Duck Eggs

[Remmy]

I have a black indian runner and she lays an egg every day. how long are these eggs good for if they go right into the refrigerator? Is it true that they are good for baking?

 

[ducksinarow]

I would say a month. Yes they are good for baking. We eat them just as you would chicken eggs. Scrambled is our favorite. Don't try to boil fresh eggs the shell is very hard to remove. The shell comes off old eggs much better. I leave mine on the cabinet usually until they get eaten. Enjoy.

 

[Remmy]

Thanks for the info! My family makes fun of me bc when it gets below 35 degrees I bring her in for the night! She's never lived in the wild and we rescued her when she was about 2 months old....am I crazy?

 

[Amiga]

I keep my entire flock of nine runners as well as our four buffs in a pen in the walkout basement, that does not get colder than about 40, maybe upper 30s. The first year we had them it was obvious that some of them are not that cold-hardy. So we kept them in a warmer shelter during the winter. The following year, I decided to just set up their night shelter there, and it has worked out for me.

I can hear them if they make a fuss, the predator risk is very low, we don't have to keep a heat lamp on during very cold spells, it is roomy - about 80 square feet.

And in your case, just one duck - does not sound like a hardship to keep her at a temperature that helps keep her healthy.

The fewer ducks in a flock, the harder it must be for them to keep warm. Mine, by the way have never ever huddled together to stay warm. Nose to tail is about as close as they get.

 

[Remmy]

Thank you so much for your information! Ok so now I'm worried...she normally stands by the back door begging to come in. Always knows when we get home and is waiting on us to let her in. Over the past 3 days she hasn't come to the door but maybe once or twice. Every time I go to look for her she is always sitting on her eggs. I have always picked up her eggs every morning until my 10 year old kept giving me a hard time about taking her eggs so I stopped picking them up. That is when she quit coming to the door. I mean she LOVES coming in and hanging out with us in the living room. Since I stopped picking the eggs up, does she think their are babies???? Also, yesterday morning she had laid her egg against the fence which is so strange...she always lays them in the same place. She would not move away from the egg so I looked at it and it did not have a hard shell, it was soft. I picked it up and put it in the pile with all of the other eggs. She literally has been sitting on them about 75% of the day. I love her so much and am so scared something is wrong.

 

[madducks]

My runners have just laid their first eggs , as I'm new to this should I put hem straight in the fridge ? Can I cook them straight away ? How long will they keep for ?
Thanks in advance for your answers

 

[Amiga]

My runners have just laid their first eggs , as I'm new to this should I put hem straight in the fridge ? Can I cook them straight away ? How long will they keep for ?
Thanks in advance for your answers

Yes, yes, and in my experience, several weeks.

Do you know the float test?