Cayugas are iridescent green ducks. The actual feathers are black and you can verify this by grinding them up into a powder. The iridescence comes from the feather shape diffracting light—the same action of prisms and surface oils. Birds that are in pristine feather condition will glow exceedingly well in sunlight. Birds that spend a lot of time in sunlight will shift in color from green to purple, be certain to provide sufficient shade if planning to show .
Breeding Cayugas saturated with full extended black pigment, full size, and high egg production, can be tricky. Once a Cayuga is crossed, the first thing to disappear is the black egg color. A Cayuga needs to above 98% pure to lay black eggs.
White feathers are unavoidable, it is a trait the extended black gene carries, the birds simply go white with age. At Paradise Pond, we choose breeders that show no white feathers in their first year and with as much black saturation as possible.
The bills, legs and tongues of both sexes should be black! It is common for these birds to lack size, special attention should be given to select large breeders.
Perfect Cayugas are extremely rare and hard to produce. The five standard trait requirements are large size, full body iridescent green coloring, black bill, black legs and no immature white feathering. A good line will produce offspring with three of the five traits, to get four or five requires patience and careful selection of breeders.
Ducklings are jet black with a tint of yellow to the chest. It seems the blackest ducks with the most yellow color grow into the finest specimens. Note: not to be confused with Swedish, which have a white chest feathering.
