Duck Egg???

[PigTheChicken]

Recently I have been finding eggs on the ground of my chicken coop? I have a female duck along with a drake which are almost 6 months old, I also have 5 other hens. I don‘t know whether it‘s my duck which has recently started laying eggs or if it’s just a chicken which is laying eggs on the ground (We have plenty of hen boxes). The eggs appear to have a harder shell, lighter colour and they are also smaller than our chicken eggs, which is making me unsure if it is a duck egg as I have heard they lay bigger eggs? Is there any way to tell who’s egg it is???

Here is a photo of the egg next to one of our chicken‘s egg (On the left)

 

[Mylied]

Duck eggs feel a bit waxy on the shell and the whites are more viscous. The yolk takes up more space compared to a chicken egg. Crack it open and you'll notice the difference if it's a duck egg.

Oh and as with pullet eggs, new ducks start out laying small and get bigger.

 

[SolarDuck]

What kind of duck is it? If its the silver appleyard in your pic I would assume her eggs would be bigger than your chicken eggs, but sometimes when ducks first start laying they lay smaller eggs while they are still figuring it out. Crack it open, duck eggs seem to have big yolks that are much harder to scramble than chicken eggs, I always whisk them with milk before for a few minutes if I plan to make scrambled eggs.

 

[PigTheChicken]

What kind of duck is it? If its the silver appleyard in your pic I would assume her eggs would be bigger than your chicken eggs, but sometimes when ducks first start laying they lay smaller eggs while they are still figuring it out. Crack it open, duck eggs seem to have big yolks that are much harder to scramble than chicken eggs, I always whisk them with milk before for a few minutes if I plan to make scrambled eggs.

Yes it’s the white silver appleyard in my pic, I assumed it must be because she had only started. It’s probably her 4th or 5th egg today, should it still be that small? And yes I will have a look when I crack open an egg!!

 

[PigTheChicken]

Duck eggs feel a bit waxy on the shell and the whites are more viscous. The yolk takes up more space compared to a chicken egg. Crack it open and you'll notice the difference if it's a duck egg.

Oh and as with pullet eggs, new ducks start out laying small and get bigger.

Thank you, I assumed it was that small because she had only started laying. I will also crack one of her eggs open and have a look!!!

 

[PigTheChicken]

I cracked the ’mystery egg’ open and this is a picture of it. It was very difficult to crack open and the inside is very thick. Which is not like any of our chicken‘s eggs we have had.

 

[SolarDuck]

I cracked the ’mystery egg’ open and this is a picture of it. It was very difficult to crack open and the inside is very thick. Which is not like any of our chicken‘s eggs we have had.
View attachment 2527973

Yeah from that description I would say its definitely a duck egg. I find mine much harder to crack than chicken eggs too

 

[Mylied]

I cracked the ’mystery egg’ open and this is a picture of it. It was very difficult to crack open and the inside is very thick. Which is not like any of our chicken‘s eggs we have had.
View attachment 2527973

Agreed, looks like a duck egg.

 

[PigTheChicken]

Yeah from that description I would say its definitely a duck egg. I find mine much harder to crack than chicken eggs too

Okay Thank you! I’m very excited to try some duck scrambled eggs!

 

[PigTheChicken]

Agreed, looks like a duck egg.

Thanks so much for your help!!