Uh... Muscovy Egg Colors and Size?

[jofanx]

This morning I was rummaging through the nest boxes (I haven't done this in a while since I assumed they stopped laying) in the coop and came across eight eggs, four small white ones and four large tan/cream ones. I have three bantam chickens sharing the coop with the muscovy ducks so I assumed the small white ones were a chicken's, and the large tan ones (because they are HUGE and I doubt a bantam could produce something like that) were the muscovies. I want to hatch them so I cracked one of each open to check for fertility, and what do you know, both the white small one and the large tan one was fertile (had bullseye white spot in both). I have one drake and no roosters.

I've attached a picture to this post to show the size and color difference and want to know if this was possible to have two different color and size for the muscovies (they're all from the same clutch) or did the drake mate the hens too and, although it won't be viable, could it still be "fertilized" and show up with the bullseye? Do muscovies even have "easter egging" capabilities?

I had almost put all the white ones away for eating and had been planning on it, but now knowing they're fertile, if they are muscovy eggs, I'll be hatching them too.

 

[Buck Oakes]

Muscovies can have many different shades and colors of eggs so they're probably all Muscovies, it's not really an Easter egg ability it's just the way the egg is colored by the fluid in the oviduct and the shard of color it gets from the outside world like being stained from dirt or even hay

Muscovies also like to share best so they can be all from different females of just from 1 or 2

 

[learycow]

Muscovy ducks will NOT produce brown eggs like the ones shown in the pic. So those have got to be from your chickens.
Muscovy eggs are white/cream and some will have a hue or tint of color to them but it's usually along the lines of green or grey.

If you have a drake with your chickens and duck hens, he can be fertilizing everyone. But they will not hatch since ducks and chickens are different species.

 

[Muscovynmore]

Colors vary from white to different shades of cream. Those bigger eggs look right for Muscovy to me--I assume my screen is showing them a bit browner than they really are.

Size? When I last had bantams, their eggs were usually tiny (compared to chicken eggs). If your ducks are new layers and your bantams aren't, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the sizes (some strains of bantams lay pretty normal-sized eggs).

The real way to tell, though?

Go get a certified chicken egg from your fridge. Feel it. It feels thin, right? But what you're looking for is the ceramic/porcelain texture . . . like pottery with a bit of unevenness to it.

Now, go get your new eggs. Do they have that chicken dryness, or do they, well, feel waxy? Muscovy eggs are thick and smooth. More like wax paper, or glazed ceramic. Less individual texture.

There's a very distinct difference between duck and chicken eggs. All of my birds lay in compatible colors, so it's simplest for me to go by feel. Hope it works for you!

 

[Buck Oakes]

Stayers not brown they're just stained from being freshly laid in dirt the fluid that comes out with them picks up the pigment of the dirt

 

[Buck Oakes]

Muscovy ducks will NOT produce brown eggs like the ones shown in the pic. So those have got to be from your chickens. 
Muscovy eggs are white/cream and some will have a hue or tint of color to them but it's usually along the lines of green or grey. 

If you have a drake with your chickens and duck hens, he can be fertilizing everyone. But they will not hatch since ducks and chickens are different species. 

Leary ducks can't even fertilize chicken eggs, it's not biologically possible
And as I said above the eggs are just stained I have some like that

 

[learycow]

Leary ducks can't even fertilize chicken eggs, it's not biologically possible

And as I said above the eggs are just stained I have some like that

They can fertilize them but they will not hatch as they are two separate species.

So if you have a duck mate with a chicken, the sperm bullseye will still show up when you crack open the eggs

And some duck eggs have a bloom and do look "stained", but they are not (ever) brown tinted like a chicken egg

 

[jofanx]

Interesting to hear so many perspectives. I'm pretty sure the brown ones are muscovy eggs... only because they're the size of jumbo Costco eggs, and if the bantams can push those monsters out... well, I might switch to bantam chickens instead. Based on the shell... texture? I think the white ones are also muscovy duck eggs too, mainly because they're clearly distinct from the chicken eggs I bought for the very purpose of telling the difference.

I put them in my incubator but none of them developed any veins and it's been over a week and a half. They might have gotten chilled for too long.

Thanks for all the help! I didn't know the bullseye would show up for chicken eggs too! That's just wild.

 

[Buck Oakes]

They can fertilize them but they will not hatch as they are two separate species.

So if you have a duck mate with a chicken, the sperm bullseye will still show up when you crack open the eggs

And some duck eggs have a bloom and do look "stained", but they are not (ever) brown tinted like a chicken egg

Leary I'm not saying 'oh your so wrong' but what your saying seems to be wrong... I'm not being in anyway ignorant or whatever another word is for ignorant, but the Sperm is different for ducks and chickens making it not be able to fertilize. Leary your a very respected member on here and I love your advice u give on colors and incubating, just I don't think your right

 

[Vosh Sahaal]

The sperm cell can penetrate the cell wall of the egg. It will then promptly die becausethe chromosomes aren't right. Technically it is fertilized, but it is not viable due to chromosomal differences between the gametes of different species.