What to do with my duck eggs?

[Cindy66]

Hi all!

We are new to keeping ducks and have been learning many lessons along the way! We bought two runner ducklings last year which we were informed were females. Long story short, they were both male!

The farmer that sold them to us kindly gave us two of her females but they were not laying due to it being winter by the time we realised ours were male. So, we have been keeping ducks for 9 months without any eggs, much to my amazement this morning, I found two eggs in the pen! After having kept the ducks for so long without having to think about eggs, I've realised that I don't know what to do with them! I've had a little read online but there is so much conflicting advice, I wondered if you lovely duck owners could let me know what you do? Here are some of my questions:
- Do I need to wash them in anything particular?
- Do I keep them in the fridge?
- How long will they keep for?
- Is there anything that I should look out for in terms of bad eggs?

Very much appreciate any help on the above plus anything more you think I should know!

Thanks

 

[Gray Farms]

I just wash my eggs in warm water and put them in the fridge. They'll keep just as long as any as chicken eggs do.

 

[chickens really]

I either incubate my Duck eggs or wipe off as best as I can and give to my mother for baking or scramble them up for my Dogs and Cat.....No one here wants to eat them...lol

But for your use, wash if poopy ? ....I just never wash all the bloom off....everyone I give eggs to know to wash them first.....


Cheers! Best of luck........

 

[dotknott]

Congrats on the duck eggs! I scrape off any solids that stick to the egg with my thumbnail, and only wash if it’s really in need of it. I try to keep my nesting boxes clean, and usually the only thing I’m picking off is a stuck on pine shaving. I don’t refrigerate my eggs unless it’s been more than 2 weeks on the counter, but they rarely last that long. I know plenty of folks who refrigerate their eggs as soon as they come inside, but I also know plenty of folks that keep them on the counter. I think washing is optional too (except in the instances where someone decides to poop on the egg they just laid,) but as soon as you wash them they should be refrigerated.

I don’t wash eggs that I'm going to incubate, since that will wash off the bloom and I do tend to write the date of collection on my eggs as I bring them in, so I know which ones are getting older. If you have any that sit around for a while and you’re not sure if they’re still good, there’s a float test you can do on them. If I sell or give away eggs I make sure the person knows if they've been washed and they need to be refrigerated.

As far as what to do with the eggs… when I have an excess I’ll make some cured egg yolks or during the holidays I make a big 1 gal batch of duck egg aged egg nog.

 

[TLWR]

I wash duck eggs if needed. And since my chickens lay in the duck house nest, I wash any gross chicken eggs too. My girls go through spurts... poop like crazy on the nest or keep it clean.
I use a pencil and put a date on the egg and sit them in a dish next to my fridge. If they are fresher than 3 weeks, I just use them. If older than 3 weeks, I float them first before using or not. Or if I don't do that, I open them into a separate dish before putting them into whatever I'm baking just in case.

I've cracked a few spoiled eggs. NASTY!

 

[dotknott]

I've cracked a few spoiled eggs. NASTY!

gross!