# These are not cuyuga!!!



## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

I finally decided ( after months of research on breeds) that I wanted to get my first chickens and ducks. After hours online comparing hatcheries, I ordered 5 silver laced wyandotte, 5 buff orps, 2 cayuga and 2 khaki campbells. All a day old and all very reasonably priced ( almost to cheap). I went to pick them up from the post office and they seemed all to healthy. Got them home and into the brooder. Out of the 4 ducks, one was solid black but had a yellow spot on the bottom of his bill. the other 3 were identical light gray and yellow splotched with black spots on the legs and feet. None of them looked like what I was suppose to have ordered. I emailed the hatchery and finally received an explaination. the 3 gray/yellow were a cuyaga/blue swedish cross (one appears to have somewhat of a crested appearance. Named her bedhead) and the single black one was suppose to be khaki campbell. I ordered purebred cuyaga. Is it common for hatcheries to send you crosses without any explanation or even telling you for that matter? I don't think they would have had I not asked. All the chickens are as expected but the ducks, not so much.

don't get me wrong, it was love at first site but I am a little hesitant to order purebred again if the hatcheries just send you whatever is closest to the breed you ordered.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

this is bedhead. a little fluff on the top of her head.


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## Ceilismom (Jul 16, 2011)

I have never had a hatchery send me a substitution, and certainly never heard of them sending out a cross-breed as a substitution. I have been given the option of pre-approving a substitution in the event that there are not enough chicks or ducklings hatched to fill all orders. For example, I ordered white silkies and stated that if there weren't enough to fill my order, I would be OK with blue, splash or buff instead, but didn't want a different breed substituted. Had I ever received a substitution, I would expect to find that noted on the shipping invoice, at the very least.

What does the hatchery's substitution policy say? Is it possible they have a policy to substitute without notifying the buyer and you missed it? If they don't have such a policy stated on their website or in their catalog, then it seems reasonable that they either offer a refund or replacement for the wrong birds that they sent you.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

There was no substitution policy stated on the website that I could find. Matter of fact, their breeds weren't even on the website. It just stated "call for our weekly specials" I called and told him what I was wanting and he gave me a price. At first I ordered only 2 cayuga ducks but then called back 2 days later to see if I could add more to the order since they weren't due to hatch for 4 more days. The woman that answered the phone couldn't find my order at first so I told her that I ordered 10 chics and 2 cayuga ducks. Her reply was "are you sure you called the right hatchery, we don't carry cayuga ducks" Then she put the gentleman I had spoken with earlier on the phone and he remembered talking to me and my order. That should have been my first clue. Even on the shipping box label it said 5 silver laced, 5 buff orps, 2 cayuga and 2 khaki campbell. When in fact the box contained only 1 campbell and 3 cayuga/blue swedish crosses. The cayuga are suppose to be friendly, docile, quite and tolerate confinement well (30 ft by 20 ft pen with pool) and from what I am reading, the Blue swedish is the opposite. So now I am worried that this isn't a breed that will do well in our planned environment.

Not only did they not offer any type of refund or credit for the substituion, they didn't even offer an apology after I said that my daughter was the one that picked out the cayuga breed as a 4-H project and she had intended to enter it into our local small town shows but that it must be purebred in order for that to happen. Now, that isn't possible. 

I guess that's one I will have to chalk up to experience and not order from them again. I love the ducks but my daughter is a little upset. This was the only thing that she had asked for her birthday.


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## K Epp (Jan 7, 2013)

My Cayuga was a solid black chick and my Blue Cayuga looked like your blue chicks. I have no idea what Khaki Cambells look like. Granny Carol should be able to tell you more.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

From what I am finding online, my black duckling looks like a khaki Campbell duckling while the "blue" ones look like blue Swedish. These are my first ducks so i am just going by what I am researching online.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

Does the one appear to have a crested appearance on her head, or just a cow lick. 
Lol


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Khaki Campbell ducklings are NOT solid black, that actually might be a Cayuga. Khaki Campbell ducklings are medium to dark brown. I think your other blue ducklings are a cross as he said. They have too much white for a Swedish. Sounds like a hatchery that does not specialize in ducks. 

This is one of my favorite reference sites for what a duck should look like:

Cayugas (duckling pictures at the bottom):
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Cayuga/BRKCayuga.html

Khaki Campbell:
http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/Campbells/BRKKhakis.html
Maybe not the best duckling pictures, but should give you an idea anyway.

Here are some pictures of my original ducklings from a quality hatchery. The first picture is a couple of days old. There are two Silver Appleyards, pale yellow with a black stripe on the head. There are a mix of Welsh Harlequins and Khaki Campbells. The Campbells are the solid brownish ones, the WH are pale with markings on the face. 

