How do YOU pluck your ducks?

[blue lotus]

We were planning to butcher some of our extra drakes, and I am wondering how you all go about plucking your ducks.

We have butchered chickens before, but not ducks, and want to make sure we don't make too much trouble for ourselves.

So, how do YOU pluck your ducks?

One method my hubby saw was dunking them in a bath of water with paraffin on top. But we don't know how much paraffin they used, etc.

Any help would be appreciated since we would like to deal with them this weekend. Thanks!

 

[DUCKGIRL89]

In "storys guilde to raising duck" (by dave holderread) it says to just pluck the feathers two or three at a time. Are you keeping the down? I would if I were you, you can make a really nice pillow with it.

 

[blue lotus]

I would like to, but I'm not sure if we will at this point.

Apparently hubby thought we were giving the ducks away, so I'm not sure he will want to keep the down after being convinced we were butchering them.

 

[zzGypsy]

here's a good discussion on plucking ducks, in the duck forum: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=577534

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
There are more duck people here, I imagine the poster will get more answers here. You can tell by the title what the post is about, if you find it offensive don't read it. Simple as that.

I agree.

Me also.

I've always found it much easier to dry pluck the bird until you can't get anymore off, then scald and remove the rest. You can clip the wing tips and the whole tail off with poultry scissors and this eliminates the larger, harder to pull feathers.

If you have a large number of ducks and a shop vac, I'd line your shop vac with a bag and just suck the dry feathers up as you pluck...leave the machine on and the hose fastened nearby and just feed it. This will contain all the down floating around and remove the feathers from your hands more easily and will keep them contained. Then you can place them in a pillow case and wash them, dry them and maybe use them for pillows, comforters, lap throws or even pet beds.

 

[spangledcornish]

we add a squirt of DAWN Dish soap to the scalding water, helps break through the oil and allows the water to get the the ducks feathers and helps with the picking

 

[blue lotus]

Great ideas! And thank you for the link, I will be checking it out.

I was hoping to find more duck owners that knew what I was talking about.

Y'all are awesome.


And for the record, we do have several birds (ducks and chickens) that our family is attached to, who will live out hopefully long, long lives with us.

I wasn't intending to offend anyone, I was just looking for information in what seemed like the most logical place.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Heads up, my thread was very similar to yours and it was moved to the meat bird section so you could get a lot of answers from there.

 

[goosedragon]

D'Angelo N Va. :

Heads up, my thread was very similar to yours and it was moved to the meat bird section so you could get a lot of answers from there.

NO WONDER I could not find your thread! One suggestion, if anyone uses the shop vac. method, I suggest that they have extra (or 2) filters on hand. If you intend to save the feathers, change filter beforehand because the old one will be full of dirt that you don’t want in your feathers/down. If you are just using to capture feathers/down for disposal, the down has a real tendency to clog the filter. Been there, done that.
If you are going to try to save the feathers/down find rodent proof storage. The feathers are high protein and very attractive to mice/rats for food and nests. ~gd​

 

[Beekissed]

I take the filter out for this method.