Best duck for meat

[holachicka]

Hi everyone!

I've never raised ducks and just built my first incubator (filled with quail eggs at the moment). I was hoping for your personal opinions on the best duck for meat purposes, as well as easy to raise... I would really appreciate your opinions!

Thanks in advance!!

 

[PurpleChicken]

Muscovy is the best in my opinion. They grow fast, are easy to raise, and taste great. Second would be Pekin.

 

[blissdragon]

I know Holderread recommends Muscovy (leaner meat) and Silver Appleyard and Saxony (fattier). Cayuga's probably taste great, but the dark coloring is less practical for pruducing a clean appearing carcass?
Again, lots of breeds are good eating.

 

[Red Maple Farms]

Pekin ducks account for about 95% of the commercial meat duck market in the US. Muscovy ducks account for a little more than 3% in the US. However in France, 60% of the ducks raised for meat are muscovy. Then there are the muscovy/pekin crosses that account for a large percentage of the meat ducks in Taiwan.

Personally, I enjoy the pekin duck. I render the duck fat and use that to fry potatoes and vegetables. The muscovy duck does not lend itself well to rendering being a leaner duck. One of our customers, the head of the culinary department at a fair sized university bought one of our muscovies and was disappointed that he did not get the fat that he had heard so much about from other chefs. He now has placed an order for two pekins, which we plan to fatten up on corn for the last couple weeks. Another customer wants wild mallards, which are really small ducks. He prefers the gamier flavor.

Pekin are also nice in that they are prolific layers, and the eggs are easy to incubate. However, you can't really go wrong with either pekin or muscovy.

One other thing is to try to get white ducks. The carcass looks much better after plucking.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I agree with PC, Muscovy and then Pekin.

Laurie

 

[Funky Feathers]

Muscovy, then Giant Production Pekin, then Mallard (small but yummy), then maybe a Muscovy/Giant Pekin cross!

 

[holachicka]

So, I think I'll look for both pekin and muscovies... then maybe mix them... but can you tell me if 20+ pekin hatching eggs at $18.00, is that a good deal?

 

[chasing ducks]

In general yes thats a good deal, depending on the shipping charges. They shouldn't be more than about $15, which is still less than $2 an egg so it's good. Though at chicken swaps you can often get a dozen (at least around here) for less than $10 and then you're not worrying about damage from shipping.

 

[chasing ducks]

I just noticed you're in Folsom, now my geography really sucks, but I lived in Sacramento for a long time and if I am remembering right Folsom isn't that far (pregnancy has pretty well fried the memory so again, sorry if I am very wrong here) but anyway Sacramento has a huge farmers market every week all summer long down town and I always saw ducks eggs there for sale. Might be worth checking out if you are close enough.

 

[holachicka]

Yup, Folsom and Sacramento are very close... But... there are a lot of farmers markets, so I'm not sure wich one you might be talking about...

The $18.00 includes shipping... Hoping it's a good deal because it's on Ebay...