Flyte so Fancy's Cayuga Ducks

As many of you know (and by now are probably tired of hearing) the Cayuga crosses that we hatched out in the FSF field a year or so ago, are among my absolute favourite of the feather friends that live with us here in our quiet little corner of Dorset.

Our Cayuga Ducklings and their Floating Duck Lodge Home

Following last weeks blog about the few things that you need to keep to start keeping ducks or to add a few into your existing flock of chickens (if you have the room), this weeks blog is self indulgently focused on Cayuga Ducks.

Cayuga Ducks take their name from Lake Cayuga in New York State and have wonderful black feathers that shine iridescent green when the sun shines upon them. Female Cayuga can "go grey" as they get older, developing white feathers as they age. Our Cayuga ducks here are crossed with Cherry Valleys from the FSF field and so our quackers are a mix of black and white feathers.

The Cayuga duck is a good utility bird, as both a table bird and for egg laying. The first eggs that a Cayuga lays can be very dark, almost black in colour, but they do fade over time and subsequent laying. Classified as a heavy duck, a Cayuga will lay around eighty to 160 eggs per year.

Our Cayuga Ducks All Grown Up

Our Cayuga's live on the Flyte so Fancy pond, in one of our Floating Duck Lodges. Built on a hexagonal float, the Duck Lodge provides secure home for six pairs of nesting ducks. The timber float is packed with polystyrene so that it floats inch-perfect for the ducks to step out of the pond, and some handy additional steps, mean our Cayuga's happily dabble away the day on their veranda.

The roof of the Duck Lodge is removable to make cleaning easy and a floating duck house is a great way to give your ducks security and comfort from predators, all you need is a large enough pond to float it on.

The Cayuga's Enjoying A Splash Around

Keeping ducks in the garden can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Ducks have wonderful, playful characters and will bring plenty of life and energy to your garden. They also happen to be great foragers, hoovering up slugs and snails alike. Their eggs are larger than chickens and some breeds of ducks can lay as frequently as hens. Most breed of domestic ducks only require a small amount of water too, a large washing up bowl that you can move around your garden and re-fill easily will keep them happy and avoid your ducks making your garden a quagmire.

The Cayuga ducks here at Flyte so Fancy have been favourites of mine since they first hatch and if you have any questions on keeping ducks or duck housing, why not leave a comment below or call us on 01300 345229 to talk to a member of the FSF team.


Thanks for Reading
James