Can someone give me some easy tips for processing a Moscovy duck ?

[RAREROO]

Thanks again Steve, and if I do end up rasing them to eat regularly then yes I will be skinning them. Thats what we did with some old commercial broiler breeder hens that had escaped from being caught after they went out that season and they were running loose on the property and the owner who is a friend of ours told us if we could catch them we could have them so we went two nights in a row ended up with about two truck loads of them. We tried to sale the best looking ones that still had their feathers, and all the ugly ones we skinned out and ground up into Chicken sausage but we didnt put it in links like you did, just packed if like hamberger meat. It was really good though.

I'll let you all know how it goes. I dont have the time or money to bother with the wax, especially since I am going to be paying for the ducks since I didnt raise them myself, I am going to the sale Saturday to try to get one or two of them. When do you all think I should process them if we wanted to cook it for thanksgiving day ? Should I keep it live for another week or so and then process it a few days before thanks giving were it would have a few days to sit in a cooler of ice like we do with deer meat, and then maybe keep it in a brine marinade solution the day before cooking it. Or go a head and process it the night I get them and freeze it til I get ready to start preping it to cook ? Or would it even matter ? I could do either really.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Ducks are horrible to pluck.... just being brutally honest. They are a lot of work but are worth the effort after you're eating it.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

We are doing our Thanksgiving turkey on either Sat or Sun before and age in the fridge until Thurs.

Steve

 

[RAREROO]

I just went and pick up our dinner guest this morning. Hes a big male and will probably be a tougher than the younger ones that were there but the younger ones were selling for $8-$10 each and I got a deal on this one for $20 for a trio so I got two hens with him and I will probably get a male for them and raise more next year.

 

[Rod W]

I have waxed hundreds of wild ducks with paraffin wax. It usually takes 4-5 coats in order to peel the wax off in chunks. Perhaps the regular "Duck" wax goes on thicker to begin with, I don't know, I have never tried it. Yes, Plucked muscovy is the only way to go and you won't have to wrap the duck in bacon either. It is delicious with nothing added and you won't have to "Slice" the skin either as Muscovies aren't nearly as fatty as other ducks. -- ROD---I used a plucker, piece of cake!!