Did you know ducks lay eggs in water?

[HorseFeatherz NV]

It'schickensforme :

You won't believe what I found in the bottom of my pond which is outside my front door. No less than 100 duck eggs!!! The pond was murky green for the last month. No matter what my husband tried, the green wouldn't go or clear up. I decided that today was the day to drain that pond and start over. Everywhere I looked, there was a duck egg...all rubbery and very smelly. We had seen a few floating over the last months but never expected what was found. We only have three females and one male. Talk about rotten egg? Whew!!!

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Once again, BYC pops up at the top of my absurd google search: "duck lays eggs in water". Now ... off to figure out what to DO about it. I want to eat my duck eggs, or at least let my lady duck brood some when she has the urge. But even though we dump the kiddie pool pretty often, I'm hesitant to eat eggs that have been soaking in duck poo soup, and she can't do anything with them either!

 

[EggLuver]

Once again, BYC pops up at the top of my absurd google search: "duck lays eggs in water". Now ... off to figure out what to DO about it. I want to eat my duck eggs, or at least let my lady duck brood some when she has the urge. But even though we dump the kiddie pool pretty often, I'm hesitant to eat eggs that have been soaking in duck poo soup, and she can't do anything with them either!

All you have to do is wash them off and then rinse with vinegar or something like that to kill all the bad stuff. Besides, you are not eating the shells, are you? I keep a jug of vinegar for disinfecting all sorts of stuff and yes it will kill bacteria. Now if the eggs have been gathering for a while, I might have second thoughts... LOL Keep in mind though that once the egg has been washed, it will not keep as long.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

All you have to do is wash them off and then rinse with vinegar or something like that to kill all the bad stuff. Besides, you are not eating the shells, are you? I keep a jug of vinegar for disinfecting all sorts of stuff and yes it will kill bacteria. Now if the eggs have been gathering for a while, I might have second thoughts... LOL Keep in mind though that once the egg has been washed, it will not keep as long.

Thanks for the tips! I've been reading that duck eggs don't keep as long as chicken eggs in the best of circumstances. Their shells do seem quite different when I tap on them. I can't wait to try them!

 

[Carcajou]

I keep a potato hook handy to fish eggs from our pond.

 

[EggLuver]

Thanks for the tips! I've been reading that duck eggs don't keep as long as chicken eggs in the best of circumstances. Their shells do seem quite different when I tap on them. I can't wait to try them!

They will actually last longer than chicken eggs. In learning about egg storage for the non laying months, I found out that washing the eggs shortens the life of the egg because you remove the protective coating. Now I do wash the dirty eggs because they are usually pretty nasty but then after they dry I coat them with lard. This seals the egg up again preventing the egg from drying out and air from entering the egg through the shell. Yes there are lots of tiny holes in the shells of both ducks and chickens. They can be kept up to 6 months with this coating on them at 65 degrees or cooler. They do get worse to use for fried eggs as they get older but for baking or scrambled eggs they are great.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

You stop ducks from laying in pools by keeping them locked up longer in the mornings. Pasture nest boxes sometimes help give them a spot to lay if you put fake in them.


Here is a good example of field nest boxes

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

You stop ducks from laying in pools by keeping them locked up longer in the mornings. Pasture nest boxes sometimes help give them a spot to lay if you put fake in them.
Here is a good example of field nest boxes

Awwww! We put the pool in their pen. They sleep in it. So cute. We've been contemplating dumping it out at night ... and we do need to upgrade their little box area sometime very soon ... what you show is very much what we're considering! Simple & elegant solution.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Now I do wash the dirty eggs because they are usually pretty nasty but then after they dry I coat them with lard. This seals the egg up again preventing the egg from drying out and air from entering the egg through the shell.

What a cool trick! I heard about this same tip from a woman who lived on a boat, so didn't have refrigeration.

 

[knightie]

Actually I think mother earth news did an experiment and covering eggs in lard is one of th worst preservation methods they tried. If i remembrr right You are better of just washing and refrigerating them.