Anyone else taking out a duck for Thanksgiving?

[WestKnollAmy]

It would be nice if we had someone else doing it for us but my Dad has long since passed away and if we breed it we try to take responsibility enough to make sure it is raised right and taken out humanely.
If we sent ours off we are afraid they wouldn't be treated right before preparing and there is no use to have someone else come over and do it for us when we live here. It has gotten easier over time but we hate the actual act of killing.

Good luck with yours and I hope they taste delicious!

 

[RAREROO]

Looks great Nadine. I just got done with my Muscovie drake that I posted earlier. He was almost 5.5 pounds after cleaning.

I had make me a red neck drill plucker but it was useless on a duck so I had to do it by had, and like you, I was also a lot eaiser than I was anticipating. I dont it all by hand then used a blow torch to singe off the hair like feathers. But I think we done pretty darn good for our first time plucking ducks.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Oh, wow, yours turned out more meaty than mine!

I can't wait to breed some mules next year for meat. I plan to put them up in a pen and feed them up for a few weeks.

I let this guy run all over the farm and he ran off all his weight, I suppose. He was about 8 months old. He ran with a flock of 19 girls and 2 other drakes.
Here he is a few weeks ago.

I didn't have a mate for him and wasn't interested in breeding this kind so we decided to eat him.

Did you feed yours up for a week or so before today? And what do you feed yours?

It really did go pretty well considering we had not done this before. I suppose next year will see us doing many more.

Thanks!

 

[RAREROO]

haha We are so similar, I actually just bought him last weekend with two other Scovie hens and the guy I bought him from actually told me that he wouldnt be really great for meat becuase he had been running the yard and would be better if he was shut up for a while. So I have only had him for a week and he I fed him layer pellets and bread that you can buy in bulk at the feedstore.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Well, then. I can't wait for my Muscovy, for sure!
I won't eat the ones I am getting but I plan to breed them to others I have here to see what the offspring will be like. I have Pekins, Rouens and others that I can try. The mules would be sterile anyway and I know I will get plenty of males so we can put some in the freezer with the roosters. Anything that lays an egg can stay but extra males must go.

You have a wonderful Thanksgiving bird there! Lucky you! Great meat and you did a terrific job on the carcass! It looks very delicious!

Tell me, Clint, ....have you ever eaten any of your extra Sussex roos? I want to get some next year and wondered what I would do if I bred some and had those extra roos. Wasn't sure about how they taste or how meaty they may be.

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
Yep and these Scovies are so quite and they dont make noise like the other ducks and geese so that is a BIG plus for them. So next year I will probably be converted over to mostly all Scovies and a few of these Buff ducks that I get in the spring from TSC, they are AWESOME setters and nice looking ducks and should be good to cross with scovies for meat mules. I wonder if female mules can breed to a pure duck ? I have heard of an acutal equine mule that was able to successfully breed with a horse stallion.

Anyway about the Sussex, no I have never eatten any but they the do get pretty meaty and should be great meat birds, check out this guy

But I dont raise off many roos and I am pretty much the only one around here that has them so they sell pretty good at our local livestock sale becuase they are so different the the usual RIR, Barred Rock, and Mutts that are typically at the sale, so I just sale the extra males we raise off. But I am thinking that if our local TSC has any Cornish cross chicks this year that I will get a few and butcher the roos and raise the hens on a restricted diet like normal chickens so they will be more fit for farmyard living, and breed them with a Light Sussex roo and raise meat birds off of them. I done that a few years ago with a meat hen that I raised just like a normal chicken and bred her with a BO and RIR roo and they made some really meaty birds that grew really fast even when raised by the same methods and amount off feed that you would give regular chickes. I also plan to hopefully get a small flock of pure LF White Cornish going and work on meat crosses with them.