This article by Ray Spitzenberger first appeared in Images for East Bernard Express on 16 February 2023.
The egg shortage and high cost of eggs seems to have improved somewhat, perhaps because many folks are buying a small flock of chickens and raising their own egg-producers (so I read recently).
Fortunately, my wife and I are obtaining both duck eggs and chicken eggs from a friend in East Bernard who raises ducks and chickens.
We have discovered that we prefer duck eggs to chicken eggs. And here is why.
Duck eggs are larger than chicken eggs, with larger yolks, and the whites are less runny than in chicken eggs. Some people think that duck eggs taste “stronger” than chicken eggs, but my taste experience says they taste the same, I can’t tell the difference.
The only slightly negative aspect is that duck eggshells are a little harder to crack than chicken eggs, so it might be a minor problem in cracking boiled eggs to peel.
Duck eggs currently aren’t available in stores and restaurants since there has been little demand for them, but our current egg crisis might change that!
Also, should egg prices continue to rise, many folks might start raising domestic farm ducks, as I’m convinced they’re easier to raise than chickens.
First, let’s get straight what we are talking about here. We’re not talking about wild ducks or mallards.
According to Fowl Guide, domestic ducks raised on a farm do not fly as do wild ducks, an ability apparently bred out of them. Farm ducks usually weigh more than wild ducks, so they are not able to lift off the ground. Many domestic ducks are twice the size of a wild mallard.
Even though many experts say ducks are actually easier to raise than chickens, my grandmother stopped raising them, because she thought them more difficult to raise. And her main reason for raising ducks was not just for the eggs.
My grandparents liked to eat ducks, and so did I, because we thought duck tasted better than chicken or turkey. Farm raised ducks tend to taste more like steak than chicken or turkey, rich tasting yet without a high fat content of steak. The good taste no doubt comes from what they are fed.
It seems logical that if ducks are your meat supply, they cannot also be your egg suppliers.
My wife and I are happy that we now have a regular supply of duck eggs, and while others may be doubtful about their taste, for us, they’re keepers!
-o-
Ray Spitzenberger is a retired Wharton County Junior College teacher, a retired Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod pastor, and author of three books, It Must Be the Noodles, Open Prairies, and Tanka Schoen.