Duck Eggs vs Chicken Eggs

[LilyD]

Okay so my ducks will be 6 months on the 18th and then I have 4 younger girls that are 13 weeks this week. They are all Muscovy ducks and the boys started breeding the girls about three weeks ago. They have free range of 2 acres and share the same fenced in yard with my 33 chickens (28 hens and 5 roosters).

Okay now that you have the history here is my question for those who keep their chickens and ducks together, how do you tell if you are getting duck or chicken eggs. I have gotten two eggs that are very large compared to my chicken eggs this week. The larger eggs don't feel any different on the outside than my chicken egg and I found it in my chicken coop in one of the nesting boxes, but the ducks do have access to that coop and have been in and out of both that coop and their own every day. The large egg is brown but I primarily have brown eggs layers as well so that's no help.

I cooked up one of the super large eggs today and it had one large yolk and the white. I expected it to at least be a double yolker since it was larger than a jumbo egg. So how do you tell the difference when you collect eggs? How do you know if you are getting a duck egg or a really large chicken egg?

Here's a picture of the two eggs together for comparison the smaller egg is what I have been getting from my chickens and if weighed is a jumbo egg weight. The larger egg is one of two I have gotten. I do have some older chickens so there is the possibility that I am getting larger eggs from someone as well, but it made me question how I would tell once the ducks start laying.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Okay so my ducks will be 6 months on the 18th and then I have 4 younger girls that are 13 weeks this week. They are all Muscovy ducks and the boys started breeding the girls about three weeks ago. They have free range of 2 acres and share the same fenced in yard with my 33 chickens (28 hens and 5 roosters).

Okay now that you have the history here is my question for those who keep their chickens and ducks together, how do you tell if you are getting duck or chicken eggs. I have gotten two eggs that are very large compared to my chicken eggs this week. The larger eggs don't feel any different on the outside than my chicken egg and I found it in my chicken coop in one of the nesting boxes, but the ducks do have access to that coop and have been in and out of both that coop and their own every day. The large egg is brown but I primarily have brown eggs layers as well so that's no help.

I cooked up one of the super large eggs today and it had one large yolk and the white. I expected it to at least be a double yolker since it was larger than a jumbo egg. So how do you tell the difference when you collect eggs? How do you know if you are getting a duck egg or a really large chicken egg?

Here's a picture of the two eggs together for comparison the smaller egg is what I have been getting from my chickens and if weighed is a jumbo egg weight. The larger egg is one of two I have gotten. I do have some older chickens so there is the possibility that I am getting larger eggs from someone as well, but it made me question how I would tell once the ducks start laying.

My Muscovy eggs are Khaki turning to beige as they continue to lay, ducks eggs have a waxy feel and if you scrap your nail across it will actually come off some. they have a larger yolk than a chickens egg and less white. If your ducks are only 13 weeks old I doubt they are laying yet, that's pretty young for a Muscovy to lay, even though I have seen people post they have had a Scovy lay at around 4-5 months of age, that isn't the norm, mine usually don't lay till following spring of next year they hatched which is usually around 8-9 months old.

 

[LilyD]

My Muscovy eggs are Khaki turning to beige as they continue to lay, ducks eggs have a waxy feel and if you scrap your nail across it will actually come off some. they have a larger yolk than a chickens egg and less white. If your ducks are only 13 weeks old I doubt they are laying yet, that's pretty young for a Muscovy to lay, even though I have seen people post they have had a Scovy lay at around 4-5 months of age, that isn't the norm, mine usually don't lay till following spring of next year they hatched which is usually around 8-9 months old.

I only have 4 girls that are 13 weeks the other 6 are 6 months that's what got me wondering. The duck eggs I got in the mail for hatching didn't really feel any different to me but not sure if the person that sent them to me washed them before he sent them to me.

If it is a chicken egg I pity the poor hen who laid it because they are pretty tiny themselves and the one I ate today was bigger than the one I showed in the picture. It did have a big yolk but other than that looked and tasted like a chicken egg.

Is there any difference in taste between the two?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I only have 4 girls that are 13 weeks the other 6 are 6 months that's what got me wondering. The duck eggs I got in the mail for hatching didn't really feel any different to me but not sure if the person that sent them to me washed them before he sent them to me.

If it is a chicken egg I pity the poor hen who laid it because they are pretty tiny themselves and the one I ate today was bigger than the one I showed in the picture. It did have a big yolk but other than that looked and tasted like a chicken egg.

Is there any difference in taste between the two?

