Wild vs Domestic

[CluckyJay]

Okay, is there a difference in the meat quality of a feral/wild Muscovy and those raised in captivity?

My buddy shoots the wild ones and she said they are very greasy. Maybe its an age thing?

 

[Denninmi]

If anything, I would think that domestically raised, with 24/7 access to all the high quality food they can eat, would be even more prone to being excessively fatty. Of course, the older they are, the more excess fat they would be inclined to put on, that "middle aged spread." Trust me, tomorrow I'll turn 46, and the old belt is a little bit snug these days.

 

[FenDruadin]

I haven't tried muscovy, but I've also heard that they taste rather greasy. In a taste test performed by one of our local farmers (if I remember correctly), they cited the muscovy as having the most "local" flavor out of several breeds--by which they meant, you could strongly tell the difference in the meat based on how the animal lived and what it ate. Generally, wild caught and farm raised foods taste wildly different (ha ha no pun intended) from each other, so I'm sure that is true about muscovies.

If you're thinking of raising them for meat, I would try to locate some for a taste test first. Or, just raise two or three at first and see what you think.

 

[destinduck]

like Cat said they are what they eat and how they live. If you want the tastier of the two go domestic and feed them corn one month prior to eating em.

 

[CluckyJay]

Thanks guys!

I will mainly raise them as dog and cat food so taste isn't a huge issue. I wanna try the meat though. I wonder what they taste like when fed loads of apples. I am putting them to pasture in our orchard so they will be eating apples, pears, plums and peaches.

I remember reading about slaughtering the drakes before a certain age to prevent that drake taste. Maybe she had a few older drakes. Hmm.

I can't wait to get them there hatchin' eggs!!

I wanna try and render some duck fat for cooking and pouring over animal feed. Hmm.

 

[THunter]

Only greasy if you leave the skin/fat on. Skin 'em and they are rather lean and tasty!

 

[CluckyJay]

I'll remember that! I wanna try and make aged duck prosciutto too.