2022 Duck Project - Meat(Questions)

[KikiDeAnime]

I have plans for next year to hatch out a lot of our duck eggs so that I can keep a few males for meat. My plans include breeding our Khaki Campbell drake to both our Welsh Harlequins. I'm going with this pairing as all the KC/Indian Runner offspring that were hatched by 2 ladies turned out to be very thin-like, even the males. So I'm hoping these ones will turn our more plump.
I already know that ducks are very fatty and will be greasy when cooked.

My questions:
-I plan on putting them in a chest freezer, how many should I keep? (My dad and brother want to get a big chest freezer)
-Advice on plucking?
-If I keep them in a pen together, will they fight?
-If I decide to breed one to one of our runners, how do I choose the best one?

 

[lost-duckling]

just get a meat variety also use wax for the plucking

 

[bhaugh]

Have you considered muscovy for meat?

 

[Floof]

If you're looking for a dual purpose breed you should consider silver appleyards and saxony. They both lay well, get meaty pretty quickly, and the females are friendly and good to keep for eggs and are easy to sell if you have too many.

I wouldn't bother with the welshies for meat. They really don't fill out at all.

 

[Floof]

Haha I realized I gave my opinion but didn't actually answer your questions (I hate it when people do that!)

I plan on putting them in a chest freezer, how many should I keep? (My dad and brother want to get a big chest freezer)
--> it depends on if you want to put anything else in this chest freezer. You could probably fit 30 birds easily into my chest freezer, with room to spare. The thing is, how many birds do you think you'll eat between grow outs?


-Advice on plucking?
--> harvest around 8-10 weeks should make hand plucking manageable. Some people swear by the wax dipping method but I'm collecting feathers for a down blanket so I dip my birds in scalding water and then hand pluck, putting the down into a zipper wash bag and putting the pretty feathers into a separate bag for my kids to use for crafts. I try not to waste haha


-If I keep them in a pen together, will they fight?
--> I've never experienced fighting but sexually mature drakes will breed and sometimes that can be a problem if you're ratio of male to female is off.


-If I decide to breed one to one of our runners, how do I choose the best one?
-->I wouldn't bother with this one but if you're really determined to do it, you want to choose the birds that put on weight the fastest. They all eventually even out but you don't want to wait that long. You want them to get big enough to eat by week 8 so you aren't struggling with plucking pin feathers.

 

[Floof]

For reference in size difference between the welshies and the silver appleyard here are my miserable wet birds from today (all the same age):

Silver appleyard on left, welsh harlequin in the middle, and female pekin on the right. They all eat the same and live the same lifestyle but the welshies are tiny comparatively. Once plucked and gutted, I always end up feeling like I would have rather just have had the bird instead of the meager meal.

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Everyone, I'm sticking with my breeding plan. Please do NOT suggest another breed. I only want my questions answered like Floof did!

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Haha I realized I gave my opinion but didn't actually answer your questions (I hate it when people do that!)

I plan on putting them in a chest freezer, how many should I keep? (My dad and brother want to get a big chest freezer)
--> it depends on if you want to put anything else in this chest freezer. You could probably fit 30 birds easily into my chest freezer, with room to spare. The thing is, how many birds do you think you'll eat between grow outs?


-Advice on plucking?
--> harvest around 8-10 weeks should make hand plucking manageable. Some people swear by the wax dipping method but I'm collecting feathers for a down blanket so I dip my birds in scalding water and then hand pluck, putting the down into a zipper wash bag and putting the pretty feathers into a separate bag for my kids to use for crafts. I try not to waste haha


-If I keep them in a pen together, will they fight?
--> I've never experienced fighting but sexually mature drakes will breed and sometimes that can be a problem if you're ratio of male to female is off.


-If I decide to breed one to one of our runners, how do I choose the best one?
-->I wouldn't bother with this one but if you're really determined to do it, you want to choose the birds that put on weight the fastest. They all eventually even out but you don't want to wait that long. You want them to get big enough to eat by week 8 so you aren't struggling with plucking pin feathers.

Not sure on eating but we usually freeze birds we buy for up to 6 months, depending on the bird.

When we butchered some chickens, we did hand plucking after scalding.

The pen they will have to be put in is directly next to the main duck flock with hardware cloth on the fence so they will have full view of our drake & his females. That's why I asked as I know if males see females, they will fight.

Yeah, I figured as much. Thanks for answering!