Plucking ducks..never done it...advice ?

[unionwirewoman]

I've processed quite a few chickens in my day...but I have heard ducks are different . I have 4 that need to go . Any advice on how to pluck them ? I'm assuming it's not the same as chickens because their feathers are water repellent . Thanks in advance for any info !

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Set aside extra, extra time that you will need to deal with all the down feathers.

 

[Bossroo]

Add a little liquid dish soap to the 150* water , then submerge, lift up, etc a few times untill the soap disolves oils and the hot water reaches the skin. Pluck like you would any chicken.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
estimate how long you think it will take to dress them, then double it

 

[sandspoultry]

I can tell you horror stories of plucking ducks.... Muscovy ducks.
We tried,
hot water
soap in the water
the wax method ( just picture a duck candle) it was that bad and messy!

So we just got a comfy chair and plucked and plucked and plucked. Now we skin them, it goes alot quicker but you loose alot of the fat and the duck tends to dry out when you cook them so you have to baste more often.

We just start at the neck and skin down the front to the vent. Then work it over the wings and back and clean the inside as you normally would.

Steve in NC

 

[unionwirewoman]

Thank you !!! Wasn't sure if I could just pluck them like chickens . I figured it wasn't going to be as easy as my hubby said ! We don't want to skin them....I wanted to ...hubby doesnt . Thanks for the advice again !

 

[scooter147]

Growing up we cleaned A LOT of Pekins.
We skinned some and plucked some. We dry plucked, no hot water or wax.

 

[becky3086]

I also dry plucked mine when we had them. Worked a lot better than scalding them.