Do any of you eat duck eggs? I've recently aquired some Muscovy ducks and I don't want to raise a bunch of baby ducks so I plan to gather the eggs as they are laid. Are they good eating? Do you prepare them just like chicken eggs? This all seems obvious but I'm not sure. I wonder if people would buy them if I advertised? Thanks.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 14, 2000

Answers

We eat our duck eggs all the time. They are especially good in cakes, and anytimr you want the egg whites to whip up nice and high. They are better for that than chicken eggs. Also, they are a lot harder to break, so less messy accidents! As for selling them, it will be hard to get a big market going for them. People don't think of duck eggs as being edible, except if they have spent any time in the Phillipines in the service, and then you hear jokes about balut (sp?), which is a partly incubated duck egg that is a delicacy there. Also, duck eggs have been used to make vaccines, because most people don't eat them, and because of this, you will occasionally find a person who is violently allergic to them, allergic enough to go to the hospital from it.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), June 14, 2000.

Are they good fried or scrambled or boiled?

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 14, 2000.

Joe: We have 5 ducks, 4 which are hens, and we eat the eggs all the time. Also have chickens, and no one in the family can tell the difference when they are cooked. Yes, you can fry, boil, scramble, cook/bake with them. Funny thing is, I can't GIVE them away to even family, as no one will eat them. However, when we take deviled eggs for family gatherings, I usually use the duck eggs, and everyone raves about how good they are. I never tell...Ours lay green shelled eggs, very nice and large. they don't lay as often as the chickens, but are easier to care for. Oh, and I also freeze eggs to use when they aren't laying in the winter. Just whip the whole eggs, or separate and label the container as to yolks, whites, or whole and how many. They will thaw thicker than fresh eggs, so just whip a bit and scramble or bake with them. Jan

-- Jan in Colorado (Janice12@aol.com), June 14, 2000.

Also good in noodles. Our excess duck and goose eggs were in great demand. Mom had given some to an Aisan friend, and before long, we could sell all they laid to Myong and her friends. Any Aisan restaurants near you? Might check there, or at college campuses or hospitals, if you don't have a large Aisan population where you are.

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), June 14, 2000.

We use to use one duck egg in recipes that called for 2 chicken eggs-- -as this is what seemed to be the priciest measurement & my Mother was one of those, kind of cooks----I cook --if it looks right & it smells right & tastes right --then go for it! omelets are wonderful made out of duck eggs! Your noodles will be a wonderful yellow color useing duck eggs! Hope my ducks will lay when they are old enough! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), June 14, 2000.

I've used duck eggs in baking and they are great. At one point a friend of mine was in egg overload and I was getting 4 dozen a day!! Made tons of chiffon cakes and froze them. Have to agree however that a small segment of the population is deathly allergic to them. My husband ended up in the hospital several times from accidental ingestion. (he also found out the hard way that guinea hen eggs must have a similar protein content because they made him sick also.) In his case he had severe vomiting and diarrhea. His doctors didn't believe this was the cause but it happened several times so we are sure it was the eggs. Don't know how you can screen people for the allergy but it does appear to be very rare.

-- teresa (teresam@ascent.net), June 14, 2000.

If you go to www.metzerfarms.com, you will find a page which tells about the superior nutritional content of duck eggs vs. chicken eggs. I like 'em fine. The whites cook up quicker than the yolks, so if you like your whites hard and your yolk runny, fried duck eggs are for you. They are preferred for baking and cooking by many Asian and French chefs.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), June 15, 2000.

Vastly superior to chicken eggs in every respect. The difference they make in baked goods is absolutely astounding.

As far as the allergy discussion...
Dont worry about it any more than you would worry about feeding someone a chicken egg. Some people are deathly allergic to chicken eggs too, in fact, the people who are allergic to chicken eggs can usually eat duck eggs.

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), June 15, 2000.

WE SELL BOTH CHICKEN AND DUCKS EGGS. THEY ARE GREAT FOR BAKING, THAT'S ALL WE USE, MANY OF MY CUSTOMERS USE THEM FOR BAKING AND EATING. I PUT AN ADD IN OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER ANDRECEIVED A LOT OF CALLS. THEY USE THEM FOR BAKING AND EATING. WE DELIVER TO CUSTOMERS THEAT ARE DISABLED OR DON'T HAVE TRANSPORTATION TO GET THEM.

-- MRS PRISCILLA WILLIAMS (GP83196@AOL.COM), June 15, 2000.

Thank you all for your replys. As soon as my ducks get big enough to start laying I'm going to eat some and let you all know what I think of them.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 15, 2000.

When I was a kid in Eunice, New Mexico, about a hundred years ago, I had 3 Muscovy ducks. One of them hatched some babies and they were the cutest things you can imagine. Are you sure you don't want some babies? I remember I felt so horrible when a pole cat ate all of them. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 15, 2000.

I have one duck that occassionaly lays an egg. The only way I know it's Duck's it because she lays in one spot on the hen house floor. I just place it in the basket and no one every knows the difference. Since this is my hens third year, they lay eggs that are almost as large as Duck's.

-- Cheryl Cox (bramblecottage@hotmail.com), June 16, 2000.

When we had ducks and hens laying, you could tell them apart by feel - - the duck eggs seemed to feel a little more waxy or "greasy". Of course, it helped that almost all our hens were laying brown eggs and the duck eggs were white!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 16, 2000.

Just one quick addition about the allergy thing....I just found out that I am "deathly" allergic to duck eggs. I almost died...3 times. I am 24 years old and I have NEVER had this problem. I eat 6-7 chicken eggs every week. However, I went to India last month and had duck eggs. All 3 times I ended up unconscious, etc... Just be careful out there.

-- Justin Thankachan (jthankac@yahoo.com), August 08, 2001.