New duck owner, questions please help

[Reba24]

Hello, so I am new to having ducks, and I had some random questions if anyone could help that be very much appreciated. So my ducks are very young, still adolescents. I was curious about like the eggs, we want to collect the eggs for baking however at the moment I am not sure which are female and which are male, and we don't expect eggs right away obviously, we understand animals and all. I just wanted to know how one goes about collecting eggs and like making sure they aren't fertile when we pick them and like all that information that I should know. If anyone could help with any information I would be very greatful. Thank you.

 

[tmorgan46]

Hi @Reba24
If you have both ducks and drakes, once they start laying, you can almost bet the eggs will be fertile. And with the way drakes and their teenage strength hormones kick in, you'll know which are the drakes and which are not. Ducks, at least the Muscovies we have, are more like rabbits in that area. We've had to separate the two parties at one point just to keep the hanky panky down to a tolerable level!
And as long as you collect them soon after they are laid, there's no harm eating fertilized eggs, that I know of. Of course, now that I've said that, I'll learn differently. But we've eaten plenty of eggs collected and have watched our momma ducks hatch well over 40 ducklings so far this year and we're all still around.

 

[chickens really]

Eating Duck eggs while you have a Drake is no different than eating Chicken eggs and having a Rooster.
Your not going to get sick...Enjoy the eggs.

 

[Reba24]

Thank you guys! This website is the best