Total plate counts on washed duck eggs from a breeder farm on Long Island were less than 30/shell during the winter (January to February) of 1982. Clean unwashed eggs had counts less than 9 X 10(1)/shell, whereas dirty unwashed eggs had counts as high as 9 X 10(5)/shell. Our results showed that washing with a chlorine sanitizer (under commercial conditions) was highly effective in reducing surface bacterial counts on egg shells. Prolonged storage reduced bacterial counts on clean eggs, but it did not significantly affect loads on dirty eggs. No salmonellae could be detected on shells or in the magma of all eggs examined. In a second trial (March 1982) bacterial loads on washed and clean duck eggs from six different breeder farms were low, ranging from too few to count to 10(2)/shell. A higher proportion of dirty eggs were heavily contaminated with counts ranging from 10(5) to 10(6)/shell, but no salmonellae were detected either on shells or in magma. In the third trial (May 1982) bacterial determinations on eggs from breeder ducks that were not confined followed the pattern of the second trial. However, in this trial Salmonella enteritidis was detected on dirty egg shells in four of six farms. In a fourth trial (May 1983), bacterial loads on washed and nest-clean eggs from the same breeder farms (not confined) ranged between 10(2) to 10(3)/shell and 10(2) to 10(4)/shell, respectively. S. enteritidis and S. badar were recovered from washed, nest clean, and dirty eggs in two of six farms. We conclude that proper egg washing and confinement of duck breeders should minimize the problem of salmonellosis in ducklings.