ducks for meat

[annette]

hi everyone

any ideas on what sort of ducks to get for meat production? a few eggs would be good but I love duck meat and free range organic is what I want. so better to do it myself right?

also anyone know where to get them around Petrie, north of Brisbane?

thanks
Annette

[Stingray]

Hi Annette, we had the same "dilemma" .. lol.. and settled on Muscovy's,
the girls have been bred over the years for egg laying, and the boys for meat.
Our 1st clutch just hatched yesterday, and I am trying to find out how to "sex" them so I can separate and fatten up the boys :)
We havent eaten any of her eggs yet, as this was her 1st lot of eggs., but a previous spot of raising ducks proved that their eggs were very yummy to :)
and we are in Ningi, so will have some females to part with soon ;)
as well as I need to source a couple more females for our drake :)

[annette]

Hi Stingray,

yes i have done a bit of investigating since posting. I like the muscovy but I think i will have a go at pekin ducks. A chinese guy at work says that they are the ducks the chinese use for peking duck recipes.

I have found a guy at Bellmere that has them. I've had chooks but not ducks so I'm madly getting all the info I need and trying to tie it all in to permaculture principles etc. For example where to position the pond so that it flows or empties somewhere that needs fertilising etc. Doing up a plan so that I can integrate a few ideas. Sometimes though you just gotta start!!!!!

cheers
Annette

[Stingray]

Hi Annette
koolies :)
We chose muscovy's this time around, because they arent noisy, we've had "appleyards" before and they were very noisy :)
and i agree the pond posy is critical :)
mines at one side of pen (an old kids "clam shell") and I just tip and empty it and it flows thru the fence to the vegi bed there :) - last crop of tomatos went ballistic there ;)
would really love a setup where the waters pumped up into a hydroponics tank with vegies (like lettuce) growin, and clean filtered waters returned to the duck pond :)
but havent had the $$ to set it up yet :{

- Daz

[permup]

We have Khaki Campbells, and they turned out to be fantastic eating. They are great egg layers too.

[sun burn]

I got a book called raising ducks from the library. It talks about which are best for eating. Its to do with the fat content. Do you want fatty birds or leaner birds. The book also talks about sexing them and says you should really see someone do it before trying it because you can seriously injure the baby birds if you are not careful.

About the duck pond water. I was emptying my duck bath onto my bananas and i think it killed them. One of the ducks poos in the water. I think it was too strong for them. But i am not certain this is what killed them.


The duck eggs are very good eating.

Stingray can you share your experience with me on my duck raising thread please.

[annette]

thanks Permup and stingray

Yes I don't want them to be too noisy, but I am far enough away from neighbours for them not to be a problem i think.

From what I've read ducks are very messy and will poo in the water. I know I have wild ducks that fly into my unused pool (bought the house with the pool needing a new liner etc, but now I think I will convert into either a pond or aquaponics but also need the $$$$$) and it is pretty murky which they don't seem to mind.

The muscovy do seem popular and that's for a reason for sure. they seem to be the go at eggs and meat.

thanks for the tip on the bananas. I have a good crop on and would have been upset if I had killed them. The place I have picked out for the ducks is slightly slopey so may just let the water gravity feed down to a vege garden with things in there that like lots of manure.

[paradisi]

muscovy

least trouble

quiet

the drakes are very protective and will kill off foxes

good mothers

can be tamed quite well

cute in an ugly sort of way and delicious too

dont need a pond - a bucket for them to dip their head is more than enough

[Stingray]

thats our experience (except no foxes) paradisi :)
the drakes a lil "painful" lol.. he kept goin my partner, and chasing kids, when he was out of pen, while the mumma duck was on the eggs :)
funny thing is he doesnt go my 4 yr old if she goes into his pen to pat him (LOL)..
am thinkin he can have an extra girlfriend ;) (2 clutches next time) and sell the girl ducklings off, and will fatten the boys up for roasts ;)
- Daz

[annette]

Thanks everyone. I think I'm leaning towards the muscovies now. I have a somewhat rural property in suburbia and although I haven't seen any foxes yet (only been here 3 months) the guy next door says they are around. I will make a little pond, like the half a clam shell for them.

Just have to fix a few things up and get the ducks.

cheers
annette

[Stingray]

your welcome annette :)
some pics of mine are here (http://www.indigocat.net/gallery/v/permaculture/)
I havent made anything "permanent" yet, as I am awaiting a 2nd round of spinal surgury :( .. well.. awaiting the public health system lotto ;)
the goal at the moment is to at least try to maintain our current level of self sufficiency,
and after surgery and recovery, to look for a rural rental with 2-10 acres to cut our rent costs and have more land to do more than we can on this 1/4 acre :)

[Terra]

A tip when it comes to dispatching ducks they are a lot easier to skin that pluck , this also gets rid of a lot of the fat (attached to skin) then roast in a oven bag to retain moisture .

[Stingray]

have done that Terra,
but was a lil disapointed with the taste, and figured it was because the "fat" was missing during cooking :)