Duck eggs...

[cluckintexan]

I have two ducks and they've been laying eggs, yay! My problem is I also have two drakes, one of which is quite a bit younger so I'm not worried about him breeding at the moment. I do have one Rouen male that is mature enough. I have thrown a few eggs out that were cracked and one I know was rotten because I could smell it thru the shell >.< I candled them all and threw out the ones I could tell were no good one way or the other. But I don't know what to do with the rest of these eggs. I'm not sure how old any of them are or if they'd be safe to eat. There are 27 of them, most of which are covered in mud. I candled them a week ago and have seen no real difference in the egg. I'm just unsure of what to do with them. Any advice would be appreciated!

This is pretty much what they all look like. I'm assuming that would be the yolk of the egg. Some of them have a small dark spot in the yellow area, some don't. I would assume those are fertilized but I could be wrong. Neither of my ducks seems remotely interested in sitting on these. None of my chickens are acting broody either so I can't use one of them to help out. I just don't know what to do.

 

[cluckintexan]

I also feel I should add that the cold front finally came thru here and all of these eggs were cold when I got them out of the nest.

 

[mesafox101]

incubate them idk

 

[PirateGirl]

How old are they at the oldest? I'd probably eat them. I'd crack them into a separate bowl instead of directly into the frying pan or whatever I'm mixing/baking just in case there's a surprise bad one. (sometimes there are cracks we can't see and if the eggs have been sitting awhile they could have bacteria growing in them)

 

[PirateGirl]

Are you trying to have ducklings or breakfast?

 

[cluckintexan]

I would be happy with either honestly, I just wasn't sure if they'd be safe for eating or not. I would say the oldest is probably a month old. I'm not sure which is which either because they all look the same. I can say the cleanest eggs are the newest ones tho. I don't own an incubator of any kind, I could probably make one out of stuff I have floating around, but with it being "winter" here in Texas, the weather is so unpredictable that it would be hard to keep them at a steady temp once they hatched and I can't keep them inside anywhere. ugh. I just don't know what the best course of action is here.

 

[Duckworth]

We eat ours, but I collect them daily and rinse them before putting them in the fridge. I don't know how long the are good without refrigeration.

 

[cluckintexan]

We were really interested in eating them because from what I've read they have double the good for you stuff that chicken eggs do. We have a few people in our family that have health issues so they're on a special diet and duck eggs would be fabulous for them. I was under the impression that you shouldn't eat a fertilized egg for one reason or another. What I may do, as much as I hate to, is just throw all of these out because I don't know 100% if they are okay to eat, and just start collecting the eggs everyday when I get the chicken eggs.

 

[Duckworth]

As far as I know, fertilized eggs that haven't begun to develop are okay to eat. But we have no drakes, so it isn't an issue for us. Maybe someone else can clear that question up for sure.

 

[PirateGirl]

It doesn't matter if it's fertilized or not to eat them.

If a duck hasn't been sitting on them for days keeping them the right temperature they won't develop.

If they haven't been baking in the sun and they aren't cracked they shouldn't be rotten.

If you still aren't comfortable eating them, then just start fresh and collect them every day, this way you know they aren't developing or rotting and you can start eating them without worry.