We were given 3 ducks (a Rouen, a Silver Appleyard, and a Mutt), and we bought 10 more Silver Appleyards. We worked up the nerve to cook some of the eggs, and we really like them. They remind me of the hen eggs we used to get at my Grandparents. The duck eggs have a lot more flavor than the bland hen eggs we've been getting at the store.
We've had the eggs boiled, fried, scrambled, and cooked in cakes. The yolk is a little darker and larger in proportion to the white than the yolk in a hen egg, but they really taste good.
we use to have cayugas and pekings on the pond.i started eating their aggs and liked them better than the eggs we were getting from our barred rock chickens.
Well of the damn Red Tail Hawk would quit eating our ducks.....
We've been lucky so far, and haven't lost any of the ducks to hawks. We were going to have them out at the pond, but coyotes have been a real problem lately. The ducks (and two pair of Geese) reside in a fenced area under the watchful eye of a very large and protective Great Dane.
The Dane is protective of the ducks, but the dog and the Geese have a somewhat less than congenial relationship. The Geese like to sneak up and pinch the Dane, and the Dane will occasionally run full bore through the middle of the Geese scattering them willy-nilly.
Yeah this sucker hangs in the pine trees and waits till they are about halfway from the shelter to the pond. SOB leaves the minute anybody shows outside with a shotgun too!
I haven't had them since I was a kid. My Grandpa's brother used to raise ducks and goats. It was always duck eggs and goats milk for him. I remember liking them, but they were huge.
If they have access to a pond the eggs may taste fishy in the early spring when crayfish are abundant. Otherwise I prefer them to hen eggs. I had some KHAKI CAMPBELLS once that would lay until around the first of July. miles
Daughter has a couple dozen Rhode Island Reds, they lay good eggs, but then they are fed and left to "free range". Under a net I might add, too bad the ducks can't stay under cover.
Ate some Goose eggs once. Made me sick. Must have been bad.
It's the only eggs we eat up here except the ones that come in a box. Fresh we get them from the geese that nest along the Yukon. Take a few eggs every day from each nest. They just keep laying more and never miss the missing ones. You guys that don't eat wild goose eggs are missing a real treat.
Duck eggs are good, but just make sure there isn't a baby chick in it!
Yep, worked in San Francisco for a few years - many filipino friends at the office. Some brought in balut for lunch. I got 3 for a wedding gift when I got married...it's a man thing, buck up....how much different than tiger meat...???
Ate some Goose eggs once. Made me sick. Must have been bad.
It's the only eggs we eat up here except the ones that come in a box. Fresh we get them from the geese that nest along the Yukon. Take a few eggs every day from each nest. They just keep laying more and never miss the missing ones. You guys that don't eat wild goose eggs are missing a real treat.
We were given 3 ducks (a Rouen, a Silver Appleyard, and a Mutt), and we bought 10 more Silver Appleyards. We worked up the nerve to cook some of the eggs, and we really like them. They remind me of the hen eggs we used to get at my Grandparents. The duck eggs have a lot more flavor than the bland hen eggs we've been getting at the store.
We've had the eggs boiled, fried, scrambled, and cooked in cakes. The yolk is a little darker and larger in proportion to the white than the yolk in a hen egg, but they really taste good.
I have used duck eggs in almost every way possible and have found them delicious. The egg is bigger than a chicken egg, and the membrane around the yolk is tougher than on a chicken egg, but the taste is great.
They are great for cakes & pies. My dad had a chicken farm when I was a kid. At Easter there would be roadside stands selling chickens & ducks dyed Easter egg colors. My parents bought me a baby duck for 3-4 years running. The ducks did their thing & the first thing I knew I had a flock of ducks & lots of eggs. With access to chicken feed & roost under the chicken house the ducks did well. I started gathering up the eggs & sold them in my dads small store. Country people would buy every one I had for sell.
Well of the damn Red Tail Hawk would quit eating our ducks.....
We've been lucky so far, and haven't lost any of the ducks to hawks. We were going to have them out at the pond, but coyotes have been a real problem lately. The ducks (and two pair of Geese) reside in a fenced area under the watchful eye of a very large and protective Great Dane.
The Dane is protective of the ducks, but the dog and the Geese have a somewhat less than congenial relationship. The Geese like to sneak up and pinch the Dane, and the Dane will occasionally run full bore through the middle of the Geese scattering them willy-nilly.
The dog and geese are each protectors. Geese have been used on military bases over sees as "watchdogs" so I've read.
Haven't had Duck eggs. Heard they're very good, and much better than chicken. Want some fine quality chicken eggs that are fresh, visit an Amish settlement, and buy them there.
