Fertility or Infertility. Another Duck Egg Link.....

I found some more detailed info about how to tell weather your eggs are fertilized or not at this site.

As much as I believe that we do not have any male ducks or fertilized eggs, I gave another friend some eggs and told her they are not fertilized....after she cracked some this weekend she said she thinks the eggs are fertilized. She did like eating them and commented on the bright colored yolks! ! :) I'm in the process of finding out what she is seeing and thinking. Until then, of course I am doing more Internet research and egg cracking to compare pictures!! :) I am certainly no egg expert, but I was really confident that they aren't fertile. I may attempt incubating just to be super sure. It wouldn't bother me if they are fertilized...they are still fine for eating, but then they could also be hatchable too - I'd just like to know so that I can tell people if they are or aren't and be sure about it! I thought I was sure, now I am not so sure! LOL :) Story of my life.

Yesterday I hard-boiled some Duck Eggs....oh man, were they delicious! The kids loved them! Going to try making deviled eggs with them soon!

Ladies & Gentlemen...I Think We May Have An Impostor Among Us...

Well, an impostor among the Dirty Divas, that is. I think one may very well be...A BOY! Well, a drake, technically, but a boy nonetheless. What makes me think this? Two things. Three actually. Wait, four.

Number one....remember this post about our first eggs when I said we noticed some odd duck behavior in the pool? One duck was surfing on another's back and hanging on to it's neck feathers with its beak? Faith from over at Lemonade Adventures commented and said that she thought it was mating behavior. At the time I thought it was funny, because they are all girls! Right? RIGHT? I'm not so sure now!

So...number two. We had this one egg that we found in their play yard instead of in the coop. It was different than the others. It was darker, kind of splotchy looking. I thought maybe since it sat outside for who knows how long it was just a bad egg. Since we are new to this whole duck and egg thing, I marked it with a black X with the intention of looking into it further. However, I went ahead and put it in a carton with other eggs until I could get back to it, because you know I am a busy mom and all, and my husband gave that dozen to a friend of his! Which was lovely, but then he found out that when they cracked that egg with the X there was an embryo in it! Or so that is what they think it was. Since I didn't get to see it, and probably wouldn't know what I was looking at if I had, I have no clue if that is what it really was. Man, I wish I could have seen it!

Number three...there is one duck that does not sound the same as the others. It never has. I never gave it much thought...until now!

Number four...we ordered a straight run of 15 Khaki Campbell female chicks and they threw in an extra chick, as hatcheries tend to do, so perhaps number sixteen IS a boy?

So my suspicions are heightened and I have a lot of observation to do to get to the bottom of this foul mystery!

Can you spot the fake...I mean Drake?

Me neither. But I'll keep you updated on this investigation!!! Oh and one more thing, if there is a boy, I will be absolutely thrilled! I had planned on getting a couple this spring! :)