Ducks for Meat

[LilyD]

What type of duck is best for meat birds?

 

[aduckstolemyheart]

I do not eat my ducks, but I have heard a lot of good things about Saxony meat. I think they call it one of the "Gourmet" meats in the duck world. A lot of people also love Pekin meat, and they grow pretty big.

I think most ducks are eaten, but those are the first two I would think of.

I sure hope my ducks don't ever read this.

 

[awesomefowl]

I'd raise Pekins on pasture for meat, because they grow fast, and if you have them on pasture they won't be as fatty. Muscovies are said to be the least fatty ducks; they are also a good meat duck. If you want a dual-purpose duck, Welsh Harliquins

can both lay and are fat enough to eat, as are Saxonies and Buff Orpington ducks.

 

[LilyD]

Thanks I haven't decided yet but I would love to have a pair so that I can hatch some eggs and eat some too. Right now I only have chickens and I don't have a separate area set up for ducks can they live in the coop with chickens or do they need their own type of food?

 

[Stormy Autumn]

Most people use Pekins, Muscovies, or Pekin-Muskovy crosses which are also called mule ducks. I've heard that mule ducks are really popular for meat, especially in Asia. They're supposed to be large, delicious, and not too fatty.

 

[sirchrisd]

I've read Rouns are. So I bought some. We'll see

 

[Oregon Blues]

Muscovies are excellent ducks for the table. Their meat is different than other ducks, but excellent flavor.

I like Appleyards for both meat and eggs. They are productive layers and make large dressed table birds.

Pekins tend to put on more fat than other breeds. As far as I am concerned, that just makes them more succulent. You can slow down their growth and cut back on their corn and they won't get as fat. Exercise helps with that, too. They are the fastest growing and probably have the best feed conversion ratio. The white feathered birds give a cleaner looking carcass. That doesn't matter to me, but it does to some people.

You can actually get Appleyards in white with the same meat and egg production as the Silver Appleyards

 

[TDM]

We tried saxony's, only to have them rejected by customers for their dark ingrown pin feathers and slender breast meat. Sounds like a local promotion effort. Is there someone on here trying to promote them for personal gain? Pekins and muscovies are the meat duck of choice due to flavor and feed conversion ratio.

 

[MysticalMom]

As a lover of duck... meat, and someone who for years has ordered it in restaurants etc, (yet has never been able to butcher one of her own

) I say:


For a regular duck meat I think Silver Appleyard hands down. It's known as the gourmet roasting duck and lives up to that name.

I prefer muscovy. Leaner. More like a red meat. Kind of like veal. Lovely.