# How old to butcher ducks?



## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

These are only about 6 weeks old now so I know it will be a little while but like with rabbits & other meat the older they are the tougher the meat is.

Also how does everyone cook duck? I have never had domesticated & never really liked wild duck or at least not anyway I have ever tried it?


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## L&Jfarms (Jul 16, 2008)

I have always wated till my ducks (White Pekin) were around 10 weeks or so before i would butcher them. There are tons of recipes online on how to cook duck. (If all else fails google it)


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

Thanks, I think these are cross breeds so they make take a little longer than pekins? Aren't Pekins a meat breed duck?

I wonder why no one has ever asked for a sticky at the top of the forum for just duck recipes, I know everyone knows how to do chicken.
On the rabbit forum they have a sticky recipe section with lots of good recipe's & folks use it alot I think.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

I butcher my ducklings from 8 weeks on. At 8 weeks they are between their first juvenile feathers and the start of their next molt. They are very hard to pluck when they are molting and growing new feathers. If I decide not to butcher right at those few days at 8 weeks, I wait until 12 weeks, when they are done growing new feathers. Smaller ducklings molt earlier/faster - just check what the feathers are doing. I usually end up between 12 and 14 weeks on the butchering. 

Actually a smaller breed duckling will reach adult weigh SOONER than a big duck like a Pekin. Then they quit growing and converting food to more meat/weight sooner. I'm more likely to process the cross breeds and smaller drakelings at 8 weeks than the meat ducks, that will continue to grow for some time to come. 

A lot depends on how crowded things are, how mature the ducklings are, whether I am about to go out of town for a week and leave my husband to take care of them, etc. Anyway, personally I wouldn't butcher before 8 weeks because of the lack of meat and feather growing. Ducklings grow FAST and we do get a decent meal at 8 weeks. My preference is the 12 week stage, where they will keep those feathers until next spring, so any time after that when it is convenient is good. 

To roast the duckling...

I wash it, fill the cavity with cut lemon and onion, rub it with salt and pepper (and any spice combination I feel like) and put it in a 450 degree oven until it starts to brown. Then I turn it down to 350 and cover the duckling with foil. I use a rack so the duckling doesn't sit in the grease and baste with plum sauce. It takes a couple of hours to cook a 4 lb duckling this way. I check with the meat thermometer, but it says done for poultry before I like the way it is. I like the juice to run clear and the leg joints to move freely. 

I like this plum sauce a lot:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Plum-Sauce/Detail.aspx

We make a lot of home made plum jelly, it works awesome! 

Enjoy!


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Here is my honey/orange glazed Goose pictorial,just change to duck.That was good and a little OT but goose is a rich meat,more so than duck IMO.

http://eastcherokee.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=meatdishes&action=display&thread=1402


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

They have lots of room, dh built them a big pen & big house so they are good to go. We'll wait till the 12 week age. 

Thanks for the recipe's Granny Carol & MightyBooBoo, I'm going to copy them down now.

I work at a resturaunt & the owner use to work at the Grand hotel up at Macinaw Island & did over 100 ducks a week so DH asked him if we gave him 1 for themselves would he cook us 1 too. So they thought that was a good deal, he'll butcher them and all so I'll also see how he cooks them.


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## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Sounds like he should make a fine duck,let us know if you can what he does.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I'm resurrecting this zombie thread for two reasons (well, 4 reasons if you count in the individuals posting here...)

We have a brace of 7 ducklings we're raising out, and I was interested in seeing when and how to cook them. I've cooked duck before, but I want to do a good job on this batch, from butchering at the right time, to cooking them in a good, flavorful way.

But now I am wondering about Katie @BackfourtyMI., Carol @GrannyCarol , and the @mightybooboo. 

Carol was on here back in Februrary, Katie hasn't been on since before the worldwide unpleasantness, and it's been 11 years since my buddy Booboo was here. 

It seems that, the older I get, and the crazier the world gets, the more I miss the folks from back in the day.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I once watched one of Justin Wilson's cooking shows where he cut slits in the meat, I think it was turkey, and stuck onions and garlic in the slits. I did that with a duck and put it in the crock pot for 8 hours until the meat was falling off the bones. Mmmmmmm!


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## NEPA (Feb 21, 2015)

I/m a little weird. My system can't handle poultry skin and fat. Goes right through me. I skin my birds (all breeds) and use an oil based marinade. Then I generally grill them. Works great for me, but I've never seen anyone else do this. I cook to just 165 on a meat thermometer. They dry out beyond that.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

NEPA said:


> I/m a little weird. My system can't handle poultry skin and fat. Goes right through me. I skin my birds (all breeds) and use an oil based marinade. Then I generally grill them. Works great for me, but I've never seen anyone else do this. I cook to just 165 on a meat thermometer. They dry out beyond that.


I'm sorry you can't digest the skin and fat. To me, the skin is the best part of a roasted duck, and the fat makes the best confit. 

But it does seem that you have developed a fine workaround. I may take the skin and fat completely off one of the ducks, and try your suggested oil base marinade.


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## NEPA (Feb 21, 2015)

Took me a while to get back to the site. Thanks for your concern Pony, but we've actually gotten to the point where we prefer it this way. My favorite marinade is to make a slurry of olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper in a jar. shake vigorously then rub and let rest a couple hours in the fridge. Tastes great to us.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

NEPA said:


> Took me a while to get back to the site. Thanks for your concern Pony, but we've actually gotten to the point where we prefer it this way. My favorite marinade is to make a slurry of olive oil, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt & pepper in a jar. shake vigorously then rub and let rest a couple hours in the fridge. Tastes great to us.


Sounds good. I may have to buy a duck so I can try it.


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