Proud Cayuga owners!!!!

[SD Bird Lady]

They are 6 weeks and both have stars on their chests. I had seen photos of ducklings from Ideal and knew it was possible so I can't say I was shocked. Basically it was the sacrafice I made b/c I wanted 2 females and with no one in the area that sold sexed ducklings it was my best option ecspecially when I got them in January. So you get what you pay for - they do have a very nice green sheen already so I am just going to try and breed against the white and see what I have in a decade or so haha I have more time than money!

 

[Anna-MN]

I have loved reading all of the responses on this thread. I was going to start a new thread with my questions, but you all seem to know a lot about these beautiful ducks!

I am getting a few ducks this spring and I want to include a Cayuga. I have read reviews on their laying habits. Some people say they lay 300 eggs a year and some say 150. How many do your ducks lay a week on average?

I have also read that some people have very noisy Cayugas and some people say they are some of the quietest ducks they have ever had. Is this just a luck of the draw type of thing- you never know until you have one?

 

[inthesticks]

i read some where that if they have white on them they were female, has that been the way of things with you? and how much white is to much? if my bird has more white then what it should does that mean i shouldn't breed that bird?

Are you referring to the yellowish patch on their chest that some have as chicks? If there is actual white on your duckling &/or white feathers coming in then I would say there was a cross breeding somewhere down the line. I do not have 'great' stock, my originals came from the feed store(love them) but my late drake Beast had brown in him & 1 girl I recently gave to a neighbor up the road. With age the Cayuga females will start to get more & more white feathers - Good stock usually do not start showing white till after a 1yr old some 2 or 3, pure good quality drakes will never get white. The 2 females I kept will be a year next month & Queenie(my crested cayuga) has started to get one small white patch on the side of her crest, but that's it so far for her & my other girl has no white yet.

For now I'm very happy with my ducks, as I enjoy watching them & their eggs! When I have a nice piece of land down in FL I will most likely begin to search for pure Cayuga & other fowl/poultry to begin quality projects




As for the sexing ducklings by the white/yellow on their chest?? I honestly never paid attention to the amount of yellow on their down. I just vent sex them, I will however take note of the yellowish patch this time around w/ my 2 hatches. Roughly 16eggs total (I'm horrible & have been stuffing my 2 bators so I'm not positive right now

)

 

[tbitt]

I have loved reading all of the responses on this thread. I was going to start a new thread with my questions, but you all seem to know a lot about these beautiful ducks!

I am getting a few ducks this spring and I want to include a Cayuga. I have read reviews on their laying habits. Some people say they lay 300 eggs a year and some say 150. How many do your ducks lay a week on average?

I have also read that some people have very noisy Cayugas and some people say they are some of the quietest ducks they have ever had. Is this just a luck of the draw type of thing- you never know until you have one?

Anna-MN,

I think the noise level of an animal is always subjective to who is listening. I love the sounds of my flock, so I would say they are not all that noisy.

But I have a friend who is not all that fond of ducks and say they are terribly noisy. LOL

Of the females in my flock, I find the Cayuga’s to be of average noise level. My Welsh harlequins and my Golden 300 are the loudest of my group.

Metzer Farms has a lot of good information about the different breeds of ducks. This list has a chart of average eggs laid per year, temperament…..

http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm?CustID=1397650

Of the hatcheries out there; I find Metzer to have some of the best quality birds. If you have to order …I’d suggest Metzer.

Right now, my Welsh Harlequins are out laying everyone else. I do have one runner who is laying very well, and my Cayuga's are laying but not as well as my WH or my runner!

 

[Anna-MN]

Anna-MN,

I think the noise level of an animal is always subjective to who is listening. I love the sounds of my flock, so I would say they are not all that noisy.

But I have a friend who is not all that fond of ducks and say they are terribly noisy. LOL

Of the females in my flock, I find the Cayuga’s to be of average noise level. My Welsh harlequins and my Golden 300 are the loudest of my group.

Metzer Farms has a lot of good information about the different breeds of ducks. This list has a chart of average eggs laid per year, temperament…..

http://www.metzerfarms.com/DuckBreedComparison.cfm?CustID=1397650

Of the hatcheries out there; I find Metzer to have some of the best quality birds. If you have to order …I’d suggest Metzer.

Right now, my Welsh Harlequins are out laying everyone else. I do have one runner who is laying very well, and my Cayuga's are laying but not as well as my WH or my runner!

Since I live in MN I don't think I would order from them- that's a long journey! Thanks for the link, it had a ton of great information on it.

 

[tbitt]

When you do order (that is if you are not getting them local) Make sure they are not just drop shipping form Metzer.
I am finding that a lot of the other comanies do just that.

I live in Northern ILL and I had some shipped from Metzer. They did a great job. (I did order the grow-gel

)

 

[Anna-MN]

When you do order (that is if you are not getting them local) Make sure they are not just drop shipping form Metzer.
I am finding that a lot of the other comanies do just that.

I live in Northern ILL and I had some shipped from Metzer. They did a great job. (I did order the grow-gel

)

How would I be able to find out if they do that? I was going to order from McMurray since I've had good luck ordering chicks from them. I don't plan on showing these birds or breeding. I just want some nice eggs for baking.

 

[gryeyes]

Anna, if you're going to order anything other than waterfowl, then you do have to use a source other than Metzer Farms. BUT, if it were me, I'd only order waterfowl from Metzer and get chicks from somewhere else.

I was lucky enough to find out Metzer Farms is the source of waterfowl for my favorite feed store, and they would do a special order of sexed Cayuga ducklings for me. I have previously ordered sexed ducklings from Metzer Farms directly and that order was perfect and arrived healthy; I had to go to the Post Office to get them before business hours. When the feed store ordered them for me, I could go pick them up before closing, knowing they'd been checked, fed, watered, and placed in a brooder with "Sold" on the side. An employee of the feed store added to the order to get some for herself, because they only order straight run ducklings to offer to their customers. No shipping charge, just the "sexed duckling" price, also a benefit.

Now my flock o' ducks is reproducing on its own so I don't have to buy any more.

 

[EnglewoodHill]

a few of ours are getting some white areas at just over one year old. Be interesting to see if individuals vary much in when that occurs and if we can select eggs from the ones that turn white less or not at all.

 

[EnglewoodHill]

btw we ordered our sexed Cayugas from MacMurrays 10 hands and 2 drakes. Still have all 12 and their eggs are in the incubator. We were very impressed with MacMurrarys and would order again. We have Cayugas and Anconas, the latter we could only get straight run, (from WorthIt farms in GA) and we wound up with 6 hens and 8 drakes. Their eggs are in the incubator also... Love our ducks!