A duck egg next to a chicken egg, figure by figure: USDA’s own lab numbers for calories, protein, fat, cholesterol, vitamins and minerals, per egg or weight for weight. Pick the size of chicken egg you actually buy, add a quail, goose or turkey egg if you keep those too, and work out a recipe swap. Numbers, not a verdict — no source says which egg is healthier.
Duck egg vs large chicken egg · egg for egg
One duck egg = 1.4 large chicken eggs
Allergic to chicken eggs? Don’t switch to duck eggs on your own. The allergy foundation AAFA says a doctor will likely tell you to avoid duck, goose, quail and turkey eggs too, because the proteins are similar.
USDA’s figures, egg for egg
What you notice in the kitchen
Nutrient figures checked 2026-09-27: USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy), Cornell Cooperative Extension and AAFA.
Quick answer: a duck egg weighs about 70 g without its shell, against 50 g for a large chicken egg, so one duck egg is 1.4 large chicken eggs (USDA). Because it is bigger it has more of almost everything: about 130 calories and 9 g of protein against 72 calories and 6.3 g. Weight for weight it is richer too, with more fat, 2.4 times the cholesterol and 6 times the vitamin B12. The chicken egg has more water, vitamin D and riboflavin. Neither is “healthier” on these numbers; which is better depends on what you are after.
Egg for egg, and weight for weight
There are two honest ways to compare, and they give different pictures. Egg for egg is what you crack into the pan. A duck egg is simply more egg, so it wins almost every line of the table. Weight for weight (per 100 g) takes the size out and shows what the egg is made of. Per 100 g, a duck egg has 185 calories to the chicken egg’s 143, 13.8 g of fat to 9.5 g, 884 mg of cholesterol to 372 mg, and 5.4 µg of vitamin B12 to 0.89 µg. Protein is almost the same: 12.8 g against 12.6 g. The chicken egg is ahead on water (76 g against 71 g), vitamin D, riboflavin and polyunsaturated fat. Switch the chart between the two and watch the “Duck vs chicken” column change.
Size, shell and yolk
USDA weighs a duck egg at 70 g and a large chicken egg at 50 g, both without the shell. A small backyard pullet egg is 38 g, so one duck egg is almost two of those. Cornell Cooperative Extension notes the differences you’ll see before you taste anything: “The shell of duck eggs is thicker than chicken eggs, so it takes a little more force to crack them.” And: “Once they are cracked, you’ll notice the yolks of duck eggs are visibly larger than chicken eggs.” Storage is the same: “Store duck eggs the same way you store chicken eggs, up to 5 weeks in the refrigerator.” If your eggs come from your own birds, the egg float test tells you how old one is, and the odd egg checker covers blood spots, double yolks and thin shells.
Swapping duck eggs into a recipe
Cornell’s rule of thumb is “Otherwise, since duck eggs are about 30% bigger than chicken eggs, 3 duck eggs equals 4 chicken eggs.” USDA’s weights agree: three duck eggs are 210 g and four large chicken eggs are 200 g. For baking, Cornell adds, “When baking the most exact way to do this is to add the eggs by weight.” Put your recipe’s egg count into the chart. You get the whole duck eggs to use and the grams to weigh out. Cook them with care: “Be careful not to overcook your duck eggs, if you choose to fry them – the low water content increases the chance of overcooking.” Boiling takes no longer: “To make hard-cooked (boiled) duck eggs it takes the same amount of time (20 minutes) to cook them as it does for chicken eggs.”
Allergic to chicken eggs?
You will read that people allergic to chicken eggs can often eat duck eggs. Don’t test that at home. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s allergists say “There are similar proteins in both hen and duck eggs.” They also say “If you are allergic to hen eggs, your doctor will likely recommend that you avoid eating eggs from other domesticated animals.” That includes duck, goose, quail and turkey eggs. Their advice is short: “Discuss these issues with an allergy specialist.”
Where the numbers come from, and what is left out
Every figure is USDA FoodData Central’s SR Legacy data for raw, fresh, whole eggs. It is the only USDA dataset that measures duck, chicken, quail, goose and turkey eggs in the same way. USDA stopped updating it in 2018. Its newer Foundation Foods data measures chicken eggs but has no duck egg. Four nutrients are missing on purpose. For the duck egg, USDA borrowed selenium, vitamin E and lutein from “another form of the food or similar food”, and took choline “from another source”, with the same figure for duck, goose and quail. None of the four is a measurement of a duck egg, so the chart doesn’t compare them. Where USDA has no figure at all, as with vitamin D in a turkey egg, the table says “no figure” rather than 0. Thinking about keeping ducks for eggs? The duck breed finder sorts 21 breeds by eggs a year, and the duck lifespan chart shows how long they lay.