Quail eggs are the schiznit! Eaten many a raw quail egg at sushi joints, and wish I could find one locally that served them. When I asked one sushi chef where he got their quail eggs, his reply: "Quail". Duh, I'm a dumbarse!
I really love pickled quail eggs too. It's a lot of work to boil and peel them though.
Almost forgot the pickled quail eggs. Bought a jar, somewhere...can't recall where, of Cajun pickled quail eggs. My God they were good, and I wished I'd bought a case of them!
I grew up on duck eggs. The chicken eggs we sold. The ducks pretty much had a free run of the yard and were grain fed and they were great. As Terry said...we had to watch the hawks, but it was the owls that were the real problem....sneaky bastids!
As Terry said...we had to watch the hawks, but it was the owls that were the real problem....sneaky bastids!
Add in coons, foxes, coyotes and possums and mink. Protecting my ducks was why I got my first Great Pyrenees dog. I have not had any fowl in a few years but since I am retired, I may start back. miles
You can put duck eggs under a chicken and she'll raise the little ducklings right along with her own chicks, but you can't put chicken (guinea, peacock, turkey, pheasant, etc.) eggs under a duck (or goose) they'll raise the chicks like they were their own, but will be really puzzled about why some chicks can't swim, even in a little mud puddle.
Miles, for the mink, possums, skunks, weasels, and other small carnivores that are hard to block out of the coup, try juice cans with chicken blood in them. When you open the cans, cut the top like it was a pizza or a pie and bend the points all in a little. You can make canned mink this way A few mink, once they find the chicken pen, will keep coming every day or two until all the chickens (or other foul) are all gone. I had some neighbors who lost over a hundred chickens in a month. We got them set up on canning mink, and all that carnage came to an end after they caught four mink.
You know how sometimes on international flights, you see a bunch of folks who've hit the duty-free shop and are each toting about 4 giant colorful bags with liquor in them?
I saw something similar with duck eggs once. I was on a local Chinese flight from Qingdao (NE coast) to Guangzhou (SE coast). Sitting in the departure area by the gate, it looked like >50% of the Chinese people had several of these big cardboard boxes with handles - brightly colored, about as big as two shoeboxes. I asked one what they were, and they said "duck eggs".
Maybe something was lost in translation, because they were all individually packed and wrapped - maybe they were the special "100-year-old" pickled eggs or something. Either way, they were popular.
If you keep them picked up, they will lay for a long time. Some of the breeds are bred for laying and will lay for a very long time if handled right. miles
There are a lot of benefits to the ducks and geese besides the eggs. The geese are grazers and have really cut down on the number of times I have to mow the orchard, and they do a good job of weeding the garden too.
The ducks are bug eating machines. They do a good job of keeping the garden pests down. Last winter we had hundreds of stink bugs in our firewood. I had to beat them off of just about every stick I brought. Since we've had the ducks I haven't seen more that a half dozen.
I'm looking forward to some roast duck and goose when our flock gets big enough too.
I've been surprised at how well the ducks and geese have done around our bee hives. We have ten hives now and the ducks and geese feed right up next to the hives. I haven't seen them trying to bother the bees, and the bees seem to tolerate them.
We were given 3 ducks (a Rouen, a Silver Appleyard, and a Mutt), and we bought 10 more Silver Appleyards. We worked up the nerve to cook some of the eggs, and we really like them. They remind me of the hen eggs we used to get at my Grandparents. The duck eggs have a lot more flavor than the bland hen eggs we've been getting at the store.
We've had the eggs boiled, fried, scrambled, and cooked in cakes. The yolk is a little darker and larger in proportion to the white than the yolk in a hen egg, but they really taste good.
Yeah, we used to raise ducks. As you say, the eggs are more powerful in flavor- a bit much for some folks. I preferred them in scrambles with other stuff (pesto, cheese, chiles, etc) as their unadulterated flavor was stronger than I'd prefer.
So will a duck hen lay for a long time like a chicken does, or is it 8 and done..?
I have 1 hen duck (1drake too) mixed in with our free range chickens. She's a very consistent layer. 5 a week for about the last 4 months. I end up eating most of the duck eggs and we sell the free range chicken eggs.
If you want to see something funny, you should see our drake try to mount and breed the barred rocks we got as chicks at the same time we got him.
A few mink, once they find the chicken pen, will keep coming every day or two until all the chickens (or other foul) are all gone. I had some neighbors who lost over a hundred chickens in a month. We got them set up on canning mink, and all that carnage came to an end after they caught four mink.