What age to butcher muscovie ducks for meat

[Sweetlilbaby]

I hatched out a clutch of muscovies from my ducks (well they hatched them). Seems all but one is male so the female i'll keep the males i plan to butcher for meat. What is the best age to butcher them for meat?

 

[sandspoultry]

I go by the way the ducks are filling out more than the age of them, when the breast is filled out they are ready.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

I go by the way the ducks are filling out more than the age of them, when the breast is filled out they are ready.

hmmm, well they are very young still LOL. I have no idea what age they even get to being full grown. It's my first time raising them. I was hoping for an idea of how much food i'm going to be putting into them before getting anything. almost starting to seem not to be worth it to ever let them hatch again

 

[jdywntr]

It depends on how big you want them to be. They grow slower than other duck breeds and won't reach their full potential until 6 months or older. They also feather in a little slower. Typically, you want to process ducks after they are fully feathered in which in muscovy is 14-16 weeks. I've butchered both full grown, 7 month old and 16 week old muscovy. The younger females that I did were almost not worth it. The breast is maybe 1/4 lb, the males breast probably 1/2 lb.

When I did the 7 month olds, all drakes, the breasts were at least 1.5 lbs each. The same with the year old, though he is still in the freezer.

They take alot more food to get to a good butchering size, in my opinion. When I butchered the 16 week olds, I also butchered a same aged Pekin drake. The muscovy were ALOT bigger than the pekin but he could have been processed at 8 weeks.

I am currently raising some pekin females with a muscovy drake to see how quick the crosses will grow. One female started laying a few weeks ago, so I'll have to see.

 

[Sweetlilbaby]

It depends on how big you want them to be. They grow slower than other duck breeds and won't reach their full potential until 6 months or older. They also feather in a little slower. Typically, you want to process ducks after they are fully feathered in which in muscovy is 14-16 weeks. I've butchered both full grown, 7 month old and 16 week old muscovy. The younger females that I did were almost not worth it. The breast is maybe 1/4 lb, the males breast probably 1/2 lb.

When I did the 7 month olds, all drakes, the breasts were at least 1.5 lbs each. The same with the year old, though he is still in the freezer.

They take alot more food to get to a good butchering size, in my opinion. When I butchered the 16 week olds, I also butchered a same aged Pekin drake. The muscovy were ALOT bigger than the pekin but he could have been processed at 8 weeks.

I am currently raising some pekin females with a muscovy drake to see how quick the crosses will grow. One female started laying a few weeks ago, so I'll have to see.

I'm hoping mine get bigger then that even. My male muscovy is large even for a muscovy. Hoping the babies take after him.
I want them to be bigger and how tough the meat is isn't a big deal. I am using them to feed my dogs becasue i feed a raw diet to my dogs.
guessing waiting til next spring might be what i end up having to do in order to get a good amount of meat from them.