Duck eggs typically cost between $6 and $10 per dozen at farm stands and local retailers, though prices can range from $8 to $15 per dozen for pasture-raised eggs sold direct to consumers. That’s roughly two to three times the price of conventional chicken eggs. The exact price depends on where you buy them, whether they’re raised on pasture, and how far they need to be shipped.
Retail Prices by Source
Where you buy duck eggs makes the biggest difference in what you’ll pay. Small farms selling direct to customers tend to offer the lowest prices, sometimes as low as $6 per dozen. The USDA’s national pasture-raised poultry report lists duck eggs averaging about $9.96 per dozen at direct-to-consumer retail, with a range of $8 to $15.
Grocery stores and specialty markets generally fall toward the higher end of that range, especially in urban areas where duck eggs are marketed as a premium product. Farmers’ markets split the difference, with prices that reflect local competition and production costs. If you live in an area with several duck farmers, you’ll pay less than someone buying the only carton on the shelf at a gourmet grocery store.
Online and Bulk Ordering
Ordering duck eggs online is possible but significantly more expensive per egg, largely because of shipping perishable goods. Metzer Farms, one of the larger online duck egg suppliers, sells 20 eggs for $60, 40 for $80, and 100 for $170. That works out to $3.00 per egg for a small order and $1.70 per egg in bulk, with free shipping included in those prices. A 2025 USPS surcharge on perishable items pushed those prices even higher than previous years.
Online ordering makes sense if you can’t find duck eggs locally and want to buy in larger quantities. The per-egg cost drops considerably as you scale up. At 100 eggs, the price per dozen comes to about $20.40, still far above local farm prices but reasonable if shipping is your only option.
Why Duck Eggs Cost More Than Chicken Eggs
The price premium isn’t really about scarcity of eggs. Commercial duck breeds actually lay more eggs than chickens, producing 300 to 350 eggs per year compared to about 250 for commercial laying hens. The higher cost comes down to scale and infrastructure.
Chicken egg production in the United States is a massive industrial operation with decades of optimized supply chains. Duck egg production is almost entirely small-scale, handled by independent farms without the efficiencies that come with factory-level output. Feed alone accounts for 60 to 75 percent of total production costs in poultry farming, and small duck operations pay more per pound of feed than industrial chicken farms buying in bulk. Ducks also need access to water for drinking and bathing, which adds housing and maintenance costs that chicken operations don’t face.
Distribution plays a role too. Most grocery stores don’t stock duck eggs at all, which means producers sell through farmers’ markets, farm stores, or online channels with higher per-unit costs. There’s no national supply chain driving prices down through competition the way there is for chicken eggs.
What You Get for the Price
Duck eggs are about 40 percent larger than chicken eggs. A large chicken egg weighs around 50 grams, while a duck egg comes in at roughly 70 grams. That size difference means you’re getting more egg per dollar than the sticker price suggests. If you’re paying $10 for a dozen duck eggs, the cost per gram of egg is closer to what you’d pay for a premium dozen chicken eggs at $6 or $7.
The yolk-to-white ratio is higher in duck eggs, which gives them a richer flavor and makes them popular with bakers. The extra fat in the yolk produces fluffier pastries and richer custards. Duck eggs also contain more protein and more of several vitamins per egg, though much of that difference simply reflects the larger size rather than a dramatically different nutritional profile.
How to Find the Best Price
Your cheapest option is almost always a local farm. Search for duck egg producers in your area through farmers’ market directories or local farm listing sites. Many small farms sell duck eggs as a secondary product alongside chicken eggs, and they’re often willing to set up a regular order if you become a repeat customer.
Asian grocery stores are another reliable source. Duck eggs have a long culinary tradition in Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and other Southeast Asian cuisines, and stores catering to those communities often stock them at competitive prices. You may find both fresh and preserved (salted) duck eggs in these shops.
If you use a lot of eggs and have the space, raising your own ducks is the most cost-effective long-term option. A pair of Khaki Campbell or Welsh Harlequin ducks can produce over 500 eggs per year between them, and their feed costs are comparable to backyard chickens. The upfront investment in housing and birds pays for itself within a few months of production.