# Duck (new layer) laying black-yoked eggs...no smell.



## goatsintheozarks (Aug 1, 2013)

I am a complete beginner duck-keeper, and I was wondering if you folks had any previous experience of a young (new layer) duck laying eggs with a grey-tinted yolk? 

We have two female ducks and one (very, ahem, active) male. The ladies are 'at point of lay', and one of them surprised us with three day's eggs hidden in the hay! 

The yolks of the first three were dark grey....and the succeeding four day's eggs are steadily getting less grey and more yellow, but are still tinted. Keeping yesterday's almost-normal colored yolk (cracked into a cup) in the fridge overnight resulted in the yolk being indented (think fallen cake!) and substantially darkened.

The funny thing is - THEY DO NOT SMELL OFF. Not at all. Not even when you break the yolk. Not even those first ones that were hidden in the hay for three days.

I'm not sure what breed the ducks are....the boy looks like a Pekeing to me....largish, white, with yellow beak and feet. The ladies are white and mottled, soft grey, with tufts on their heads, grey feet,and grey/green-tinted beaks.

They live alongside chickens (all 16 of 'Em) and my dairy goats....they have a very large enclosure, and the goats are out of it during the daytime to roam and graze. Also, if this has any bearing on it at all, my cat likes to roam the pen most days, and my Labrador will occasionally come in there with me ( the cat and the Lab are both out to be the one who comes in when I milk and gets the 'strip cup' milk!)  So the ducks definitely have contact with other animals.


Any tips/advice/experience are greatly appreciated! Thank you all! :stars:


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I have never noticed our ducks giving a greyish tint to their eggs when they start laying but I don't really pay that much attention to it either. I just crack 'em and use 'em. The indented yolk after a day in the fridge is normal and so is the darker color (maybe not a grey color, but the yellow should be darker). If the eggs are getting lighter as time goes by....I just wouldn't eat the first ones and give it a couple weeks. I'm going to go out on a limb and say there probably isn't anything wrong with them tho. Being with the other animals shouldn't affect your eggs at all (other than getting smushed, etc)


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## goatsintheozarks (Aug 1, 2013)

Thanks for the reply! 

The latest update is that we haven't had any eggs for the last two days - unless she has hidden them somewhere.

One out of our two female ducks is also limping pretty badly today..trouble is, I don't know if she is the one that was laying or not.

I'm off to do some more research and see if this might be connected to some illness that could cause the mis-coloured eggs...I have no clue whether that is a possibility! Hopefully she just hurt her foot and will be fine again in the morning.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

There is a breed that produces odd eggs.


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## goatsintheozarks (Aug 1, 2013)

Hi! Just letting you know that all is well with the duck....and the eggs! Getting a lovely orangey-yellow yolked egg each day, and the duck stopped limping, too. Hooray!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Good! Must have just been beginner laying that gave the odd color yolks before.


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