not only can you eat them, but I've found they're WAY WAY better, the best eggs. period. can't say exactly why they're better, because they taste like chicken eggs but just like the BEST eggs you've ever eaten. perfect food: coddled duck eggs mashed with mayo and a bit of salt, on fresh baked bread. that's heaven!
Coddling rather than boiling duck eggs keeps them tender and from getting rubbery. (coddle: add room temp eggs to a pan of room temp water, bring to a boil, then take pan off the heat and cover with a tight lid for 18-23 minutes depending on the size of the egg. move eggs to a pan of ice water to cool rapidly and stop the cooking process.)
I'll take duck eggs over chicken eggs any day, even my good home grown chicken eggs.
I've had all different kinds of breeds, and while there's a diference in size, shell color and shell thickness, I haven't found any taste difference between breeds. I've never had commercial duck eggs, so I can't comment on them tasting stronger, but my home grown duck eggs don't.
LOVE them for baking too. and the yolks have such a rich almost neon orange to them that they add nice color to things like egg bread.
I've had goose eggs as well, I find those stronger tasting and don't like them for egg dishes, but I use them in baking with excellent results. some of my friends say the goose eggs don't taste different to them, so maybe it's personal sensitivity. haven't had turkey eggs yet, or guinea eggs... next year I'll get to try those...
one of my friends has a large breeding flock of parakeets... and yep, they eat the surplus eggs... tiny jelly bean sized ones... in tiny omlets. her kids love them. my first thought was
but hey, they're eggs.