Question about Cayugas

[azhenhouse]

I know of someone who is wanting to sale his drake and hen Cayugas, but I have a question. We want to get some Cayugas and hatch some ducklings out for a 4-H project. Now, obviously this pair he is trying to sale is not show quality. The drake has an orange bill. Will that orange be passed down to any duckling produced by him or will they have black bills? They are hatchery ducks so the coloring is not as nice as maybe Holderreads, but they are healthy and well taken care of. I am just wondering about the orange bill. Thx

 

[Alicia G]

If the drake has an orange bill then he most likely is not a purebred.You would most likely hatch out duckling with colored bills and even some with different colored feathers.

 

[azhenhouse]

Thanks Alicia, I was worried about that.

 

[helios]

Where are you located? I'm in Illinois and have purebred Cayugas. I'll be needing to rehome or cull four of my drakes SOON (4 hens/6 drakes right now). Mine are all from high quality show stock, although I have no intentions of showing. One of my hens just started laying, so if you're interested in hatching eggs, I may have a small number available soon before I let her go broody (too many weeks of winter left). I don't think an adult drake will help you out, but if you're willing to incubate a small clutch or have a broody hen, I could save up a few eggs to ship to you. I get one most days so far (each day since Friday except Monday--I'll probably find that one in the bedding sometime soon).

One small issue is that I'm pretty sure that the hen who started laying is the only one with a white spot on her breast--it's very small, maybe pea-sized. I don't think this is acceptable for show birds and I know it is never acceptable for drakes to have any white. She would likely not be bred by a serious breeder. They all have nice black feet and bills--some of the drakes just started to show a little dark orange tint to their feet, but it's hardly noticable and I believe it's acceptable as the birds age. They will be one year at the start of June.

Maybe someone can chime in regarding Cayuga show standards. I have no idea of the quality of type they are--I can hardly tell them apart! I've been trying to take some pics, but they're still a bit skittish. They're warming up to the mealworm treats, so better pics might be on the way.

Let me know soon if you're interested--I'm probably only going to hold her off from nesting for another week or so to ensure at least an April hatch. The boyfriend tired quickly of the ducky ICU in the garage when we had a possum attack a hen, so I'm trying to plan for minimum indoor housing when the ducklings hatch out. I'm thinking you could get the pair and if the hen goes broody, switch out my eggs for better quality hatchlings. I'm a softie for 4-H projects, so I'll give you a nice deal

 

[Bleenie]

Don't most black ducks start to get some white feathers as they get older? I have seen it show up at young ages even. I don't know how it is with SQ birds though, but I figured it was worth asking.

 

[helios]

Quote:
As I understand it, high quality drakes will rarely if ever get white age feathers. I think white near the bill is a flaw not to be bred also. Hens will slowly age with white feathers gradually coming in over several years. From the pics of older hens I've seen, the white seems to spread out from the bib and face until they are almost all white speckled with black.

 

[Alicia G]

Black ducks arent suppose to have white feathers, but if I remember correctly older hens can get away with a few white feathers in show.And its inevetable(sp?) that the hens will get white feathers and very well may completely or almost completely go white.My neighbour had a BEI pair and his hen was ALL white.Now mind this pair was around 8 years of age.

 

[helios]

Here's a thread where show color standards are discussed. Seems a few white feathers on a hen are a points deduction, not a DQ.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=5305644

By the way, OP, get back to me soon...those hatching eggs are going into the fridge until I hear that you want them and I'm only going to be stealing her eggs for about a week before I see if she wants to go broody for me. The pond is starting to thaw (yay!) and my duck chores are about to be halved...until the ducklings hatch LOL. It was so cute to see them rush to the shore to splash in the few inches of water on top of the ice this morning. I think I'll hack out a swimming hole for them tonight when I get back, as we're supposed to have nearly 60 degree temps all day

And, yes, from what I've read, the hens will go all or nearly all white by about 6-8 years. Spartacus was hatched with the white spot (well, yellow fuzzy spot at first). There was at least one more duckling--maybe two more--that had a barely perceptible yellow fuzz spot on the center of the breast when I got them. When they feathered out, I got to thinking that the ones with a yellow speck must have all been hens, but Spartacus was the only hen who feathered out and kept her white spot. I'm not sure if the breeder gave me the spotted (i.e. perhaps flawed coloring) ducklings on purpose or randomly. Lucky Spartacus was the only duck I could tell from the others, so was the first to be named

 

[KarenZ]

My Cayuga drake has a green bill - So, it should be black? Thats slightly disappointing - but he is absolutely beautiful anyway!

 

[Alicia G]

No I think cayuga have olive to black bills