Wth is this? (Tiny feathers on butchered muscovy)

[Kaiori]

Yeah, I'd say you were either a week too late or 3 weeks too early. I'd probably skin it myself, or roast it and not eat the skin. I'm pretty finicky about feathers like that.

Speaking of, I've never understood the whole white butcher birds so that the pinfeathers are less visible thing. At least, not for MYSELF. If there are pins, I wanna know!!! I actually like that about my Barred Rocks, if one of my birds has a clean carcass, it's REALLY a clean carcass

Yaaasss! This is exactly my thinking. Lol I'd rather be able to see what I'm working with.

Thank you to everyone else for your input! Very much appreciated.

I wouldn't even mind too much to go through the wings and pluck out all the feather bits with tweezers but it's pointless because only the feather bit comes out while the shaft stays under the skin, so the little dark spots are still there anyway.

Maybe I'll cook up one wing and try it and see if I notice any problems while eating it, skin and all. Lol Probably won't even taste or feel off, I bet.

 

[Parront]

Yaaasss! This is exactly my thinking. Lol I'd rather be able to see what I'm working with.

Thank you to everyone else for your input! Very much appreciated.

I wouldn't even mind too much to go through the wings and pluck out all the feather bits with tweezers but it's pointless because only the feather bit comes out while the shaft stays under the skin, so the little dark spots are still there anyway.

Maybe I'll cook up one wing and try it and see if I notice any problems while eating it, skin and all. Lol Probably won't even taste or feel off, I bet.

What you see when you pluck the pin feathers is the pigment from the growing feather in the follicle. You would not taste it or feel a feather in your mouth, but you will see the dark spot like a freckle. It just does not look pretty!

 

[Geena]

Yeah, I'd say you were either a week too late or 3 weeks too early. I'd probably skin it myself, or roast it and not eat the skin. I'm pretty finicky about feathers like that.

Speaking of, I've never understood the whole white butcher birds so that the pinfeathers are less visible thing. At least, not for MYSELF. If there are pins, I wanna know!!! I actually like that about my Barred Rocks, if one of my birds has a clean carcass, it's REALLY a clean carcass

I totally agree. Our meat mutts (Orp x CornishX x Ranger) are by design mostly blue or black, because I want to clearly see those pin feather so I can get them all plucked out!

 

[Kaiori]

Results after cooking!

I roasted him up, tiny feathers and all (with some roasty-toasty potatoes in duck fat). Cut the tail off after gutting because he sat too long from plucking and the end of the intestinal tract caused a bit of smell on the tail meat (but the rest was fine).

As much as those feathers look like "hairs", they weren't stiff at all, just soft. They were more obvious after cooking since the skin shrunk and went translucent, but I found zero texture or taste issues with it. It's purely cosmetic/unsightly. Lol And if you consider what lots of people from other places eat on a daily basis, this is really tame and shouldn't be considered gross at all.

Also, lot of bruising on the breasts. That didn't show til it was cooked. I'm guessing it's from the insane wing-flapping after breaking the neck (for those who don't know, muscovy wings are MASSIVE). I grabbed the wings about 5 seconds after but I guess the damage was already done. Oh well.

Turned out super tasty though! So I call it a success. Lol It's good to know a few little feathers won't cause any texture issues after cooking so I don't have to worry too much in the future if I end up with the same thing. But I can definitely say that I do wish now that the feathers were white so it would be a little less unsightly at least. Looks like I'll be focusing on breeding white/light colored ducks for meat from now on. Haha

I hope this might help anyone running into the same issue. Besides by sight, the tiny feathers go undetected while eating it.

 

[Parront]

Results after cooking!

I roasted him up, tiny feathers and all (with some roasty-toasty potatoes in duck fat). Cut the tail off after gutting because he sat too long from plucking and the end of the intestinal tract caused a bit of smell on the tail meat (but the rest was fine).

View attachment 2272951

View attachment 2272952

As much as those feathers look like "hairs", they weren't stiff at all, just soft. They were more obvious after cooking since the skin shrunk and went translucent, but I found zero texture or taste issues with it. It's purely cosmetic/unsightly. Lol And if you consider what lots of people from other places eat on a daily basis, this is really tame and shouldn't be considered gross at all.

Also, lot of bruising on the breasts. That didn't show til it was cooked. I'm guessing it's from the insane wing-flapping after breaking the neck (for those who don't know, muscovy wings are MASSIVE). I grabbed the wings about 5 seconds after but I guess the damage was already done. Oh well.

Turned out super tasty though! So I call it a success. Lol It's good to know a few little feathers won't cause any texture issues after cooking so I don't have to worry too much in the future if I end up with the same thing. But I can definitely say that I do wish now that the feathers were white so it would be a little less unsightly at least. Looks like I'll be focusing on breeding white/light colored ducks for meat from now on. Haha

I hope this might help anyone running into the same issue. Besides by sight, the tiny feathers go undetected while eating it.

I am sure lots of white feathers are eaten every day by people who never know it! It is good to be an informed diner, I believe! Your muscovy sounds delicious!

 

[NatJ]

Results after cooking!... I hope this might help anyone running into the same issue. Besides by sight, the tiny feathers go undetected while eating it.

Thank you for the update! It's nice to have confirmation that those tiny feathers are not noticeable if you don't see them