Processing Muscovy ducks

[sandspoultry]

Quote:

What we do is mark the eggs that we let sit in the nest with a sharpie, Just draw a line around the center of the egg, that way you can see it easy no matter which way the egg is turned. There are quite a few ducks running around here (just off the top of my head 20 females and about 5 or 6 drakes) When a hen goes broody and starts to sit we gather about 20 eggs from the others and mark them in the opposite direction (a line from top to bottom) take the old eggs out, add the new, 35 days later knee deep in ducklings.

Steve in NC

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
We keep our breeders and process or sell all the others.

Steve in NC

 

[Jessika]

OK...I have a dumb question...do you free range ducks? My kids had asked recently and you would know the answer.

 

[cjeanean]

You can free range them if you want....don't know the details, but I know they can be free ranged.

 

[sandspoultry]

Yes you can free range them but a thing to consider is ducks aren't very fast and the heavy breeds can barely get off the ground, they make easy pickings for predators.

Steve in NC

 

[Jessika]

Thanks...I will tell the kids...lol

and now I know...

 

[North Town Duck]

Steve,

Bruce from N. Town Ducks out of NH. first time I have processed ducks. I have some extra females from last year (1 year old) and a few females and males from this past summer.

How old of a duck would you process for meat? When does it become to old, to tough, to strong a flavor ( if that ever does become and issue).

Do you cook them in different ways do to their age?

Far as last summers birds, I read you slaughtered at 5-6 months old, is that about normal? How big should they be to process?

I also have Muscovy ducks, thinking of adding more white birds to the mix also versus my dark and chocolates. Thanks for any input.

 

[jdywntr]

Steve,

Bruce from N. Town Ducks out of NH. first time I have processed ducks. I have some extra females from last year (1 year old) and a few females and males from this past summer.

How old of a duck would you process for meat? When does it become to old, to tough, to strong a flavor ( if that ever does become and issue).

Do you cook them in different ways do to their age?

Far as last summers birds, I read you slaughtered at 5-6 months old, is that about normal? How big should they be to process?

I also have Muscovy ducks, thinking of adding more white birds to the mix also versus my dark and chocolates. Thanks for any input.

Hi and

This is a VERY old thread so you may not get responces from the original posters.

You can process ducks of any age. The oldest I have processed were about 7-8 month old muscovy. They were still tender enough to cook the breast like a steak. I don't know for sure if they will be tougher or have a stronger flavor when over a year.

Muscovy take a little longer to grow out than other ducks. Slaughtering at 14-16 weeks is common as they are fully feathered at that point. Size depends on the lineage. Some lines are very big, drakes can get 15 lbs or more. I think typically an adult drake will weigh 7-10 lbs dressed, females of course much smaller. Again, you can process at any age but at 14-16 weeks they shouldn't have pin feathers and then older than that until before they molt will make things easier.

I'm thinking of adding some French White production muscovy to mine. The only difference in feather color is how the dressed carcass will look but the french lines are supossed to get really big.

 

[North Town Duck]

Hello,

I am just getting into this thread stuff? when I got back on I then realized how long ago the original person wrote. I do thank you for getting back to me, and giving me some information. Size from male to females is big, my males are for sure two if not almost three times my females. I didn't know that the whites were bigger, but I was thinking about how the final product will look.

When you said you cooked it like a steak, fried, grilled anyway better? I know if it is not a good eating experience for the rest of the family then I am going to be eating a lot of duck by myself. I order duck all the time, but have actually never cooked one.

Thanks again
Bruce

 

[jdywntr]

Hey, no problem. It happens alot when you search for specifics.

First, muscovy isn't like other duck, its more like beef or veal. I've only had other duck, Pekin, once and don't recall it well.

Anyway, I process and skin my ducks because it is just so much quicker and muscovy don't have a lot of fat anyway. I part them out. In the age and size drakes I've processed, each breast has been about 1.5 lbs, maybe a bit more. Because they are very thick, I sear them on the stove and finish them in the oven. I cook them to medium-rare to medium, seasoned with salt and pepper. I've grilled them, which is good but I recently moved from FL and it was just too hot to stand outside with a grill.
My husband likes muscovy meat so I don't have to worry about that. It is very similar to steak when cooked this way. I usually slow cook the leg quarters and make chili, stew or something like that with them.

I've only roasted 1, the first because I plucked it and it was for Thanksgiving. Frankly, I prefer it cooked the other way.

Not all white muscovy are larger. It has to be the french production lines. My one drake is huge compared to his girls. I'm currently growing out 13 ducklings (5 F 8 M) and have another that went broody about 2 weeks ago.

Not a problem,
Judy

PS Its always best to put these types of questions here, in the meat bird section. TONS of great info in the duck section but most have pets and don't like to think about eating their birds.