egg laying frequency - are these fresh?

[ppimf]

OK - got to ask. Where do they lay them? Do you have to go on an egg hunt everyday?

mine are all trained to use the nesting box on the ground, every once in awhile u find one on the ground outside those get cooked and givin back to them shell and all.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

My Pekins were giving me an egg a day. I would float the eggs and before you add the eggs to your batter, I would crack each egg into a separate tiny bowl (Martha Stewart style) so that you don't chance spoiling up your batter just in case one turned out icky.

 

[fatcatx]

mine are all trained to use the nesting box on the ground, every once in awhile u find one on the ground outside those get cooked and givin back to them shell and all.

yay! I'm glad to hear they use a nest - now I'm tempted to give raising ducks a try. Maybe that's a bad thing.

My Pekins were giving me an egg a day. I would float the eggs and before you add the eggs to your batter, I would crack each egg into a separate tiny bowl (Martha Stewart style) so that you don't chance spoiling up your batter just in case one turned out icky.

This is my first time using duck eggs. Friend raved about her mother's cakes growing up that were made with them. Tonight I am trying my experiment - 1 cake with chicken eggs, the other with duck!

 

[ppimf]

let us know what u think the difference is, we don't have chickens anymore we went to only ducks i got about 25 now, haven't had a chicken egg since, we love ducks eggs

 

[Red-tailed Hawk]

Well max could be quite a lot, up to 5 a day(so 1 per duck)... truly depends, pekin aren't as broody as Muscovy so i would bet they would be getting more than i am right now lol

Honestly, 2 wks isn't that old, i mean you have to collect them, if your concerned float 'em... if they sink they are real fresh, they standup a wee bit older but fine to use, float? yeah, no good.

I believe there is a chart somewhere, not sure if it's here, i can try googling one... i sell my duck eggs, i date mine now but no one has ever complained about them. I sell out and even pre-sell often.

Frankly, Eggs in a store are older, rarely are farm ones unless someone is really booming with production and lacking in sales.

Thanks for the egg floating tip! I have always wondered that myself. The only way I knew of was the smell of rotten ones. A woman from my church once gave me eggs from her chickens that she had and I really wondered about how old they were. They ended up making me sick actually. It's one of those experiences I REALLY don't want to repeat...EVER.

 

[Red-tailed Hawk]

yay! I'm glad to hear they use a nest - now I'm tempted to give raising ducks a try. Maybe that's a bad thing.

This is my first time using duck eggs. Friend raved about her mother's cakes growing up that were made with them. Tonight I am trying my experiment - 1 cake with chicken eggs, the other with duck!

I agree with ppimf! Do please share the results of your duck versus chicken egg cake test! I am very eager to hear the results!

 

[fatcatx]

I was pressed for time so I used what I had handy and split a box of spice cake mix (I know - shame on me!). I made half with the chicken egg and half with duck. I expected to see a bigger rise with the duck egg but they were the same. Taste-wise, they were very similar, although the spice flavors may have overpowered any differences. I may try it again with a butter yellow cake to see. The real difference was in the texture. The duck cake was richer and had a much better mouth-feel. (Sorry, I'm no gourmet so my food vocabulary is lacking.

) My family did a blind taste test and they picked the duck cake each time. So do your cakes a favor and use duck eggs!

Now to test some cookie recipes. . .

 

[Red-tailed Hawk]

I was pressed for time so I used what I had handy and split a box of spice cake mix (I know - shame on me!). I made half with the chicken egg and half with duck. I expected to see a bigger rise with the duck egg but they were the same. Taste-wise, they were very similar, although the spice flavors may have overpowered any differences. I may try it again with a butter yellow cake to see. The real difference was in the texture. The duck cake was richer and had a much better mouth-feel. (Sorry, I'm no gourmet so my food vocabulary is lacking.

) My family did a blind taste test and they picked the duck cake each time. So do your cakes a favor and use duck eggs!

Now to test some cookie recipes. . .

AWESOME!!!

I can't wait till I can do this experiment myself on everyone I know!

Unfortunately it will be a few months.

Please continue posting the results of your tests!

 

[Red-tailed Hawk]

You should test muffin recipes too!

 

[fatcatx]

You should test muffin recipes too!

Excellent idea! I have a few new ones I've been wanting to try for ages. And zucchini bread season is just around the corner!

I bet my neighbors would like me more if I ditched zucchini muffins on their doorstep instead of the actual zucchini.