Cayuga
| Cayuga | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin | Category | ||
| America | Heavy Breed | ||
The Cayuga Cayuga Duck is a heavy breed of duck that has been a popular variety in the USA since the mid-19th century. As well as being an ornamental waterfowl, it is used for egg and meat production.
The name Cayuga is taken from Cayuga Lake, one of the lakes in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, where the breed was popularized.
The Cayuga is characterized by its black bill and black plumage, which is an iridescent beetle green in the correct light. In breeding, an emphasis is put on correct coloration, carriage, and type.
The Cayuga is a docile breed that tends to stay close to home. It is not as noisy as some other duck breeds which makes them well suited for backyard housing.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Carriage lively, clear of the ground from breast to stern.
Type: Body long, broad and deep. Breast prominent, keel well forward and forming a straight underline from stern to stern. Tail carried well out and closely folded, the drake's having two or three well-curled feathers in the centre.
Head large.
Bill long, wide, and flat, well set in a straight line from the tip of the eye. Eyes full.
Neck long and tapering, and with a graceful curve.
Legs large and strong boned, placed midway in the body, giving the bird a carriage similar to that of the Rouen.
Feet straight and webbed. Toes straight, connected by web.
Plumage - bright and glossy.
COLOUR
Plumage of both sexes a very lustrous green-black, free from purple or white, the whole of the back and upper part of wings, the breast, and underparts of body deep black, the wings naturally more lustrous than the rest of the body plumage; a brown or purple tinge is objectionable, although not a disqualification.
Bill slate-black, with a dense black saddle in the centre, but not touching the sides or coming within an inch of the end, the bean black.
Eyes, black.
Legs and webs as dark as possible, some dull orange-brown permissable.
SERIOUS DEFECTS
- Red or white feathers;
- Orange coloured bill;
- Dished bill;
- Any deformity.
WEIGHTS
Weight of Drake: 8 lb.
Weights of Duck: 7 lb.
SCALE OF POINTS
| Item | Points |
| Type | 30 |
| Size | 20 |
| Head and bill | 10 |
| Condition | 10 |
| Neck | 5 |
| Tail | 5 |
| Legs and feet | 5 |
| 100 |
SOURCES
- The Poultry club standards, containing a complete description of all the recognised varieties of fowls, ducks, geese and turkeys, ed. by William W. Broomhead. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009202629
- Popular breeds of domestic poultry, American and foreign, by John H. Robinson. Illustrated by Franklane L. Sewell, Arthur O. Schilling, contributing. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009169152
- Wikipedia - accessed 27 September 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cayuga_duck
- 'How to Make Fifty Pounds a Year from Breeding Ducks' by Henry Digby, 1891, Liverpool.
- Ives, Paul Pomeroy. Domestic Ducks and Geese. New York, Orange Judd publishing company, inc., 1951. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924090294343&view=1up&seq=7