The second picture is a couple of days later, this is a properly colored Khaki Campbell. The third picture is a few days later, the brown ones are the Khakis.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

Thanks for all the info. Unfortunately, I lost one of the ducklings. The smallest of the group. She starting pooping a clear mucus and also blowing the same out of her nose holes. When I picked her up, she seemed to have a seizure and then died in my hand. :-( the other 3 seemed to have doubled in size overnight. I guess I will just have to wait till they are bigger to tell what they are for sure. 2 of the 3 have their tail fluff starting to turn up, does that mean drake? If so, that hatchery really screwed up as the hole order were suppose to hens/ducks.


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## Ceilismom (Jul 16, 2011)

shannondee12 said:


> Thanks for all the info. Unfortunately, I lost one of the ducklings. The smallest of the group. She starting pooping a clear mucus and also blowing the same out of her nose holes. When I picked her up, she seemed to have a seizure and then died in my hand. :-( the other 3 seemed to have doubled in size overnight. I guess I will just have to wait till they are bigger to tell what they are for sure. 2 of the 3 have their tail fluff starting to turn up, does that mean drake? If so, that hatchery really screwed up as the hole order were suppose to hens/ducks.



There's no need to worry about them being drakes yet. That curled tail feather won't appear until they are fully feathered out.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

So sorry you lost one. 

And, yes, you won't know about their gender until the hens start quacking (which they do before any drakes feather the curly tail). The tail fluff is normal and they will seem to double in size about every few days, it's amazing how fast they grow!


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Did you pay by credit card, and are you still within the time window where you can refuse the billing for stuff which is not as ordered? If so, you'd better decline part-payment ASAP.


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## CAjerseychick (Aug 11, 2013)

shannondee12 said:


> There was no substitution policy stated on the website that I could find. Matter of fact, their breeds weren't even on the website. It just stated "call for our weekly specials" I called and told him what I was wanting and he gave me a price. At first I ordered only 2 cayuga ducks but then called back 2 days later to see if I could add more to the order since they weren't due to hatch for 4 more days. The woman that answered the phone couldn't find my order at first so I told her that I ordered 10 chics and 2 cayuga ducks. Her reply was "are you sure you called the right hatchery, we don't carry cayuga ducks" Then she put the gentleman I had spoken with earlier on the phone and he remembered talking to me and my order. That should have been my first clue. Even on the shipping box label it said 5 silver laced, 5 buff orps, 2 cayuga and 2 khaki campbell. When in fact the box contained only 1 campbell and 3 cayuga/blue swedish crosses. The cayuga are suppose to be friendly, docile, quite and tolerate confinement well (30 ft by 20 ft pen with pool) and from what I am reading, the Blue swedish is the opposite. So now I am worried that this isn't a breed that will do well in our planned environment.
> 
> Not only did they not offer any type of refund or credit for the substituion, they didn't even offer an apology after I said that my daughter was the one that picked out the cayuga breed as a 4-H project and she had intended to enter it into our local small town shows but that it must be purebred in order for that to happen. Now, that isn't possible.
> 
> I guess that's one I will have to chalk up to experience and not order from them again. I love the ducks but my daughter is a little upset. This was the only thing that she had asked for her birthday.


I would like to know what Hatchery to avoid....(Although honestly there are plenty of baby ducks and geese on Craigslist near me)....


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

It was Ridgeway Hatchery in Ohio. I guess I shouldn't complain because the ducks he sent are very healthy (except for the one I lost) and when I emailed to ask what breed they were mixed with, he did tell me.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

They are 2 weeks old today. Bed head, the one with the tuft of fuzz on her head, is now twice the size of the other 2. Bed head has also stopped peeping. I will add some updated pictures today as I have one that seems to love the camera.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

buttercup loves the camera


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

The black one that was suppose to be Cayuga now has copper colored feathers coming in so now I'm really confused!


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

I said "might" be cayuga, who knows? Well give it time and we'll see what you have. Of course pictures are always welcome!


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

This is Bed Head. She is easily 1/3 larger than the other 2. Her feather are coming in a beautiful blue color along with the tuft on her head. For some reason, I am thinking she is a he. But it could be that she is a different mix of breeds because her tuft, her body shape is way different and she appears to have a more pronounced breast that is starting to turn pinkish orange.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

This is daisy. It is difficult to tell in the pics but her feathers are coming in copper colored.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

and this is buttercup.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

That funny yellowish color is because of the blood feathers coming in. It will turn white where Bed Head and Buttercup are yellowish. Daisy will be brown or black (probably a brownish black). I doubt any of them are purebred anything, but they will still be adorable.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

It's ok that they aren't purebred, I love them anyway. Lol. Since the bator is empty and I finally got something to hatch at a decent hatch rate, i put 6 Cayuga eggs in today. No more hatcheries for me though. I went with some show quality stock this time so my baby girl can hopefully show one for 4-H. In the meantime, I need to build a bigger coop. Just finished my duck house yesterday and it didn't cost me anything since I used salvaged materials. Im not going to be that lucky with a bigger coop.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

thought I would share an updated pic with you since their feathers are coming in and I personally think they are beautiful, but then again they are my babies. lol


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Daisy is very likely a Khaki cross, the marking on the feathers indicates its not pure. Buttercup is a dilute brown (blue brown) with the same type of markings, very pretty. Bedhead is very cute too... she's a proper blue and white. So adorable!


