I have. I may just get Pekins but I am interested in the other breeds too. Maybe I will get one of each. The lady that has them said she isn't sure how to tell male from female. She just has a huge flock at an assisted living facility and is selling some because she has too many. She said I can come pick out the ones I want ($20 each).

Will Pekin males mate with other breeds of ducks? Or, should I just get more pekins? I am not breeding them, just using the eggs for food, so if they are mixed breeds, I don't care. I just want to make sure the girls will be attractive to the boys so they will leave my girls alone for a bit. Or, at least not breed them quite as much if there are more girls out there. Right now, I have 2 purebred pekin hens, 2 purebred pekin drakes, 1 mixed Pekin/muscovy drake, 2 pekin/muscovy hens. (I know the pekin/muscovy mixes can't hatch eggs, but it doesn't matter).

Thank you for any advice and help you can give me.

Kathy Bahr
Merritt Island, FL

 

[Stormy Autumn]

Are these adult ducks, or are they young? The males of all domestic duck breeds (except Muscovies) will have drake feathers if they are more than a few months old. If you don't see a drake feather, it's pretty safe to say that they're girls. You can also tell the Rouens apart by their coloring. The males will have a green head just like a male mallard, while the females will be brown. And, yes, they will definitely all mate with each other. The only ones that won't produce fertile eggs are the Muscovy mixes (as you mentioned), but the others will all produce fertile eggs if you're ever interested in hatching them.

Also, even if they're too young to have their drake feathers yet, you can still tell the males and females apart by the noises they make. Females have a loud, duck-sounding quack while males have a quieter, raspier, wheezier quack. You might have noticed this with your Pekins, too!

 

[kitkatbahr]

Stormy, thank you so much for your reply. These are adult ducks. Sorry I forgot to mention that. Yes, I noticed with my pekins that the girls are very LOUD! and the boys are more hoarse. I also have pure muscovies and they are totally different than other kinds of ducks. I am glad I can tell by the curled tail feather for the boys, as that is certainly the easiest way. I am glad they will be easy to tell apart. I am considering getting the cayuga, rouen and black swedish then, if the boys will mate them. That will give me more variety.

Thank you so much!

Kathy

 

[Stormy Autumn]

I have a Cayuga girl, and she is beautiful! Mine hasn't started laying yet, but Cayugas lay gray and black eggs sometimes so I am really looking forward to it!

 

[kitkatbahr]

Awesome! I love the idea of gray and black eggs. That is cool. Hope she starts laying soon. Thanks again for your help.

Kathy

 

[maralynn28]

My Cayuga laid 1 black egg, a few gray, and now they are very pretty creamy color eggs.