To Cook or Sell, Opinions Please

[americanchicks]

Hey All!
WHY ARE MUSCOVY SO DARN CUTE! I only wanted a flock of about 8. Right now I have 16, not including the 6 ducklings. So I am am thinning the flock. I have a 18 week old drake that I am planning on butchering on Wed. I have another drake however that is a year and a half that Im trying to decided to sell or take him to freezer camp. I have read that older drakes are stronger tasting and not that good, is this true? As well as a few females. They are around 2 but kinda small. Not sure how much meat I will get off them.

So all in all I am going for sure butcher the young drake, will be my first time doing muscovy (have done Pekin) Question is should I bother doing any more? Or should I just sell my older drake and the older ducks.
Thanks

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Jpat has butchered ducks lets get his view on it.

 

[Jpat]

@Jpat has butchered ducks lets get his view on it.

Chickens are on sale at sobeys for 1.99 per pound... Ide sell them and go get a chicken to cook way less headache

iam not sure if youve done it before but if your going to pluck them, do research. people usualy scald them in hot water and dish soap to losen the feathers, then a wax like parafin to peel off the tiny feathers

the easiest thing to do it is to skin them, it takes no preperation and little skill. which means its good for me


Only thing i will say forsure is kill one at a time so you dont end up with more work than you want to do

 

[Miss Lydia]

I’d sell. No way I could eat one of my Muscovy ducks!

 

[americanchicks]

Chickens are on sale at sobeys for 1.99 per pound... Ide sell them and go get a chicken to cook way less headache

iam not sure if youve done it before but if your going to pluck them, do research. people usualy scald them in hot water and dish soap to losen the feathers, then a wax like parafin to peel off the tiny feathers

the easiest thing to do it is to skin them, it takes no preperation and little skill. which means its good for me


Only thing i will say forsure is kill one at a time so you dont end up with more work than you want to do

I have done pekin before and that is what I did, boiling water then wax. Way more time consuming then doing chickens. And yes one duck at a time. I have also skinned chickens and ducks before. The processing part dose not bother me. Its nice having meat in the fridge that you know where it comes from. And every bird we have had as been delicious and very much appreciated. I was told that Muscovy is very good and worth a try. Just want to know if they are all they are quacked up to be. But it is hard to eat something that wags its tail when it sees you.

 

[mountainchickens]

I would sell them. Especially if they're friendly.

 

[sourland]

I’d sell. No way I could eat one of my Muscovy ducks!

But they taste so good.

 

[Jpat]

But they taste so good.

You can taste them while their alive and feathered too... If its flavours your after!

 

[americanchicks]

Hey all so update! I decided to process him myself. Was planning to sell him at auction where her prob would of went for food anyway. I couldn't dispatch him, had my hubby do that part. Well now I have eaten Muscovy. And the verdict is, its not that great. I got two lovely pieces of breast meat. It looked so much like venison i cooked it like I do back strap. The batteries on my wireless meat thermometer died so it got over cooked a litte. The flavor was that of strong duck the texture however was more like beef or pork. It was a bit tough but not dry I left the skin on and my recipe has it wrapped in bacon. The skin itself was very rubbery however.

All in all i dont think the meat you get from the muscovy is worth it, at least to me. Now I know im just keeping mine for eggs and cuteness.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Was this the young one or the 2 yr old?