Butchering excess drakes

[Squishychicken]

I've got some excess drakes on hand and if I dont sell then at the flock swap this Saturday I plan on butchering. 2 are khakis one is a couple years old. The other khaki is the same age as theses mixes. The mixes theres 3 of they are runner/buff/cayuga mixes. I need to weight all them but none of them seem very big would it just be better to let them go on my friends farm who had a pond and dosent mind extra drakes?

Does it even taste good?


Do you butcher them like chickens?

Any food I could feed them to fatten? They are currently on grass and all flock feed.

Best way to kill I like the broomstick for my rabbits but I'm guessing slitting the jugular is best and letting them bleed....

Also how to cut them up into parts to eat breast, legs, tenders etc.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

I've got some excess drakes on hand and if I dont sell then at the flock swap this Saturday I plan on butchering. 2 are khakis one is a couple years old. The other khaki is the same age as theses mixes. The mixes theres 3 of they are runner/buff/cayuga mixes. I need to weight all them but none of them seem very big would it just be better to let them go on my friends farm who had a pond and dosent mind extra drakes?


Do you butcher them like chickens?

Any food I could feed them to fatten? They are currently on grass and all flock feed.

Best way to kill I like the broomstick for my rabbits but I'm guessing slitting the jugular is best and letting them bleed....

Also how to cut them up into parts to eat breast, legs, tenders etc.

I would list them in your local classified ads like craigslist. Use the proceeds to purchase food for the balance of your birds.

 

[Squishychicken]

I've tried listing them on both facebook pages and craigslist and a flock swap as well. No response

 

[PirateGirl]

Is there someone you know that has processed a duck before? It might be best the first time to work with someone experienced.

 

[Squishychicken]

The buff mix and the younger and older khaki weight 3.2 pounds. The 2 blue and blue and white mixes are 3.4 pounds so they wouldn't weight out to much correct?

 

[Parront]

The buff mix and the younger and older khaki weight 3.2 pounds. The 2 blue and blue and white mixes are 3.4 pounds so they wouldn't weight out to much correct?

60-70 % is a good rule of thumb. They aren't meaty breeds, and plucking the feathers is more difficult with ducks than for chickens. They have a lot of feathers! What you might do is treat them like quail, and just remove the breast meat, skinless and boneless. Let it rest 2-3 days in the frig, and cook it like steak. See if you like it, duck is richer tasting than chicken.

 

[archeryrob]

No one wants drakes just like no one wants roosters. My buddy has 5 drakes to two hens and it like duck rape central on that pond. The women don't want them killed, but want it to stop and can't come to letting us kill them, but don't like watching the show either. Extra drakes and cockerels are farmer meat supplements and back yarders have a difficult time coming to this.

I kill wild ducks and I pluck the breasts and cut it open at the bottom of the breast. Meat shears up the sides and fold it forward (up). Use a knife to cut the breast from the neck one broken well. Pull the legs out and save for seperate use. I like to smoke the breasts on the smoker at 200° for up to 6 hours until about 140° IT. Farm ducks you might be able to cook longer and higher.

You can fatten them with corn, but my experiences with farm ducks fattened as a kid was tough and greasy. Wild duck cooked to 140 and medium is awesome.

I pluck by pinching dry feathers between my first finger like it was clenched into a fist and pull up. Best don't when they are not moulting ot you might want plier for this black feather shrouds. The whole duck will pluck dry but the wings can be difficult if not dipped in hot water. Plus the feathers kind of blow everywhere when not dipped if you're worried about that.

 

[Bookworm0124]

I did an extra Drake a few weeks ago, my first one. It wasn't that bad but it was older than your guys. I did have trouble with how many feathers they have but managed to pluck the whole duck by hand. I dry plucked the outer feathers as best I could and then dipped in water with some Dawn dish detergent. The rest came out pretty easily. I've heard that some people use wax in the water to make it easier with the down, I'm going to try that next time.
I did wear gloves when doing the down because wet down kept sticking to my fingers and made it difficult.

I put him in a cone and slit his throat.

 

[Mosey2003]

I would absolutely breast them out rather than doing a full process like a chicken. They don't pluck well at all (in comparison to chickens) and when my friend and I did hers, they didn't even skin all that well, either.

 

[archeryrob]

Holy Crap, I had to thin a few for a buddy and what a PITA they are. Peking Ducks. They go on vacation and before I get the text "Will you do me a favor" and it was get rid of all the drakes.

They are a lot tougher than I remembered. Those peking drakes necks were thicker and tougher than a full grown Canada Goose. I am not going to recommend a small woman that doesn't know how to do it try windmilling one. It definitely took some force to finish one. I could see it not working if you weren't forceful enough.

On plucking, that was a PITA also!! Back feather didn't want to come out and you have to be deliberately forceful plucking. Scalding did work either because they are waterproof. 30 seconds on 150° water doesn't loosen the feather as with chickens.

Lets just say, I would never raise ducks for meat after this.