How We Make Blown Goose and Duck Eggs

Blown duck and goose eggs can be used to make beautifully decorated egg art. To see examples, see our post on BlownEgg Art.

How the eggs are emptied and cleaned for decorating can differ from person to person. An older method of blowing the eggs is to poke a hole in both ends of the egg, swirl a stick in it to break up the yolk, and literally blow into the egg in one end and the yolk and white goes out the other end - hence the term ‘blown’ egg.

We do not physically blow our duck and goose eggs, however, as we would have fainting employees every day if we did! 
 

We start with a device that helps us mark the exact center of the large end of the egg. We want the hole in the exact center so if the egg is hung from the hole, the egg hangs perfectly straight. The egg is then taken to a Dremel drill and using one of their 192 carving/engraving bits we drill the actual hole which measures 5/32 of an inch in diameter.

The drilled eggs are then placed hole down over short pieces of small copper tubing that are connected to an air compressor and a water source. Initially air is blown into the egg which forces the egg contents out the hole. After the insides are drained, water is then pushed through the copper tube to rinse out any remaining contents. Then we use a soap solution to clean the inside. Finally, we rinse out the soapy water with clean water and use a final blast of air to get all the water out of the egg. 
 

Goose eggs are measured after cleaning. A tape measure is wrapped around the length of the egg, not the width, to determine the size. The eggs are sold by this circumference measurement and range from 8“ to over 12“. A 10“ goose egg, for instance, measures anywhere from 10“ to almost 10.5“ in circumference. Duck eggs, on the other hand, are measured by their weight when they are washed by our automatic egg washer and grader when they enter the hatchery. The duck eggs come in Pee Wee, Small, Medium, Large and Jumbo sizes. As duck eggs are much larger than chicken eggs, our Small is equivalent to a Jumbo chicken egg.

After the egg contents have been removed and the inside of the egg has been cleaned and rinsed, the shell itself is carefully cleaned with a dilute solution of water and vinegar.

Once shiny and clean, the eggs are left to dry and then boxed and stored until a customer places an order for them. If blown and cleaned properly, an egg should never decay. For more information on the blown eggs we sell, please visit our BlownGoose and Duck Egg page on our website.