What's the best way to crack open a duck egg?
Duck egg shells are thicker than chicken egg shells and they also have a tougher membrane inside the shell. I'm so used to duck eggs now that when I try to crack a chicken egg on the edge of the mixing bowl, I often shear it completely in half! To crack a duck egg, strike the egg hard enough on the edge of your mixing bowl to put a hole in it. Then break the membrane inside with your thumbnail, and then pull it in half with both thumbs inside the crack. After the egg is in the bowl I wipe out the remaining egg white from the shell halves with my forefinger. Duck egg whites are very thick (especially when fresh) and a lot of it clings to the inside of the shell. Once you're used to duck eggs, chicken eggs will seem very watery!
What's the best way to cook duck eggs?
You can cook them the same way you cook chicken eggs. They are very similar to chicken eggs except when scrambled. Scrambled duck eggs have a drier, more crumbly texture than chicken eggs. Duck eggs make fabulous gourmet omelets, but my favorite way to eat them is soft-boiled. Bring about a quart of water to a boil, add a little seasalt, then put in two duck eggs. Turn down the heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then cut the top off and place in an egg cup. Our eggs have lot's of thick, marigold yellow/deep orange yolk with wonderful rich flavors.
Do you ship scythes?
Yes, you can mail order a scythe from us. Email us for prices. When you order, we can send you an invoice by email and you can pay with PayPal or send us a check. We ship from our local village post-office by Priority Mail.
Is there a reason that you do not feed your ducks any soy?
Yes. I was asked to stop feeding soy by a couple of my customers who were following Weston Price dietary guidelines. They consider soy to have "aggressive" estrogens. (see www.westonprice.org/soy/index.html) After I stopped feeding soy, I noticed that the roasted soybean flavor was actually a dominant flavor in most eggs. I used to like the taste, it has a nutty flavor, but I started wondering if people who were allergic to soy might be affected by that. Many of our duck egg customers have allergy issues and are buying our duck eggs for that reason. Once I stopped feeding soy, I noticed that the ducks didn't seem as forced to lay. Whenever the weather was stressful for their bodies (too hot or cold) they would lay less and resume when the weather was more comfortable. With soy they were laying everyday no matter what, and at times, they seemed rather worn out by that. In my experience, it seems to be true that soy does have some kind of an aggressive estrogen and it seems to increase egg production. So non-soy feed costs more and you get less eggs, but it seems more natural for my ducks.
Do you ship duck eggs?
Yes we do. We send duck eggs by Priority Mail anywhere in the lower 48 states. We ship freshly laid eggs. They arrive in 2-3 days. Please refridgerate the duck eggs after you receive them, and eat them within 4 weeks. We have a Pay Pal order form set up on our 'Organic Duck Eggs' page for your convenience.
What do duck eggs taste like?
They taste GOOD! They have a very mild flavor and they are very dense and rich. Duck eggs have less water than a chicken egg and about a third more fat.
Do you feed your ducks any soy?
No we don't feed them soy. All our ducks are fed a certified organic feed, custom ground and mixed for us by S&S Grains of Arcadia, Wisconsin. It contains no soybeans.
Our duck feed consists of:
corn
wheat
menhaden fish meal
crab meal
Fertrel Poultry Nutri-balancer (A certified organic poultry vitamin & mineral
supplement. It does not contain soy.) (www.fertrel.com)
To this we add all organic:
flax seed
millet
steel-cut oats,
icelandic kelp,
oyster shell,
Azomite and/or Dyna-Min for trace minerals.
And in the winter, we add:
Organic spirulina, and various herbs. ( currently org. alfalfa, comfrey, and wildcrafted chickweed and borage.)
They are also fed a mix of organic sprouted whole grains year round. They like
pastry wheat berriesthe best. They eat more sprouted grains when its warm, less when it's cold.
During the growing season they get to forage freely for tender greens and insects in our pastures. No
chemicals have been used on our land since at least 1998.
How long do your duck eggs keep?
I recommend eating them within 4 weeks of the date that they were laid, which we write on the carton. Nature designed duck eggs to resist a higher bacterial load than chicken eggs. However, because of the high levels of omega-3's in our duck egg's yolks, and the pourous nature of egg-shells, the fats in the yolk start to oxidize after 2 weeks. After 4 weeks in the fridge, the quality of the flavor decreases dramatically. For best flavor and health benefits, I recommend that our duck eggs be eaten within 2 weeks if you eat your eggs cooked with the yolks still soft (i.e. soft-boiled, poached, or fried), and within 4 weeks for scrambling, hard-boiling, or baking. If you need a longer shelf-life we can coat our eggs with KePeg for you. KePeg is a product made of natural ingredients that seals the pores of the eggshell, preventing any oxidization of the egg inside. Eggs sealed with KePeg will stay fresh for a couple months.
Do you ship ducklings?
No, I'm sorry, we do not. Ducklings are only available on a pre-order basis for pick up at our farm. We do ship hatching eggs, though, if you want to incubate them yourself.
If you need to order by mail, I highly recommend ordering Welsh Harlequin ducklings from the Holderreads Waterfowl Preservation Center in Oregon (www.holderreadfarm.com). They have the purest bloodlines in the country, and the best conservation breeding program. They maintain 4 separate lines of Welsh Harlequins to protect their genetic diversity. The Welsh Harlequin is a critically endangered breed. At the last ALBC census in 2000, they counted 188 adult breeding birds in this country. HELP PRESERVE THE WELSH HARLEQUIN DUCK! See www.albc-usa.org for more info.
Do you clip your ducks wings?
No we don't. There's no need to. Welsh Harlequins have wings about the same size as a wild mallard, but they have a much longer body, so they never really get air-borne. They can skim along the ground at rapid speed but they can't clear our 3 foot high fences.
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| Current Events and Announcements | May 3 & 4th, 2008 - Come see us at the Living Green Expo in St. Paul. We will be selling our organic duck and goose eggs, scythes and hayrakes, and farm photos framed with our used fencing stakes. See www.livinggreen.org for more info.
May 10th, 2008 - Mill City Farmers Market, opening day. See www.millcityfarmersmarket.org for more info. We will be there selling duck eggs and goose eggs and photographs.
May 25, 2008 - Beginner's Scythe Workshop at our farm. Our annual beginner's workshop to get you outfitted for the 2008 mowing season.
June 7 & 8, 2008 - Beginner's Scythe Workshop and Haymaking Workshop in Viroqua, Wisconsin. See www.driftlessfolkschool.org for details. | | |
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