Eating "wild" duck eggs
...my house backs up to a large man-made lake...there are various "wild" ducks swimming inside...some are mallards that fly around the different ponds and lake communities in the area, and there also appears to be larger/fatter farm ducks, that probably escaped from one of the neighboring farms...anyhow, recently, I think one of the larger ducks that frequent/hang out in the pond has been laying eggs along the shore line that borders the back of my house...I am sure she layed them during the night or early morning, because I see them appear magically every morning...the duck is not making a nest, but seems to be just randomly laying them everywhere along the shoreline...I have seen ducks from this group make nests in one of my bushes and give birth to actual ducklings, but that happend more around March/April...it is still mid-Februrary so the behaviour is kind of odd...my research on the internet seems to indicate that the eggs may have orginated from a relatively young mother who doesn't really know what she is doing...or this female duck believes that it is still too cold to start nesting so just deposits her eggs with no intent on making a nest...
Anyhow, my question is can I eat them? It is a man made lake that is used to hold rain water and filtered runoff from watering the landscaping in the community...they have fish inside the lake to keep the algae growth in check...I am guessing the ducks eat algae or scum from the lake edge/bottom, landscaping, or insects in the yards...there is an old man on the other side of the lake that appears to feed them farm-quality grains/feed regularly...so I am "guessing" the ducks are relatively healthy...health hazards may be fertilizers from the grass/landscaping in their system, or maybe pesticides since I know many people spray their yards for bugs...
I have read threads from people eating eggs from their PET DUCK...but nothing about semi-wild/free-roaming ducks in communities...
PS, I know it is easy to pay a buck for a dozen chicken eggs at the supermarket, but a member of my family thinks that it is perfectly normal to eat them...I on the other hand, feel a little uncomfortable...thanks...
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