Locals and livestock officials have been caught by surprise after learning about two ducks in two separate areas of Charfesson upazila of Bhola laying grey eggs since last week.  

Officials visited the houses and said they would observe the ducks for a week to find the reasons behind the unnatural phenomenon.

They suspect that the ducks are crossbreeds. 

The owners are now seeing huge crowds since many curious people are coming from nearby villages to see the ducks and the eggs with their own eyes. 

The latest incident was reported in the Charfesson municipality area. 

Zulekha Akhter, the owner of one of the ducks, said she had three ducks aged between nine months and one year. 

“One of the ducks lays eggs, but not every day — sometimes grey and sometimes white. But it has been laying only grey eggs since Friday,” she told Dhaka Tribune.

“Since Friday, a duck being raised in my home has been laying grey-coloured eggs. Such an incident has never happened before. We have informed the upazila livestock office about the matter,” house owner and Councillor of Ward No 4 Aktarul Alam Samu said.

Earlier, a duck owned by a housewife, Taslima Begum, laid grey eggs for two consecutive days on Wednesday and Thursday in the Daskandi area under Jinnagarh union of Charfesson. 

The news created massive keenness in the locality since Taslima initially said the eggs were black.

Shankar Krishna Das, deputy assistant officer of the Charfesson Upazila Livestock Office, said they had visited Taslima’s house after receiving the news. 

“These eggs were grey. We have reported the matter to the higher authorities,” he told Dhaka Tribune.

District Livestock Officer Indrajit Kumar Mandal said: “We are surprised that two such incidents have occurred in the same upazila recently. We initially think that the ducks were crossed with some other breed.

“We will collect the specimen and send it to the lab to find out the reasons.”

He added that chicken of the Indian Kadarnath Black Masi breed laid black eggs and their flesh was also black. 

“An egg’s colour can be black due to uterine or other physical problems of a duck. We will observe the ducks for seven days. If they do not start laying white eggs we will send the grey eggs to the laboratory of the Department of Livestock Services in Dhaka,” Indrajit told Dhaka Tribune.