Duck Egg Color

Duck Eggs

If you are interested, this link: duck egg facts, will answer all your questions. Do duck eggs taste the same as chicken eggs? Are duck eggs better for you than a chicken egg? After reading this article about duck egg color, come back to the link above and find out more about these eggs and 10 tips on how to sell them efficiently.

What is the Color of a Duck Egg? Is a Duck Egg Blue or Green?

Originally, of course, all ducks were wild.

And wild ducks laid eggs that would blend into their surroundings. This disguise helped, and still does help, prevent predators from finding the eggs.

• Dark caves and holes: White Shells
• Riparian areas: Green Tint
• Treetop canopies: Blue
• Barren rocks: Speckled

But now, unlike chickens, where Marans lay chocolate eggs, and leghorns lay white eggs and Americanas lay blue eggs, the duck egg follows its own set of rules when it comes to its egg color.

You can find a lot of articles here on A Life of Heritage that will teach you a lot about poultry and be sure to check out DUCK DOUGH: Profitable Poultry Binder–It’s FULL of to-do lists, checklists, record keeping sheets, and resource pages that will keep your flock healthy and YOU organized!

In the 1800’s, when ducks became “cool” to raise and breed, white was also “cool”. So ducks that laid white eggs, were kept and bred. And because the wild birds laid colored eggs, it became a “badge of purity” for domestic ducks to lay white eggs. It was their way of telling the difference between domestic and wild ducks.

Duck Egg Color Genetics (Somewhat) Demystified

Genetics are so tricky.

The long and short of it is this:

• Green shells (G): with biliverdin, are DOMINANT
• White shells (W): without biliverdin, are recessive

If the hen has a strong (G) gene, this gene will most likely pass on but not always.

Many ducks will have both the (G) and (W) genes.

This can be expressed like this:

• (Gg): Two green genes
• (Gw): Dominant green gene over recessive white
• (Ww): two white genes

And because of all the variables, there is no way to guarantee duck egg color.

If you have the desire, time, and energy, you can breed your ducks and isolate desired egg colors.

This would look something like the following. For more blue egg layers:

• Choose ducks with a strong (G) gene. Like Metzer’s Black or Chocolate Runners.
• Keep hens that lay blue eggs.
• Breed to drakes that hatched from blue eggs.
• Raise the ducklings and keep those who lay blue eggs when they start laying.
• And breed them to drakes that hatch from blue eggs.

This will eventually dilute the (W) gene. But don’t forget! That (W) gene can pop up at any moment, just to keep you on your toes!