I guess it's possible you have a 6 month old laying, I have never had a Muscovy lay in the same year she was hatched and I've had Muscovy's for over 10 yrs. But that isn't say yours isn't. I can tell by feel of outside of egg and looks on inside whether duck or chicken But I imagine it would take time I started with ducks long before I had chickens. I really can't tell any difference in taste my dh says he can that duck eggs are stronger tasting I think it's what ever your use to. But yolk takes up alot more space than white in a duck egg. If you have bantam hens I doubt those are chicken eggs, although I haven't ever had a Scovy lay a white egg either, or is that just the pic?

 

[LilyD]

I guess it's possible you have a 6 month old laying, I have never had a Muscovy lay in the same year she was hatched and I've had Muscovy's for over 10 yrs. But that isn't say yours isn't. I can tell by feel of outside of egg and looks on inside whether duck or chicken But I imagine it would take time I started with ducks long before I had chickens. I really can't tell any difference in taste my dh says he can that duck eggs are stronger tasting I think it's what ever your use to. But yolk takes up alot more space than white in a duck egg. If you have bantam hens I doubt those are chicken eggs, although I haven't ever had a Scovy lay a white egg either, or is that just the pic?

It's just the picture. The egg is a cream color, kind of a light beige. The one next to it is a little darker. My chickens aren't bantams They are on average about 5 or 6 pounds each but the smaller egg I show in the picture is a jumbo chicken egg so the other one is really big. It didn't feel any different on the outside so maybe it just is an extremely large chicken egg.

 

[Miss Lydia]

It's just the picture. The egg is a cream color, kind of a light beige. The one next to it is a little darker. My chickens aren't bantams They are on average about 5 or 6 pounds each but the smaller egg I show in the picture is a jumbo chicken egg so the other one is really big. It didn't feel any different on the outside so maybe it just is an extremely large chicken egg.

After I posted I saw in your sig you had some LF I have had a few very large eggs from some of my EE's that surprised me.

 

[minnehaha]

Hi Lilly. I have 33 chicken and 3 ducks. My Ducks are Cayugas. They started laying eggs at EXACTLY 4 months old. which i here is crazy early to start (hatched in March, started laying eggs in July) and are still laying even though it is winter. I know nothing about other ducks breeds and if their eggs are any different than my Cayuga duck eggs, but will chime in about the difference here in my barnyard.

My duck eggs are not always larger than my chicken eggs, most of the time they are, but not always. The duck eggs are cream colored with a mottled brownish gray pattern. The shells are super duper tough and hard to crack compared to the chicken eggs. In fact, i made Creme Brule with grand marnier with 8 duck egg yolks this evening. As usual, I had to crack the eggs, then peel/puncture them open because the membrane and shells are so tough. In fact, I even noticed that they eat twice the amount of oyster shell compared to the chickens. As someone else said, the yolks are much larger, plus the eggs are much creamier and richer tasting than chicken eggs. The eggs are higher in protein and scramble up a bit tougher than chicken eggs. I prefer baking with them and making egg casseroles with them.

Lastly, the ducks prefer to lay their eggs in a grass type nest. I provide a big pile of either hay, pine needles, grass, whatever i have on hand and they will build a nest and lay an egg in it.

One more thing, someone mentioned a waxy coating, my duck eggs also have a waxy coating.

 

[LilyD]

So the last 3 days I have gotten one egg from my ten girl ducks. They will be 6 months on the 18th. The eggs were greenish white and were kind of dirty. I wonder why they were dirty. The hay they were on was clean. Does dirt just naturally stick to the duck eggs better. The eggs were about the same size of my chicken eggs (the regular ones not the huge ones lol) but they were laid while the ducks were locked up in the coop at night and there are no chickens in there at night.

I believe this is the Momma because she was on the egg two out of the three days.

 

[EggsnQuackers]

Duck eggs are notoriously filthy... I think it has to do with muddy duck feet. We tell ours apart from the chickens' by color but that method doesn't work for everyone. Our duck eggs have a faint ducky odor to them I notice it more when I'm washing the eggs under hot water... they just smell different. And, the shells are much harder to crack.

 

[LilyD]

I thought that Muscovies didn't lay in the winter in New England. This poor girl has laid for 4 days in a row. Hopefully she won't go broody and try to hatch this late in the season. I put down fresh hay in the duck coop each day so I was hoping to keep them clean. Maybe it's because they are always getting wet and then muddy as well lol. Can't wait to try hatching the eggs come spring.