Cayuga

Duck shelter + run + pool

6 sq ft shelter + 20 sq ft run per bird, kiddie-pool water

Cayugas are 7–8 lb heritage ducks with iridescent black plumage. Provide 6 sq ft shelter, 20 sq ft grass run, and a kiddie pool. Heat-absorbing black feathers — shade is critical above 25 °C. They don't fly far.

Shelter + grass run + bathing pool

8 sq ft shelter + 50 sq ft grass + 100 gal pool, per bird

Walk-in shelter, generous grass run with shade trees, and a 100-gal pool. Cayugas are calm, quiet, and good cold-climate ducks. Eggs start nearly black and lighten through the laying season.

Pasture flock with pond

¼ acre+ pasture + pond + shade, flock of 3–6

Rotated quarter-acre pasture with shade, a pond or large tank, and a deep-bedded shelter. Cayugas reach peak iridescence on grass and clean water with full sunlight balanced by shade.

Birds develop inside a hard-shelled egg incubated by the parent(s). Egg size, shell color, and clutch size vary by species; the embryo develops over days to weeks before hatching.

Hatchlings are either altricial — naked, blind, and dependent on parents (typical of parrots and songbirds) — or precocial — downy, mobile, and self-feeding soon after hatching (typical of poultry and waterfowl). Down gives way to the first feathers.

Fledglings grow in their juvenile plumage and begin to fly and feed themselves, though they may still beg from parents at first. Juvenile feathering is often duller than the adult and is replaced as the bird matures.

Adults attain full body size and mature plumage, and are capable of breeding. Many species show distinct adult coloration, and in sexually dimorphic birds males and females differ in plumage, size, or markings.

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