Muscovy - How long to reach market weights

[anthonyjames]

I am looking to add Muscovy ducks to my enterprise and I have been having issues finding info on them.

I am looking for Feed to Weight Conversions
How long to get to market weight
Best age to process for ease. (like Pekings they say 7 weeks, 12 weeks and then one other time)

The hardest part is finding a processor that can do it for less than $10 a duck here in Wisconsin.

Thanks for any help or guidance you can share.

Anthony James
Yum Yum Farms
www.yumyumfarms.com

 

[HEChicken]

I don't have exact numbers for you and have raised muscovies for only a year myself so keep all that in mind.

Last July when my muscovies were 6 weeks old, a fox came in and attacked my flock and two of the ducks were fatally wounded. Not wanting their lives to be in vain, I processed them and was stunned to find at only 6 weeks old, they were as big as an adult chicken. (The remaining birds subsequently got even bigger and are now adults themselves and huge). So - I would say that at 8 weeks you could have a decent amount of meat for it to be a worthwhile enterprise.

As for processing, I don't think you'll make any money paying someone else to do it for you. Far better to do it yourself. After the initial investment of cone and plucker, your profit margin will be all yours.

 

[jdywntr]

Muscovy are processed at an older age than Pekin. Pekin are processed between 7 and 12 weeks because at that age they are fully feathered and not full of pin feathers. Muscovy take 14-16 weeks to fully feather. Processing a duck is MUCH more difficult than a chicken, especially a muscovy drake. Ducks are WAY more feathers and down than chickens.

The longer they grow, the bigger they are. I processed some drakes at 5-6 months and each breast was about 1.5-2 lbs. I recently processed some 4 month old drakes, each breast was about 1 lb. Females will of course be considerably smaller.

If you aren't going to process them yourself, I would first find a facility that will do it before you get into meat ducks. Many processors won't do ducks due to the feathering.

I don't track feed conversion but Muscovy are supposed to have a very good rate and they also have a good meat:bone ratio.