Comparing a Male and Female Cayuga Duck
Key Differences Between a Male and Female Cayuga Duck
Many ducks exhibit striking differences between males and females. Often this is in the form of wild variations in plumage or striking facial features. The Cayuga duck doesn’t display these overt differences like other breeds. However, it’s still possible to tell drakes from hens by paying attention to subtle characteristics and behaviors and by listening to their quacks. Male vs. female Cayuga duck key differences include size, plumage growth patterns, behaviors and vocalizations.
Male vs. Female Cayuga Duck: Vent Sexing
Vent sexing is easiest to perform on ducklings that are a day old. It’s the only method of determining sex before the Cayuga ducks reach about 8 weeks old. The procedure involves inverting the ducklings vent or cloaca to show their sexual organs. It could be tempting to try this on your own when hoping to quickly determine whether you have male or female ducks. However, vent sexing can really hurt ducks if a mistake is made and there’s a high chance of error. Best leave this to the trained veterinarians!
Male vs. Female Cayuga Duck: Size
Cayugas are medium sized, heavy bodied ducks. Female Cayuga ducks are slightly smaller than males. Hens grow to be an average of 7 pounds, while drakes can reach 8 pounds. Both males and females have broad and deep bodies with broad breasts and slightly elevated chests.
Male vs. Female Cayuga Duck: Plumage
Cayuga ducklings have fuzzy plumage whether they are male or female until they reach about 90 days old. At this point, male Cayuga ducklings develop hard, curled tail feathers, also known as sex feathers. Tail feathers stand out as a great way to determine sex. However, you should be aware that female Cayugas can occasionally sprout some curly tail feathers, especially if there is no drake in her flock. Tail feathers molt once per year, so males may be mistaken for females at the time of molting when the feathers are shed. Female Cayugas sprout true feathers earlier than males and their wing feathers tend to mature more quickly. Young ducklings of both sexes have dark brown plumage. As they mature, male and female Cayuga ducks develop the same black-green lustrous plumage. They have a prominent sheen to their feathers, with dark green highlights reminiscent of a beetle shell. Interestingly, their feathers are black due to pigment but the structure of them scatters light to give the iridescent green sheen. In females, feathers may start to fade in color or turn white as they grow older. Cayuga hens may turn entirely white by the time they are about 6 years of age but males will never display white plumage.
Male vs. Female Cayuga Duck: Behavior
Both male and female Cayuga ducks tend to be calm and friendly. Cayuga hens are known for their strong inclination to go broody. They are great mothers who raise their ducklings with care. When broody, your Cayuga hen may show off her hiding skills. She will often hide her eggs exceptionally well since she’d like to hatch them herself. A Cayuga hen may lay 100-150 dark colored eggs per year. Hens may begin laying eggs as young as 5 months old. Cayuga drakes as young as 4 months of age will often begin to display mounting and other mating behaviors. They may display more confidence and boldness in regards to sharing food and space, but this is only a generalization. Cayuga ducks are not known to be fliers but young females will occasionally get a bit of air.
Male vs. Female Cayuga Duck: Vocalizations
Aside from vent sexing, paying attention to the vocalizations of Cayuga is the most reliable method of determining the sex of ducklings. As ducks grow, this characteristic remains reliable. If you’re raising a backyard flock you may want to separate one bird at a time and listen to their voices separately. Cayugas are known for being one of the quieter duck breeds. However, females are reliably louder than males. Cayuga hens produce a clear quack, while males tend to have a deeper and quieter quack that often has a bit of a rasp to it.
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