Desperately Seeking Butcher/Meat Processor

[AuroraSprings]

We are DESPERATELY seeking a custom meat processor or butcher with 300 miles of Decatur, AL. We need them to process our ducks. We've tried Google searches, the Yellow Pages, and pleading on Craigslist. Much to our dismay, we still haven't found one. If ANYONE can offer any help, we'd greatly appreciate it. I'm going to try the county extension agent next, but if anyone has any other ideas let us know. We'd be willing to drive them along I-85, I-75, or I-65 just to get them processed, even if it's more than 300 miles away.

 

[FenDruadin]

See if you can get in touch with any local farmers. You can find them through craigslist by looking for folks selling hay and such. Usually they'll know where the processors are.

Because it's legal to process poultry on your own farm and expensive to operate a USDA certified processing plant, it's hard to find processors who will handle the smaller animals. Our nearest one is an hour and a half away, in an area where deer, cow, and pig processors are on every other block (figuratively speaking).

If you're willing to actually do some of the work yourself, you could probably find folks willing to help. Every time I mention that I'm considering eating some of my excess drakes, three or four people will pipe up and tell me they'll be glad to help because they used to do it way back when and they miss having fresh meat available. Of course, that means you have to be willing to do some of it, and it's not a fun process to say the least.

Good luck. Wish I could be more help!

 

[Baybrio]

If you have not already, try asking in the meat birds section of the BYC forums..

 

[secretquail]

contact a hunting club. I'm sure they could get you in touch with someone willing to do it.

 

[TLWR]

I know there is a place in Loxley on 59 that does deer processing - that's about 300 miles from Decatur. I don't know the name of the place, nor do I know if they do other animals either.

Ok - found it - http://carlspremiumdeerprocessing.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-home.cgi?d=carls-premium-deer-processing
Might be worth a call to see if they do ducks as well and if not, maybe he can suggest somebody closer to you that might.

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
Ducks are hard to process for the amount of meat produced. Customers tend to back off when they learn the cost per bird and it is so time consuming that deer processors don't like to do them during deer season when they can make more money for less work on deer. if you are willing to give up the skin (the best part of a duck in my opinion) the time required/bird drops down to be more like chicken. The big problem is the pin feathers, because of the number of molts/year there are very limited windows where ducks won't have a crop of pin feathers about to break out. pin feathers can be removed one at a time using needle nosed pliers or by the waxing process which takes about the amount of time required for the plucking process. Why not give it a shot yourself on one or two birds?

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
How many ducks do you have to butcher?
Joe

 

[AuroraSprings]

I should clarify that I can't possibly do it myself. I just got to where I can give the goats their vaccinations without having a panic attack. Everyone says I should've gone to vet school but I can't stand sharp objects nor anything that causes pain to animals (would be easier on people actually). Now having said that, I don't mind watching, but I would never be able to do it. We would indeed be fine with the ducks being skinned. We've called all the "butchers" listed around here. We begged on Craigslist, with no response. I've also gone out to some of my "backwoods" family to get them to ask around for someone out there to do it, but still no luck. I have so far been referred to one facility in Smith's Grove, KY. I would love to find someone closer, but I be stuck with drive 4 hours. Maybe I schedule it around a goat sale or show to justify the gas money. I would only have 10-15 ducks and maybe 25-35 rabbits to do at any one time. And that's the upper limits of what I expect to need to process.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Ya need to stop breeding animals if you can't do it yourself. JMO

 

[Firemenlovechicks]

Ya need to stop breeding animals if you can't do it yourself. JMO

Ditto........​