The Black Egg
Before the day the black egg came to us, we’d been getting only 3 eggs per day, all white, from our 4 ducks. This was all as expected. Both our khaki campbells and our runner ducks were supposed to give us white eggs. Other breeds of duck can produce other colors - brown or even blue/green. But not ours. Our heavy producing breeds are supposed to produce white.
As excited as I was about our egg production so far, I have to admit that I was just a tiny bit annoyed that we hadn’t gotten to the 4 eggs per day level yet. I knew that one duck was slacking off, almost pushing me to the point of buying supermarket eggs on one occasion. Really, I’d planned for close to 5 eggs per day when I started this enterprise by buying 5 ducklings, but our loss of Megatooth early on had doomed us to a maximum of 4 eggs per day. So we learned what I’m sure must be a common lesson among new poultry owners - get an extra bird or two because you never know when you’ll lose one.
With all this information stored in my brain, you can imagine my surprise on the Morning of the Black Egg (I’m thinking of starting a push to have this day declared a National Holiday). When I peeked inside the duck house, I actually thought we had 3 white eggs and one rock. Or maybe a big duck poop. Good thing I fished around a little with my hands to investigate.
None of us really know what to think. Why black? Was this some sort of aesthetic statement, or maybe a reflection of the mood of the duck? (Is there such a thing as ducky Prozac?) And which of these birds made it - can you guess?
I can’t really guarantee that I know, but I have my suspicions.
And the big question seems to be - “How did it taste?”
It tasted exactly the same as the others.
So who gets these ducks when you move to Costa Rica? I’ve almost got John convinced about chickens.
OMG! That is a great blog entry. Is the suspect duck a cayuga?
I am STILL waiting for my ducks to lay their first egg (they’ll be 20 weeks this week).
Kelly
Kelly: I don’t believe I have a Cayuga, but Macaroni seems like a mutt to me. That’s the white one. What kind of duck does she most look like to you?
Hi Trish–I read that the cayugas, when they first start to lay, can lay eggs encased in a black cuticle which gets lighter as they mature. So maybe she is a cayuga mix? Your Macaroni (the light brown and white one right?) has the same markings as my Roadrunner (a fawn and white runner) but not the runner “profile” (the skinny model look!). Maybe she is a mix too?
How is the lighting experiment going? Is is true that they finish laying by early morning so that you haven’t found any eggs laying around the yard?
Take care, Kelly
Regarding laying times, I always let them out at 9am. I actually got one egg this week that was layed outside their house, presumably after 9am, so it’s only happened once. So I’m going to stick with 9am and hope that one time was a fluke.
Also, they have started laying multiple nests, which causes me to miss finding eggs some days. They bury them well in the shavings I’m now using. So I’m going to get some fake eggs and and egg crate and try to encourage its’ use as a nest.
I also started giving additional light at night. I want as many eggs as possible since we only have 4 birds. I wish our fifth hadn’t died!
Hi Trish–IMHO I think your black runner is the black egg layer and is a cayuga mix and Macaroni is a Fawn and White runner mix. It really is a significant difference in my runner (my only one unfortunately–she has become my favorite) body wise compared to the other “regular” ducks. Do either of them have that funny runner walk?
We will be on egg alert here after 8am then based on your experience!
Hi Trish,
I’ve had several Indian runners and I’m afraid your two just don’t look like they are full runner ducks. Maybe half. Sorry, full runners are really neat! About your black egg. I, too, started getting my first eggs from my duck this December and the first 4-5 looked exactly like your black one. I think my duck is full, but definately part Cayuga. Here are some links that mention Cayuga laying black eggs early in the season and they lighten up as the season progresses. Don’t expect your ducks to lay all year. Mine really backed off in the summer. They’re so funny!
websites: feather site.com and domestic-waterfowl.co.uk
Molly
When we bought the ducks, I didn’t bother getting “show quality” because I was really only interested in eggs, and the enjoyment of owning ducks. But still, it seems to me like the hatchery let their genetic stock degrade a lot. I got the runners just because they were interesting, and I didn’t want to get only the Khaki Campbells. So I’m a tiny bit disappointed that the Runners weren’t more Runner-looking, but I love them anyway!
The black eggs did get lighter and lighter since August, but they are still noticeably darker than the other eggs, which are all white. Will they go back to being a darker black color in the spring, if they are indeed from a Cayuga mix?
It’s interesting to me that you mentioned that your ducks give less eggs in the summer. I assumed that less eggs would always be due to cold temperatures and lack of sunlight (eg. winter). I’ve been supplementing my ducks’ light in the evenings, giving them approx. 14 hours per day. I only remember a duck skipping a day of production maybe 3 times so far in almost 5 months of production now.
Thanks for your input and for visiting!
Trish