As of 01/11/2023, egg prices have skyrocketed in some US states. One example is the state of California, where data shows an increase in the average price for a dozen eggs from $2.35 just a year ago to over $7.37 last week.
With the cost of egg costs rising, homesteaders and families from all backgrounds have begun raising their own chickens.
According to the above statistic, in California alone egg prices have more than doubled in a year’s time. Ouch. I can’t be sure what the cost is here in Nevada because it’s very rare that I’m in a grocery store, but I’ve heard from friends that it isn’t cheap.
One thing about chickens is as the days get shorter their egg laying slows down. Even my most prolific breeds begin to slow down their egg production and sometimes take a hiatus completely in the dead of winter. Today I want to discuss how to ensure farm fresh eggs all winter without the use of a heat lamp.
I’ve heard people use a light in their coop to trick the hens into laying throughout the winter, but this just isn’t natural, and it’s not something we do on our homestead. Although the light is an option I propose another option that is natural and doesn’t require electricity.
Instead I offer up another solution that has proven to be successful year after year. With six years of homesteading under our belts I find this to be the most natural solution, and easiest to maintain. There is no need for additional lighting, or special diets.
How do you ensure eggs year round on your homestead? Ducks!
Ducks are amazing layers, and they don’t care one bit about the cold or the shorter days of winter. In fact at any given time in the winter no matter the latest whiteout condition you can find my ducks happily swimming in their pool, leaving their eggs nestled under a bush in the snow each and every day.
I do not keep too many ducks at once, they can be a bit on the messy side, and our family of four finds that four ducks is enough to keep us fully stocked up on eggs at all times of the year, but especially in winter when the chickens are taking their yearly break.
The variety of ducks you keep will make a difference on the amount of eggs you will receive.
We have one Pekin duck, one Cayuga, and two welsh harlequin ducks. The Pekin duck is a prolific layer, the Cayuga isn’t a big layer but when she does they are a treasure, a beautiful black color, the welsh harlequin are amazing layers and give our family the eggs we need as well as enough for friends and family.
Do the ducks need separate housing?
No, ducks can be housed right alongside chickens*. Why the asterisk? If you keep a male of either the duck family or the chicken family you can end up with some issues. We prefer to only keep hens, and the occasional rooster depending on his temperament.
A male duck and a rooster will fight if they are all housed together. A male duck, a drake, can possibly try to mate with your hens and this is an absolute no no. Chickens and ducks do not mate the same, and the results could be disastrous and harmful.
So now that I’ve explained a bit about that, we keep all the female birds together, ducks and chickens. They are all friendly but do keep to their own “kinds” for the most part.
What Do Duck Eggs Taste Like?
Duck eggs taste very similar to a chicken egg in my opinion. Even my pickiest of eaters has no complaints and doesn’t notice a difference between the two eggs.
When baking or using duck eggs in any recipe I equate one duck egg to two chicken eggs. They are much larger than most chicken eggs.
Their whites appear a bit different upon cooking than a chicken egg white. A translucent appearance as opposed to a yellow tinge.
They are excellent for baking, and for eating just like a chickens egg.
Due to the large size of the duck eggs in comparison to our chicken eggs I purchase these egg cartons that work perfectly and actually close.
If you are seeking a sustainable option for maintaining farm fresh eggs all year long I encourage you to try adding ducks to your homestead. Not only are they amusing, waddling across the pasture, but they are prolific layers and an excellent addition to any homesteader seeking self-sufficiency. Not to mention excellent foragers, snatching up all the unwanted bugs around our property!
Have you tasted a duck egg? Are you in favor of or not a fan? Let me know!
Happy Homesteading!
Danielle
Congratulations on six years of homesteading. Bravo, Danielle! Thank you for sharing what you’ve learned and continue to learn. I enjoyed your post and photos. 😊 Your seeds arrived! I am delighted and grateful! Thank you so very much! I can’t wait to plant them and watch them sprout. 🌱 Stay warm. Michele
Thank you! 6 years has flown by! Thank you as always for your sweetest comments and following along with me. ❤️ oh I’m so glad they made it. I am still trying to master my skill at seed saving so I’m hopeful they will sprout and give you seeds to one day share too! Please let me know in spring and summer how they do!
The years do seem to be flying by! 😱 It is my pleasure to follow your blog and share a few thoughts. Thanks again, I will share their progress when they get to that point. I may start them inside. Either way, I will keep you posted. 😊🤗
We couldn’t get our ducks to go up at night. We lost two of them to predators. We ended up sending them back to the farm that gave them to us. But, yes, they were prolific layers even in the coldest, shortest days of winter.
Oh that’s awful so sorry to hear that! The only night I didn’t lock mine in due to the heat of summer I lost one. They are easy targets for predators. It can be a bit of a pain to train them to be locked up at night, my kids are great at teaching the ducks to go in at night they leave them no option. 😂 The first few nights they don’t like it but now they don’t know any different and put themselves to bed with the chickens and have for many years. Since the night of murder I am neurotic about them being put up at night.
I have eaten duck eggs before! Honestly, I couldn’t find much of a difference.. but some people can.
I never can taste a difference either, sometimes I think people psych themselves out by hyper focusing on the fact that it isn’t the “norm” it isn’t a chicken egg, or maybe my tastebuds suck…ha! Thanks for reading!