What is the Meatiest Duck Breed?

[3KillerBs]

We love to eat duck and have been planning to get ducks after we've got our chickens sorted out (with no idea whatsoever what breed), but our most recent venture into the rare treat of buying duck from the store reminded us that that most of the weight we pay ridiculous per pound prices for is grease and bone. The little leg quarters aren't so bad, but it's almost impossible to actually get a slice of breast meat off between the skin and the bone from those frozen store-bought ducklings.

I know that Pekins get big fast, but is there a particular type of duck that has a higher meat to bone ratio than others?

 

[sourland]

Muscovies tend to be slow maturing, but to me are the best tasting duck. They are far less fatty than the mallard derived breeds that I have eaten. Hens are not particularly large, but drakes are sizeable.

 

[Pollo Blanco]

I thought that there was an actual meat duck section somewhere on the board.

But, I do recall that Runners are supposed to be less greasy than some other breeds.

 

[3KillerBs]

I thought that there was an actual meat duck section somewhere on the board.

But, I do recall that Runners are supposed to be less greasy than some other breeds.

It's not so much the fat as the boniness.

 

[Trisseh]

Depends on what kind of a timeline you’re on for butchering, I would think. Pekins are the Cornish x of the duck world, but there are plenty of other heavyweight breeds that are a good option if you don’t mind growing them a bit longer. That was one of the selling points for me on the silver appleyards. They’re a good dual purpose breed and grow a bit slower. Rouens would be another option, depending on what breeding lines you may have access to. Exhibition tend to be on the larger side, from what I’ve been told. Haven’t had them so can’t speak from experience.

 

[Trisseh]

Or if you really want to go crazy, go take a look around for info about mule/mulard/moulard ducks. They’re a Muscovy/mallard derived hybrid. There was definitely a thread or two on here from some years back about them. The biggest drawback is that the fertility of the cross is low, and it’s a terminal cross, but the meat quality is high, for those birds that do hatch.

 

[3KillerBs]

Depends on what kind of a timeline you’re on for butchering, I would think. Pekins are the Cornish x of the duck world, but there are plenty of other heavyweight breeds that are a good option if you don’t mind growing them a bit longer. That was one of the selling points for me on the silver appleyards. They’re a good dual purpose breed and grow a bit slower. Rouens would be another option, depending on what breeding lines you may have access to. Exhibition tend to be on the larger side, from what I’ve been told. Haven’t had them so can’t speak from experience.

I'm sure that the frozen ducklings I bought at the grocery store were Pekin.

If I knew I'd get more meat on the bones I'd probably be willing to trade speed for meatiness.

 

[Trisseh]

You’ll still have a relatively high bone to meat ratio if you have healthy ducks; their bone structure needs to be sound enough to carry all that muscling around. Lol. That being said, I’m sure you could manage Pekins differently for them to not pack the pounds (or more so the fat!) on quite so quickly.

I do really like the appleyards though. My one hen, even with laying an egg almost every day last year, wound up on the pudgy side come fall/molt.

 

[Barnyard Breeder]

I would definitely go for Muscovy ducks. Definitely the biggest and meatier less fatty and greasy and easiest to raise by far. My Muscovy males have killed minks and severely injured fox and I’ve never lost a male females are much smaller and a little more prone. They are also way way way less messy than anything like a pekin

 

[3KillerBs]

I would definitely go for Muscovy ducks. Definitely the biggest and meatier less fatty and greasy and easiest to raise by far. My Muscovy males have killed minks and severely injured fox and I’ve never lost a male females are much smaller and a little more prone. They are also way way way less messy than anything like a pekin

That's good information.

I was really shocked that I couldn't get two slices off the breast of those grocery-store ducks. The first one I tried to make slices, the second one I just fileted out the entire breast for a serving -- but it took both sides of the duck to make one decent portion.