Give Me Your Input On How To Butcher Pekin Ducks

[Huny]

So you all that did it, can you let me know?

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

I know that the target date for slaughter for all commercial Pekin ducklings (this would be what you get from any hatchery) is exactly 7 weeks 2 days. No more, no less.

It all has to do with the pinfeather condition.

Last year the pair that we had left over from the previous season produced a bunch of eggs and we incubated them. They hatched like popcorn.

We let them get entirely to large before slaughter. Twelve weeks I think. It was a pinfeather cluster mess. Took four of us six hours to do 12 of them.

Roasted, grilled (in pieces), slow cookered, or on the smoker grill - absolutely delicious. We liked it better than the younger typical age duckling but have to wonder if it was worth all the work.

We used duck wax and without it the job would have taken days.

The two we have done on the smoker grill could have been pictured for the cover of a cooking magazine. Just beautiful.

 

[Huny]

Would the Duck be good eats without the skin? I have thought about skinning them, because it sounds like I am missing the opportunity to miss the pinfeathers.

 

[jayufa]

I realize that this is an old thread, but since I still used it today, maybe I can help someone else. We saw a number of different methods and then at the last minute switched to one that worked beautifully for us, and required much less "stuff" than some of these suggestions (especially the duct tape one sounds really cumbersome and unnecessarily draws out the process.) We slaughtered a 4/5 month old drake and it went very quickly and smoothly. We came in and grabbed him by the wings down at the base of the body - this gave is a very easy grip on him and control of his wings. He immediately stopped struggling in this position and calmed down. We then had a noose knot ready on some pea cord (something thicker would have been better, but its what we had around). The noose was a very easy knot to learn, and we just learned it in 2 minutes on youtube beforehand. So this method only requires one person. Grab the wings, slip and tighten the noose around the neck, then throw the extra cord down and step on it with your right foot. Then place the neck on the chopping block and cut the head of quickly. We really liked this method because we did not have to guess whether we had done it right or not - one quick swing and it was apparent we had done it all quickly and without mistakes. I then simply held him until he stopped convulsing, and then hung him up for 5 minutes or so to bleed. I understand that the cone method is a preferred one among many, but I personally think this way is superior - for one you don't need anything other than a hatchet and some rope, for the other it gives you all the control you need over the bird without freaking it out. To me at least it looks like the birds getting stuffed down the cone are fairly distraught, and then you have to slash the throat and make sure you hit the artery. I think that if you're skilled and have a very sharp knife, then great, but for someone doing their first slaughter, like us, that it makes sense to have the most control possible over the bird and get it all done in the shortest amount of time. I think this method is the best i've seen for both those things. Thanks for the suggestions.
Also, we did not have a whole lot of trouble with the feathers after the hot water bath - we just burned the pinfeathers off with a lighter (though a little torch would have been much better). And to Huny, I think you'd really be missing out without the skin!

 

[Buster52]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=250526

I developed the above for big turkeys, but I now use this system for all birds, regardless of size. Just so easy to do that noose around the feet, pull it to the right height and tie it off, grap the head with one hand and pull it over the block, and chop with the other.

I no longer bother with the rope for scalding. Just the killing and bleeding out.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

I skinned was WAAAAAAY easier!

 

[CurrentWave]

The Mother/Daughter method:
We cull our ducks just like we do the chickens using road cones from Home Depot.

We use a simple frame to hang the cones in upside down on, with the tapered ends cut off about 4" giving a bigger opening.

Next we tie the feet of the duck together, and place the ducks in the cones with their head popping out the cut end.

We have a bucket underneath each cone-head - and let them hang for a few seconds so the blood is in the head region.

With a paper towel we grab the head with one hand and cut their throat with the other. You really only 'see' their necks. Let them bleed out.

We then toss them into some soapy water, and give them a good clean by agitating. This helps them loose their water tightness.

Then it's off to dip them in the boiling water, using up and down action to make sure the water gets all around the feathers.

We pluck ours - and cut them up the breast bone for easier clean out.

Duck is Delicious!