When to sell ducklings?

[ohiofarmgirl]

the reality of having.. gulp.... 22 ducklings (from two mommas) is starting to settle in... they are getting bigger and bigger!

while they are cute as bugs and i'd love to have an armada of ducks on my pond.. some have to go. some will "come to dinner" in the fall, we'll keep some, but my question is:

at what age should i sell some of these Muscovy ducklings?

they are almost a month old now and i was going to put an ad on craigslist. should i wait until they are completely feathered out? sell and advise the new owners to brood them?

help!
- drowning in a sea of ducklings..... not a bad way to go come to think of it the cuteness is amazing!

 

[Haley_LinckHillPoultry]

They're at the perfect age to be sold. Good luck!

 

[streemers]

you can post them any time!

 

[Randy]

Yes go ahead and advertise now. If someone wants older ducks they can check back with you later.

 

[goosedragon]

And for those "going to the table" you may not want to wait until fall. The stage of feather growth makes a big difference in how easy it is to process ducks. You want to hit them when they have a full set of feathers because when they are producing new feathers they are a chore to pluck.The so called pin feathers are new feathers that have broken out of the skin but are too small for easy plucking (and to big and tough for easy eating) To remove pinfeathers using a pair of needle-nose pliers can easily take as much time and effort as the normal plucking that removes 95% (estimate) of the feathers. Usually they are producing new feathers in the fall getting ready for the cold weather to come.... Many people end up skinning the duck if they found they have waited too long. Besides once they get to about full size they just become tougher to eat as they age. Just a suggestion to keep in mind.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks! all good info


since there is just two of us we like to "store on the hoof" and generally do our harvest in stages. keeps space in the freezer and the groceries fresh.

is there an optimum age? or just go by the feathers?

the only thing about skinning is that you loose all the duckfat - but thats ok... i can always use lard
;-)

 

[goosedragon]

Quote:
The optimum age for pekins is 9-10 weeks But Muscovies are a different breed of duck!. We usually went by feather condition since we had ducks of all ages running around and didn't try to keep track of birthdays or ages...
If its the duck fat you want the rough plucked skins can be rendered down like making lard from pork trimmings. I personally think the nice browned crispy skin is the best part of any duck.
If you "store on the hoof" winter isn't a bad time to do a duck since they aren't usually producing a bunch of new feathers like they sometimes do in the fall.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

super!

winter is also good for the harvest b/c we can chill and hang in the garage.

i have to say tho - even with my volatile relationship with the gander... neither one of us could cowboy up to harvest any of the geese! they are always lookin' at you... yikes!

thanks for the tips