Pin feathers at 15 weeks??

[redsoxs]

Hi - I'm pretty new to the duck world. So far it has been great. My only surprise is how much of a mess they can make! Anyway, I have some pekins that are ready for processing...or past processing time...or in between processing times???? I just don't know. I've read lots of posts on here about the window of time for best processing in terms of not having a lot of pin feathers. Mine are about 15 weeks? Should I process pretty soon here or wait a little longer so I don't have a lot of pin feathers to contend with?

 

[RubberDuckee]

I apologize for my ignorance... I understand that this may be a stupid question...

But, when people eat ducks, are the ducks usually less than a year old? What is the typical age for duck slaughter?

I guess I just always thought that the ducks were over a year old before they were eaten...

 

[redsoxs]

I'm new to ducks as I mentioned but I understand some of the fast growing breeds - like pekins - achieve a nice 6-7 pound live weight in as little as 7 weeks. I know mine are over that. It's just that I don't want to butcher if this is a bad pin feather time.