New to duck eggs

[quirkybeeper]

I've got some questions about duck eggs. I searched in the forum, but sifting through all the results was making my head spin!

I've never owned ducks before, I've 2 Pekins (one male, one female). My darling girl has decided she doesn't want to lay in her nest box anymore, she has actually made a nest in the leaves right beside the box

I've thrown out a lot of (most of) the eggs, because I'm worried they're not safe to eat, but it's possible I'm just worrying over nothing.
Some days I don't collect eggs, I just leave them (usually because I'm too busy, or maybe lazy, or a combination of both), is it safe to eat them if they've been out for a couple days? (Again, I'm choosing to err on the side of caution for now.)
Also, I read that washing them in cold water is bad because it will let bacteria into the egg; does that mean I should also throw out eggs that have been rained on?
The eggs like I described above, that have been there for a day or three or that have been rained on...if it's not a good idea for me to eat them, can I still boil them and give them to the ducks, or go by the "if it's not good for me, it's not good for them" rule?

And last (for now), how long will they keep in the fridge? I've heard a wide range on this one, anywhere between a few days to a month, just wondering what everyone else's experiences have been.

Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

 

[ChicagoDucks]

Eat your eggs and enjoy them! If you're concerned about getting a bad one, then just make a habit of breaking each egg into a bowl before mixing them or scrambling them, so that one bad egg doesn't ruin the meal. A chef friend of mine once said this is a good food safety habit even with store bought eggs, but that seems a little overly cautious to me. You'l know if they've gone bad once you break them open. A brown or grey mass or a bad smell is a dead give-away.

 

[Going Quackers]

I agree, just break them open in a bowl if your worried. Quite frankly i think people would be shocked at how old the eggs are that they have purchased in a store...

Eggs stored properly last quite a long time.

 

[quirkybeeper]

Great advice, thank you! I'm a little nervous about trying them, I'm a bit weird when it comes to trying new food, but I got some brownie mix and I'm looking forward to see how it turns out!

 

[Going Quackers]

Great advice, thank you! I'm a little nervous about trying them, I'm a bit weird when it comes to trying new food, but I got some brownie mix and I'm looking forward to see how it turns out!

They work great for baking the only thing i have learned at least with cakes/cupcakes etc is if a recipe calls for 3 eggs i drop to 2 i find the duck eggs richer and makes the batter too moist otherwise i use the same ratio.

 

[clbarley]

What we have done with our egg if you are worried that you will not get through your eggs and you do not want them to go to waste or you think they might be close to going over, we hard boil our eggs and give them to your dogs. They love it. Its like they have encouraged our girls to lay eggs, lay way to many eggs than we will consume that way they get yummy snacks!

 

[Tahai]

Also, you can crack open all your extra eggs and scramble them, then freeze them in ice cube trays. 3 TBS = 1 egg. Then store the frozen cubes in ziploc bags. These are great to have on hand when the birds stop laying.

 

[Mum]

Couple of points you've raised:

- some days you don't collect eggs; is it safe to eat?
- washing
- longevity

I get the busy/lazy argument on the first issue (I'm sure we all do) but, I do think that, as a part of "good husbandry", checking daily is quite important - not just for eggs, but for monitoring their water/feed/health/bedding situation. It has to be said, during cooler weather, leaving them outside won't have too much of a detrimental affect on the eggs; however, during hotter weather, leaving eggs in the heat of the sun may well be ... unwise?

Washing eggs: I do not "wash" my duck eggs. However, duck eggs do seem to be muckier than hen eggs, so, what I do, is to keep a damp piece of kitchen paper with me when I collect eggs and just wipe them over to get rid of anything "clinging on"! (Straw, poop etc). When I come to use them, I ensure that the eggy content does not touch the outer shell.

Longevity: I treat duck eggs the same as hen eggs: store pointed side down; "rained on" eggs should never be wasted! If you do not feel comfortable eating them (that's fine!) the very least you can do - rather than waste them/throw them out - is to boil them up, mash them up (shells too!) and feed them back to your ducks/hens as a treat.

Duck eggs are made for cake baking! Even if you do not desire them as an "egg" egg, use them up in baking cakes! If you cannot stomach/or worry about eating them yourself, at the very least, boil them up and feed back to your birds. Caution: too many eggs fed back to them will not be a "healthy" diet

 

[OldGuy43]

I agree, just break them open in a bowl if your worried. Quite frankly i think people would be shocked at how old the eggs are that they have purchased in a store...

Eggs stored properly last quite a long time.

I also agree. When I was in the Navy we always broke eggs into a bowl before cooking. (As a matter of possible interest, I became quite adept at holding two eggs in each hand and breaking them one at a time into a bowl.)

As a matter of fact, store bought eggs, depending on how the carton is labeled, can be up to 45 days old. Yikes!

That probably explains why I don't eat eggs when I go to a restaurant. That and the fact that they're flavorless compared to really fresh eggs. I'm spoiled.

 

[jak2002003]

Hi. Your eggs are perfectly safe and will be delicious! The eggs can by laying about for over a week easy, rain or no rain. You can keep them in the fridge for a couple of week easy with no problems.

I have been eating my ducks eggs for years and giving them to neighbours and have never had a problem. Sometimes I don't collect the eggs for 2 or 3 days, or I find some in strange places that might have been there for a while. If they are dirty I give them a quick wash with my hands in the lake!

Really they are safe.

Remember a duck will lay many eggs over several days - weeks before she will start to incubate them. If they went 'off' in that time they would not develop and hatch.

Don't worry and enjoy. If you duck has made a nest its a good sign she might go broody. You can same up a weeks worth of eggs and them put them in her nest and see if she starts to brood them after a few days. Then you can have cute little yellow ducklings running about and eventually more eggs!