Getting ready to butcher some ducks.

[treldib]

But Mallards are so tiny...why not get larger, faster growing ducks like Pekins?

 

[ranchhand]

Meat Birds would be a better area, since it's Meat Birds, not Meat Chickens. Just PM a moderator and ask them to move it.

Meanwhile, I have no plans to butcher mine, but I hope you enjoy yours! Homegrown is far superior to what you get from most stores.

 

[greekbioguy]

what can you do this is the natural order of things.
i have heard that the chinese never bleed ducks because they say the blood has to stay in the bird .i have never tried it so cant be sure if this is good advice (some chinese guy told me this once).

 

[1duckychick]

 

[duckfat]

Quote:
Agree. This is more the pet duck section of the forum.

Processing ducks is very similar. Our first scald is at 160 degrees F. A little dish soap is added to break down the oils. Swirl them around for a minute or so, until the tail feathers easily pull out. Then they are rough plucked. A second tank contains a special duck wax at 165 degree F. We dip the partially denuded duck in the wax, and then into a cool bucket of water to harden. The duck may be dipped several times total into the wax to get a thicker coating. Then the wax is pulled off and recycled back into the wax pot. Use a kitchen sieve to filter the feathers out.

http://www.shopblendedwaxes.com/Juniors-Duck-Wax.html

 

[Ahab]

In the meat-birds section, duck posts tend to disappear, get ignored, or get co-opted by people who keep chickens but not ducks, and so answer unhelpfully (and doubtless unintentionally; why they can't simply remain silent is beyond understanding).

Maybe the answer is to split off the duck forum into a Pet Duck form, and a Duck forum.

I grew up on a farm, and live on a semi-retired one now, and have for many years associated primarily with people who produce food. I'm not especially interested in duck diapers, though I certainly don't condemn or disparage those who are. But I'm interested in feeding stratagems and breeding and housing and, yes, butchering and processing. And it seems illogical that a bird-specific forum should be so slanted against those traditional uses--far more than the various chicken forums.

 

[FenDruadin]

I do think the duck forums have grown enough that it might make sense to divide them out a bit--duck hatching forum, meat duck forum, etc.

I am personally in favor of harvesting male ducks for meat. I think it's a VERY humane way to handle excess drakes--they don't go to waste, and you know they've had a good life with you, versus what happens to birds in a commercial operation. I haven't done it personally, but I probably will eventually.

So I don't think there is anything *wrong* with posting about it here. I just know from experience that a lot of folks take it kinda hard, and it always ends up in a discussion like this one.

I like the "pet ducks" forum idea, though maybe we could just get in the habit of not opening threads about meat ducks if we find them offensive, and for meat duck posters to make it clear in the subject heading (which this one did). Maybe we could get together and draft guidelines and post them in a sticky at the top?

 

[duckfat]

I forgot to mention, but my preference is to leave the head on during the first scald. After the duck is rough plucked, the head is completely severed before dipping into the wax. After waxing, I take a little bit off the neck that had been a little cooked and give it to the dog. I tried leaving the head on during the waxing process, but there was nothing gained by waxing it. The heads are often given to the dog too, as are the feet.

 

[duckfat]

Quote:
We also harvest our spent pekin layers. The breast meat is recovered for sausage, etc. while the rest goes for dog food. Helps keep the cost of a LGD down.

 

[gofasterstripe]

No offence to you for butchering your ducks, its a way of life for people. My ducks are pets and I would never eat them. If I see topics headed BUTCHERING DUCKS I tend not to answer them, but I do come and read as it always turns into a riot in the duck section. I find the best thing to do it just not answer then in the end the go look somewhere else if they find no one is going to answer them. Maybe thats an idea to kick out there. Just let them holler down the corridor and leave the doors shut so they think no one is home, then they might just go away.