Rouen Ducks?

[Tiffrz-N-Kidz]

We raised a passel of these and since quite a few turned out to be drakes I am thinking that roast duck might make a nice holiday meal.

I have a place nearby that will 'do the deed' I just wondered how old they should be before they are ready? These were hatched in July.

 

[CMV]

Unfortunately, Rouens are slow to mature meaning they grow quickly skeletally, but then take a while to fill out weight-wise. You could have them for the holidays, but they would be very scrawny. If you wait until 6-8 months old they will have put on enough weight to be a decent, light meal.

 

[duckielover707]

Terrible! My Rouen's are my babies, NEVER a meal! just sayin.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

I agree with CMV, though I think you could have them ready sooner if you put them on a high calorie feed. How old are they now?

They were Julia Child's favorite meal, Rouen ducks. Her biography is full of passages about the joys of cooking a Rouen a hundred different ways from Sunday. It made me think about raising a few, just to make Julia proud.

We don't all keep these animals for the same reasons, and while some of us may cringe at the idea of eating a duck, many of us also cringe at the idea of hugging one. Let's try not to judge.

 

[Oregon Blues]

OK, ducklover707. I promise not to eat your pet ducks.

Pekins are butchered at 8 weeks. Appleyards take about 2 weeks additional.

I don't know about Rouens, but I suggest that you do the butchering when they are fully feathered. They are a lot of work to clean if you butcher when they have pin feathers. So basically, as soon as they look moderately close to adult size and as soon after as you can't feel pin feathers on the breast.

If tiffrz hasn't butchered those ducks by now, they are going to be tough.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Incidently, Ducklover, the meat bird section probably isn't the place for you to be critical of carnivores. This isn't your best audience, here.

 

[Noah Darco]

Unfortunately, Rouens are slow to mature meaning they grow quickly skeletally, but then take a while to fill out weight-wise. You could have them for the holidays, but they would be very scrawny. If you wait until 6-8 months old they will have put on enough weight to be a decent, light meal.

We butchered a couple of 8-week-old Rouen drakes on Wednesday. We were aiming for 7 weeks based on Dave Holderread's advice, but life got in the way last week. Dressed weight was just under 3 pounds. We were disappointed with the weight, but the sample I got from the cook this morning tasted great!

After further reading and consideration, we are probably going to wait until the rest of our meat Rouens are 6-8 months old. Does anyone else have any experience finding the ideal age to butcher home-grown, pastured Rouens?

edited by staff

 

[Noah Darco]

Dinner tonight was one of the 8-week-old Rouens, and a 4-month-old one that we butchered the same day. My wife roasted them. Both were tasty. The younger one was more juicy and had a better flavor to boot. It was, in fact, one of the yummiest birds I have ever had the privilege of eating. The older one was chewier and the meat was darker. But dressed weight was nearly identical.

We didn't raise the 4-month-old, so it's a poor control group.

We will probably butcher some more of ours at 12.5 weeks, or whenever we think the feathering has hit the next sweet spot for plucking.

edited by staff

 

[kbn1027]

My rouens are my fat little babies. One drake , three ducks. New to the duck scene but have had them since they were just a couple weeks old. They are now 4 months old. Proud momma