So, why cornish x and not pekins?

[Red Maple Farms]

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Why do you think pekins are a better meat option? The average american only eats 0.35 pounds of duck each year, where as the average american will eat over 60 pounds of chicken in that same time. The feed coversion ratio for a duck is 2.7 at best, where I believe a cornish cross is about 2.0. A pekin duck has a significant layer of fat under the skin which many people don't appreciate. Chicken is mostly a white meat, where as duck is red. Furthermore, processing costs for a duck is about three times higher than for a chicken.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
Why do you think pekins are a better meat option? The average american only eats 0.35 pounds of duck each year, where as the average american will eat over 60 pounds of chicken in that same time. The feed coversion ratio for a duck is 2.7 at best, where I believe a cornish cross is about 2.0. A pekin duck has a significant layer of fat under the skin which many people don't appreciate. Chicken is mostly a white meat, where as duck is red. Furthermore, processing costs for a duck is about three times higher than for a chicken.

that too.

 

[Bettacreek]

Quote:
Why do you think pekins are a better meat option? The average american only eats 0.35 pounds of duck each year, where as the average american will eat over 60 pounds of chicken in that same time. The feed coversion ratio for a duck is 2.7 at best, where I believe a cornish cross is about 2.0. A pekin duck has a significant layer of fat under the skin which many people don't appreciate. Chicken is mostly a white meat, where as duck is red. Furthermore, processing costs for a duck is about three times higher than for a chicken.

I'm just guessing here, these are my first meaties, but the pekins seem to be a better option, from my limited experience. First, they're easier to grow out into breeders, you don't have to monitor their feed in fear of them having heart attacks or going cripple. Really, that's a lot of time or mechanics that you can save yourself/your company.
I'm not asking about what Americans eat, I'm wondering why, especially in home grown flocks.

 

[JoAnn_WI_4-H_Mom]

Comments about flavor/texture preference and what America eats are legitimate I think, as you asked Why / Why Not and part of the answer is preference. "America" statistically currently has a personal preference for white-meat chicken, which is not red-meat duck. Most of us raise what we like to eat.

Individuals may vary, and I assume you are more interested in those individual reasons.

At our house:
1) taste/texture/smell of duck is not as appetizing as chicken to 3 of 4 occupants
2) messier and they make puddle holes in the lawn
3) I would make pets out of all of them and we'd have a population explosion.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

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What you say is true, however if you ever try to market your ducks then you may have trouble finding customers for your birds.

If you raise ducks for meat, be aware that though they may be easier to bring to market weight than cornish cross, you will find it more difficult and costly to process ducks. When we process our ducks, first we scald and do a rough pluck. Then we dip the duck into hot wax and peel. From there the few remaining pin feathers are removed manually. This, and the high feed conversion ratio, are reasons why ducks in the grocery store are expensive.

If you grow them out into breeders, then you have to remember that you need one unproductive male per five hens. For chickens, a rooster can service many more hens than a drake. The food costs for the males add up over time. Furthermore, instead of 21 days of incubation for a chicken, it takes 28 days for a pekin. These are reasons why ducklings generally cost more than chicks.

 

[Bettacreek]

Quote:
What you say is true, however if you ever try to market your ducks then you may have trouble finding customers for your birds.

If you raise ducks for meat, be aware that though they may be easier to bring to market weight than cornish cross, you will find it more difficult and costly to process ducks. When we process our ducks, first we scald and do a rough pluck. Then we dip the duck into hot wax and peel. From there the few remaining pin feathers are removed manually. This, and the high feed conversion ratio, are reasons why ducks in the grocery store are expensive.

If you grow them out into breeders, then you have to remember that you need one unproductive male per five hens. For chickens, a rooster can service many more hens than a drake. The food costs for the males add up over time. Furthermore, instead of 21 days of incubation for a chicken, it takes 28 days for a pekin. These are reasons why ducklings generally cost more than chicks.

Alright, thank you! I guess it does make sense now. Are they really that hard to pluck?! A friend has a plucker that we'll be using, but I didn't realise that they'd need to be double-plucked, lol. Are scovies the same way? I thought scovies were red meat, but I swore that pekins were "white" meat.
I personally am thinking about my own needs, not really about marketing duck/chicken meat, so I'm not too worried about finding customers. In a household of seven, they'll get eaten in a hurry, not to mention that we can slow/halt production by selling live ducklings/ducks, or selling/eating eggs if it comes to that. It just made me wonder why they're not marketed more.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

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You don't have to double pluck (wax), but if you want a clean carcass you may be spending a lot of time removing the pin feathers manually.

Finding a market for your duck eggs could possibly be difficult, depending on your customer base.

Here is a picture of sauted peking duck breast:

 

[blueskylen]

i don't think that most of us think about Duck as an every day meal - expensive in the store. as for raising them - how many dressed pounds out of a peking duck do you get? I've only had a couple of ducks (pets) in my life and wouldn't mind raising a few, but also have never really eaten any - except for chinese food. If I had a good recipe, might give it a try.

That sure looks tasty!!

 

[Red Maple Farms]

Here is a link to Maple Leaf Farm's recipes:

http://www.mapleleaffarms.com/48

I once bought a 6 pound Maple Leaf Farms pekin duck in Wal*Mart. Here is what I got:

4.66 pound duck carcass
0.55 pound packet orange sauce
0.47 pound giblets (neck, heart, liver, gizzard)
0.16 pound water
0.16 pound shrink bag


Many of our pekin ducks dress out the same as Maple Leaf Farms. To figure the ball park carcass weight, I multipy the live duck weight by 0.7.

 

[dancingbear]

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If your friend has a tub-style plucker, you probably won't have to spend any time plucking pin feathers. Just be sure you get a proper scald, and leave it in the plucker until the carcass is clean. It may take longer than a chicken, but will still be a lot faster than waxing/picking by hand.

As far as why so many people prefer Cornish X over duck, IDK. The important question is what YOU like. Raise whatever you prefer. I like duck, and could eat a lot of it, my DH doesn't care for it. So we raise chickens. I do want to try muscovey, though, as they're supposed to be leaner. He says duck is too greasy.

A friend of mine likes to read recipes to me out of one of her "foodie" cook books. (which is hilarious because she hardly ever cooks) The author said that she'd been told that duck fat is better than butter, so she tried it, and said, "You know what? It is." Duck fat and goose fat are both supposed to be superior for making pie crusts and pastries, too.


My only concern is whether I'll actually be able to kill my ducks. They're just so darned cute! And funny. Not that chickens don't have their charm, but....