The khaki-Campbell duck Thread !!!!!!!!

[caesargirl]

I bought some eggs from a lady that raises Pekins.  When I met her she went over the whole spill about how they are better for you and all of that.  She then assured me that she had washed the eggs and said that since they are waterfoul the eggs are stained because the "ducks lay them wherever, in the mud and all". 
So I have chickens and I know the white eggs get stained some if they lay on manure, etc. 
So we tried the eggs the other morning and when I put them up to my mouth I could smell a distinctive smell, not sour or anything bad, but off if you know what I mean.  I ate the eggs and they were good but they did have the same off type taste.  Not a gage taste, but one I could have seen myself doing without.   So I know different things taste different and I don't expect everything to taste like chicken so to speak and I was thinking maybe that is just something to get used to. 

Today my wife asked me to help her make some bread sticks and when reading the ingredients she called for 2 eggs, so I said lets use the duck egg.  So I go to open the egg and I noticed real quick it was brittle and cracked into small 1/4" fragments, which I do not want in the mix, so I started pealing off the 1/4 inch pieces of shell from the air sac.  It became clear to me very quickly that if these were like chicken eggs that they had been stored for at least a couple of weeks, which gave me a good opurtunity to show my wife why eggs that are stored peal easier when hard boiled due to the evaporation of moisture which gives more room for expansion and all of that.  So basically instead of cracking the shell like normal I revealed a large portion of the sack and broke it.  Then I smelled the smell only a little stronger and it smells like mud, light mud smell but still mud, which I have never seen in a bread stick recipe- we will see how they turn out.

I have cleaned a goose before with that same smell and an older fellow told me it is because they basically eat in the mud so I am thinking either that is the same case with the eggs or maybe while the eggs were laying in the mud they got the taste?  Or maybe that is just duck egg taste?
I don't know but what I am wondering is if you get the same taste in an egg from a duck that doesn't have access to mud like a duck around a pond would.  And as far as my description of cracking the egg and the way it fragmented and all of that, is that the normal duck egg experience, because if so I think I will stick to chickens please.  But I do think it is cool that the lady has so many eggs this time of the year because I have 7 chickens (hens) and I am lucky to get 1 egg a day. 

In the spring, known as mud season in Maine, I've pulled eggs off the top of mud and washed them. If they've been there for just a few hours, no mud flavor or smell, but some light staining. After a few hours, definite smell/taste. My eggs, laid clean, stored correctly, even a couple weeks old just taste like egg. Farm fresh gives it a stronger egg flavor, but that's it. Normally I don't even wash my eggs, the bloom keeps them fresher longer.

 

[Robeenop]

I don't understand the different "taste" or smell. I think they have a buttery smell and taste. I have admit I had never eaten duck eggs before, and was a little bit scared, but they bake beautifully, the rise is amazingly high. Now I eat them like I have my whole life. My ducks lay in my chicken nest boxes in my big coop. Rarely on the ground. I delivered 12 dozen eggs to a co worker yesterday. She gets half duck/chicken. She bakes with duck. Makes amazing cornbread. Just remember, what goes in comes out...depends on what you feed them! Mine are Organic, as best I can.

 

[Amiga]

The way you describe the taste reminds me of escargot. I wonder if they eat many slugs?

 

[nchvac]

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We've hatched 100's of shipped eggs. Gotta pick your sources carefully. I was hoping to find someone here that sells KC ducks. I tend to trust people here more so than those selling on Ebay.

I will keep that in mind. What is the proper channel for locating eggs on this site?

 

[nchvac]

I don't understand the different "taste" or smell. I think they have a buttery smell and taste. I have admit I had never eaten duck eggs before, and was a little bit scared, but they bake beautifully, the rise is amazingly high. Now I eat them like I have my whole life. My ducks lay in my chicken nest boxes in my big coop. Rarely on the ground. I delivered 12 dozen eggs to a co worker yesterday. She gets half duck/chicken. She bakes with duck. Makes amazing cornbread. Just remember, what goes in comes out...depends on what you feed them! Mine are Organic, as best I can.

So if a duck is kept in a chicken type coop area or hutch the eggs shouldn't taste much different from chicken eggs?

 

[RoboDuck]

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We've hatched 100's of shipped eggs.  Gotta pick your sources carefully.  I was hoping to find someone here that sells KC ducks.  I tend to trust people here more so than those selling on Ebay.

I will keep that in mind.  What is the proper channel for locating eggs on this site?

Go to the Buy/Sell/Trade forums. I have had nothing but pleasant experiences with everyone I have bought from. And if you want more assurances, look at their rating (kinda like ebay). People like papabrooder and bargain are high volume sellers and are excellent to deal with. I, and I am sure others here, can give recommendations for sellers of certain breeds/species.

 

[Bert2368]

So if a duck is kept in a chicken type coop area or hutch the eggs shouldn't taste much different from chicken eggs?

I give mine little zig zag alcoves with open top, made out of snow fence and plastic fence posts, just something to hide in and lay eggs. I put down clean coarse "wash sand" over a layer of sawdust and bark mulch on the ground in the duck enclosure where I do this, and rake/replace when it gets muddy or poopy. Also, I have a few golf balls that I place where I want them to lay, they usually take the hint and lay there eggs right by the balls. In fact, they sometimes try to set on and brood the balls, regardless of any real eggs in the nest.

Clean, quickly gathered duck eggs just taste richer than chicken eggs to me. No muddy taste, no off smells. Your lady may have kept those eggs too long, or found them too late. If I am not sure of an egg I find in the duck enclosure being laid only the night before, I scramble it and feed to my chickens. Same with very mucky eggs, I don't want to take any chances with food contamination.

 

[walker1229]

How old were your ducks when they started laying? Mine is 7 months now and still no eggs

 

[JayDubYa]

How old were your ducks when they started laying? Mine is 7 months now and still no eggs

Mine started laying generally between 20 and 26 weeks

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I will keep that in mind. What is the proper channel for locating eggs on this site?

Where are you located?

 

[caesargirl]

Mine were pretty close to 9 mos before they started laying. Now, egg a day from them. I'm hoping my Cayuga khaki mixes will be great layers. I'll breed into 3rd generation before I judge though. Did have a khaki drop an egg next to my foot this morning on her way out the coop door! We were both rather surprised!