Kitchen Garden Forum

This post has made me to decide to try some duck eggs - from the milkman I might add! Delivery Saturday - I will post from a totally virgin duck egg taster perspective when I get the order. That might be the challenge though as their web site has been mucking around for about 6 weeks! Fingers crossed!

A bit too friendly old farmer used to occasionally give me a box of duck eggs when I did a rural post round.they were quite rich and very nice. He was harmless enough but I made sure there was a gate between us

They are lovely birds Alan. The Lakenfelder are exactly the same shape as my Vorwerks with the black head and tail but mine are ginger not white.
I've had lots of different breeds over the years from flighty Fresians to giant Buff Orpington, and one of my favourites was a Lavender Araucana that laid greenish blue eggs. The Cream Legbar also was a good layer of blue eggs.
I've stopped buying expensive pure breeds now and my latest ones are Speckledies and Bluebells. They were point of lay a couple of months ago but are laying every day at the moment. I've still got a Black Rock but it's getting on a bit.

Duck eggs are fantastic in cake making!

I like duck eggs I've never missed an opportunity when I've seen them for sale, some while ago we used to have a chalet on a park just outside Caernarfon we would weekend there at least twice a month, I seen a sign on the gate of a small holding about three miles away " duck eggs for sale " every time we went down to the site I would drop my wife and kids off and go for the eggs, each time I got told they are not laying yet next visit I would try again with the same reply this went on for nearly three years untill I went one day and got told we don't have any ducks , my reply was not very friendly but started of with " take your bloody sign of the gate then"

UPDATE

The two Lachenfelders have proved to be true flying hens, as the are always reported as being. By "flying" I don't mean the assisted jumping, falling and running which most hens use their wings for, but real flight. They decide where they're going to go, take off, gain height and fly in a straight line to where they want to go. Then they make a perfectly controlled landing by flapping the wings at a more vertical angle like any other large bird.
All seven of the ducks are now in lay - meals are duck egg heaven!

An interesting update, Alan, and something else I have learned......... Glad your Ducks are performing well.

Duck eggs had been proving hard to sell. We have been enjoying them almost to the exclusion of hen eggs. Then this morning, out of the blue, a Thai lady from Porthmadog turned up for a dozen eggs, didn't want hen eggs and went away pleased with a dozen of our finest duck eggs. "Diolch yn fawr, I will see you again for more" she said. I should have learned some Thai so I could have replied to her thanks with ไม่เป็นไร (mâi bpen rai).

Some things are meant to be, Alan, some things are meant to be....

Handy indeed! If she tells people she knows you could soon have to practice your Thai for real!;)

Update. Onward, ever onward.
My son and grandson popped out this morning and returned with three beautiful young Lavender Wyandottes from a local breeder and shower they discovered in Nefyn.

That sounds good, Alan but, me being me, was thinking bathroom shower before I realized, shower....silly me...

Sounds as if you're building up nice little collection again. Hope the local foxes haven,t picked up the news yet!

Two of the three new Lavender Wyandottes

Gwyndaf - cock of the flock!