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## K Epp (Jan 7, 2013)

Now you've done it I want more ducks.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

Me to!!!! Lol. I'm loving these little boogers. So much personality. I walk outside every morning and say "good morning ladies" and they all start peeping and run to meet me and Bella, my mastiff. I can't wait till the Cayuga eggs in the incubator hatch. Just 2 more weeks.


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## Homesteader (Jul 13, 2002)

Ah, so so cute! I don't know a thing about ducks as we decided it would be a big job to provide enough clean water for them, as in a pond type situation, but I sure would love to have some.


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

GrannyCarol said:


> Daisy is very likely a Khaki cross, the marking on the feathers indicates its not pure. Buttercup is a dilute brown (blue brown) with the same type of markings, very pretty. Bedhead is very cute too... she's a proper blue and white. So adorable!


Sorry for stupid questions grannycarol but when you say dilute brown, do you mean that she is a khaki cross as well? and bedhead a proper blue and white, would that be a blue swedish? 

Since these are not really what I ordered, I wonder if they will have issues with their environment. I choose the cayuga because the say that they bear confinement well and they are docile and somewhat quiet. I have them in a 30 ft by 20 ft pen along with 10 chickens( 2 of which will be going into the freezer because they sent me roosters instead of all hens) They have their own house but choose not to use it yet. We go to the creek daily for a few hours but since I recently remodeled my master bath, I salvaged the garden tub and dug a hole to inset it a bit in the ground. I then connected a drainage pipe to the drain and dug a trench to the creek for draining. I covered the pipe back with dirt and surrounded the tub with large flat rocks to help cut down on the mud and muck around the tub. I have apple trees that overhang the tub slightly so I am debating weather or not to add a large patio umbrella over the tub to help keep out the leaves and apples that fall or to leave it open for the sun to help warm the water.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

It's entirely possible she's a Khaki cross, I have one that has the darker brown, penciled feathers type coloring that your other duck has. I've had ducks with the dilute brown color (I forget what it's called, sorry!), they didn't happen to be Khaki crosses, but I think you could get that crossing a Khaki with a dilute... though the penciling wouldn't be characteristic of a Khaki cross, they shouldn't have that in their genes. 

However... even purebred ducks don't have registries and pedigrees like many farm animals and can crossed out as long as they retain breed type and color. Therefor, even a good breeder might cross to another breed to bring in certain characteristics. I don't worry too much about "purebred" in ducks, though if I buy a purebred, I do want to have it clearly resemble the breed in question. 

Bedhead could be a Blue Swedish, or she could be any solid color crossed with a duck with white markings (one of which was dilute). I get that color pattern if my Anconas (white with splotches) are crossed with a solid colored duck. It doesn't mean much unless the duck in question clearly has the other physical characteristics of a Blue Swedish - size, shape, weight, type of head, carriage, etc. Each breed has a standard that explains what they are supposed to be. 

To really examine the genetics and what the breeds are supposed to be, I recommend, "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks", it is a VERY complete book written by an expert and includes everything, even the color genetics of all the different breeds. It's where I learned about 90% of what I know!


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## shannondee12 (Mar 8, 2013)

Thank you so much for all of the info. I am the type of person who liked to learn everything possible. My granny also says "knowledge weighs nothing, anyone can carry it around". Although the check I just wrote for my daughters tuition was quite heavy. Lol.

I had a random person stop by the other day and tell me I had a beautiful blue crested magpie (bedhead) and although she wasnt show quality because her crest was off center, he wanted first dibs if i choose to re-home her. Of course I laughed because that would never happen. But that breed is one that I hadn't heard of before. In most of search through hatchery websites, none had magpie ducks offered. Is this an unusual breed?

He also said that he thought daisy was a "self colored" except for the lacing. Guess I will delve into duck genetics next. Its very intriging.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Well, if you check out Feathersite: 

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/BRKDucks.html

and look up "Magpie", you will see a Magpie duck is white, with a colored cap and back. They come in black and blue (gray). They are not primarily solid colored with a white bib. Since they came to you and are not at all the breeds they are supposed to be, I'd say various crosses. Now, I am fond of my cross breeds, I've several and they are as cool as the rest of them! One of my favorites is a little cross that lays green eggs - one a day for years, great little layer. I finally have a daughter of hers that is laying me a green egg regularly, which I am glad of, as the mother has slowed down.


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