Waterfowl for Meat Production Thread - Ducks, Geese, and Muscovies

[bramblefir]

Hey I have a khaki Campbell I'm considering butchering. I read they can be meat ducks? I read you should butcher at 8-10 weeks. Is this correct? They're currently eating chick starter (unmedicated) do they need a finisher?

I have some Perkins also that I'm considering harvesting. (Basically the drakes from a batch of straight runs). What age are they harvested?

You can butcher any breed for meat, the yields will vary though. You will want to check each duck for pin feathers and butcher when they have few or none. Metzer's recommends around 7, 12.5, or 18 weeks as a general guideline for ducks. Again, check each duck for pin feathers before butchering. The pins are a bugger to pluck.

It's up to you if you want to finish your ducks. Generally finishing (aka fattening) is to put on fat and make the meat more tender by restricting movement. I put my to-be-butchered birds in an empty 12'x12' horse stall for around a week before I butcher. I continue feeding normally and don't currently feed anything to fatten them. If I needed a bunch of confit I might change my mind.

 

[bramblefir]

I keep forgetting to share this picture here of my broody Orp and her 3 goslings:



Two geese sitting on their nests and another two still laying. I'm hoping for a lot more goslings!

 

[KodiakFox]

I'm hoping to revive this thread too. I am curious what weigts people are getting on their geese after processing. I did 5 recently and they were only 5-6 lbs. they look nice but I was expecting larger. I google imaged "christmas goose" and they all look like mine, not super meaty. My geese are pilgrims. They got as much as they could eat in the day time, nothing overnight, and free range on pasture.

 

[cottontail farm]

My Embden came from Metzer's in April I think. Butchered Sept 1st. Probably around 8 lbs? But my geese get a lot of wheat and grain as they can only do limited ranging. Maybe it's the breed, you can see he was much bigger than the super africans.
I parted him up, saving everything. Ready to get out my Hank Shaw book Duck Duck Goose and do some great cooking soon!

 

[bramblefir]

I'm hoping to revive this thread too. I am curious what weigts people are getting on their geese after processing. I did 5 recently and they were only 5-6 lbs. they look nice but I was expecting larger. I google imaged "christmas goose" and they all look like mine, not super meaty. My geese are pilgrims. They got as much as they could eat in the day time, nothing overnight, and free range on pasture. View attachment 1165520

I haven't on BYC in a while, but your comment came through to my email so I thought I'd better pop in and reply.

Based on the dressed weight of 5-6# I would estimate that your live weight was only about 7-9#. Did you weigh them before butchering? How old were the geese? A fully grown (over 1 year old) Pilgrim should weigh 14# for ganders and 12# for geese. However, the Pilgrim breed is in need of quality breeding and it's likely that they're running smaller than the ideal weights.

I haven't butchered any of my geese yet this year. It's about time to get it done though if we're going to have one for Christmas.

 

[cottontail farm]

What kind of geese do you raise and what do you expect for a dressed weight? I'm new to geese. The Embden was just for fun, I also have a trio of Super Africans from Metzer's

 

[TEXAS715]

I raise Embden, Muscovies and Jumbo Pekin ducks for meat production. Embden and Muscovies will be over double digit dressed weights. Pekin just a little under. I raise a couple hundred a year along with my broilers.

 

[hereorthere]

I raise Embden, Muscovies and Jumbo Pekin ducks for meat production. Embden and Muscovies will be over double digit dressed weights. Pekin just a little under. I raise a couple hundred a year along with my broilers.

At what week (or month) do u butcher the Emblems or Muscovies for those double digits?

 

[Hamaarahof]

Hi, we just added some Muscovies, but for now hoping they will be broody once
old enough, since they take longer to mature.

But am really wandering if someone has some advice on cooking duck?
Thinking of a slow cooker, but than how do I deal with the fat?
I am not familiar with that part, lol. So far only ornamental or meat for our dogs,
since they provide great protein. The chickens and rabbits can go to the
processing plant. But have a duck in the fridge that hubby did and need to figure out what the best first trial is for the table;0)

 

[aliciaplus3]

We did a trial run several months ago and my husband looked up crispy duck on google the recipe he chose turned out wonderfully and I believe we finally found something he likes about ducks,,,,, to eat them. I was very pleasantly surprised with how dark the meat is. I believe someone had compared it to steak and i feel they were pretty close, I like dark meat over white meat any day.