finishing out meat ducks

[cowpie]

we brought the pekins in from free range area and would like to "finish" them for meat ducks,any ideas on what a good feed program will do this?They were left over 4-H projects from August that were on a high protein feed,we live on a grain farm and have wheat,corn,oats,soybeans,and good hay available.Laying hens i know about ...meat ducks not so much!!!

 

[vfem]

I treated my extra drakes with a lot more corn then anything else to build the fat. I don't know if that is the general best option or not, but it worked out fine for us.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

How much are these pekins weighing right now, and what are their ages? I concur with Vfem that corn would help add more fat. I love to saute pekin duck breasts skin side down, and then use the rendered fat for stir frying vegetables and/or potatoes.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

If the bodies were big enough, I wouldn't worry about fattening, but I have to agree that duck greese is loaded down with flavor. If you finish them, I would think it would be more to clean out their systems of bugs and grass, so they don't taste so very wild, but even that, doesn't offend me.

 

[cowpie]

The ducks were born June 21 and weight ,I'm guessing about 9 lbs.When the were 4H animals they were on very pricey feed,I didn't if I could butcher them right off the pasture or feed them for a few weeks some grains.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

So, they are six months old and probably won't get any bigger. If it were up to me, I might try slaughtering just one and see how it tastes. I would probably saute the breast and crock pot the legs and thighs instead of roasting due to their age.

 

[cowpie]

I think we might try one!What is the best way to do this plucking or skinning?It is kind of cold here in northeast Ohio to set up a pluckingday.

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

If you skin, save some of the fat to fry with. I prefer plucking and waxing myself, but have skinned a bird on occasion.

 

[pardygwyn]

I'm lazy and skin. Pull out a fold of breast skin, poke the side of that fold with your knife tip to get an opening you can fit your fingers inside of, then start peeling the skin away with your fingers. Easy as pie, and it makes it easier to figure out where to cut when you're removing the vent. Since both guts and skin stay in one piece and there aren't little bits to avoid losing somewhere unfortunate, you can just do the whole thing on your cutting board in your kitchen.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I vote for dry plucking. I am offended by the smell of scalding and I don't like that wet mess. Besides I keep the down for later use. And our friend is right. That skin is going to give you an awesome flavor.