[WestCountryR&R]

Has anyone tried butchering ducks that are 2-3 years old? I'm taking over our family's poultry pen this year, and want to clean out some of the drakes to make more room for something that'll be productive. We only used to have a couple ducks in with our chickens, but then we had a batch of ducklings hatch in 2021, so now there's 8, most of them are males. I'd like to just keep 1 drake and butcher the rest, but I'm not sure if they'll be too old and tough to enjoy at this point.

Has anyone tried it? Were they still tender?

 

[Texas23]

They’ll probably be tough if you cook most typical ways especially the legs, thighs, & wings.

However, a way to make it tender is to make duck confit. Essentially slow cooking it in fat. First render all the fat. Then brown / season the meat. Tightly pack the meat in a cast iron pot. Cover with the rendered fat. If necessary add a bit of lard to fully cover the meat. Simmer on low for 12 -24 hours. The meat will be fork tender.

Another way to make tender is to pressure can.

Yet another, is to grind it. Mix it 50/50 with ground pork and make a sausage.

I use to raise a bunch of muscovy ducks and the confit was my favorite way to do the legs & thighs.

 

[Pony]

I have 9 ducks running around here (3 drakes, 6 hens), and I have been intending to butcher them for the past year or so.

I love crisp duck skin, but the only way these birds will be edible is if I skin them, and then either pressure or slow cook them. Suppose I could toss the carcasses to the dogs...

No way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks I am going to try to pluck their feathers. I'm a Sturdy Woman, but a woman has to know her limitations.

Plucking ducks is where I draw the line.

 

[Northof49]

You don't need to confit them for tenderness. Roast them low and slow, preferably cast iron roaster with a lid.
Place seasonings and duck in pan, 1/2 submerged in water, 230 degree oven 6-8 hours. Turn up to 350 last 1/2 hour to crisp skin. Fall off the bone every time.

If butchering more than a few ducks use the dip in hot wax, then cold water method. Makes ducks a lot cleaner and easier to do.

 

[WestCountryR&R]

These are some great ideas, thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[muleskinner2]

Honestly, I would shoot them in the head with a .22 rifle. Then cook them in a pressure cooker.

 

[Pony]

Honestly, I would shoot them in the head with a .22 rifle. Then cook them in a pressure cooker.

Skin or pluck?

Or maybe use Nair?

 

[Danaus29]

Why waste ammo? If the ducks are penned and easy to catch, just use the broomstick method to dispatch them.

I would skin, quarter and pressure cook, then roast with potatoes and carrots until the meat starts falling off the bones.

 

[WestCountryR&R]

Honestly, I would shoot them in the head with a .22 rifle. Then cook them in a pressure cooker.

I'll probably just walk them to the chopping block, but I'm curious how you'd use the pressure cooked meat? I've tried pressure cooking chicken, but found it made the meat kind of bland. But maybe I just wasn't using the meat in the right dishes afterwards!

 

[muleskinner2]

but I'm curious how you'd use the pressure cooked

I would pour it over rice and veggies. Or make duck and dumplings. I really don't care for duck meat. I might just de-bone it and feed it to my dogs.

 

[Danaus29]

Duck noodles are good. Use some chicken boullion to give the noodles extra flavor. I made a lot of broccoli, rice and cheese with chopped duck meat when I had ducks. You can use the meat like you would use chicken or turkey.

I've had curried duck with rice and beans, Trinidad style. I don't have the recipe but it was really good.

 

[ofanevening]

What about a crock pot? I have no experience with ducks, but I do with older chickens. It seemed to work better than the people around me expected, though it wasn't amazing.

 

[Texas23]

Another way to make those ducks more tender is to soak the meat overnight in whey, buttermilk, or yogurt prior to cooking.

 

[Vineland]

Honestly, I would shoot them in the head with a .22 rifle. Then cook them in a pressure cooker.

Better to place in a Killing Cone and slit their throats being careful not cut spinal cord. The goal is to sever the two jugular veins without severing the trachea or esophagus. This allows the heart to pump the blood out of the body and out of the meat. Prevents what is called a "Dark Cutter."
Reference page 108 "Butchering" by Adam Danforth.
Shooting in the head will cause the heart to stop and the blood to remain in meat.

 

[muleskinner2]

Better to place in a Killing Cone and slit their throats being careful not cut spinal cord. The goal is to sever the two jugular veins without severing the trachea or esophagus. This allows the heart to pump the blood out of the body and out of the meat. Prevents what is called a "Dark Cutter."
Reference page 108 "Butchering" by Adam Danforth.
Shooting in the head will cause the heart to stop and the blood to remain in meat.

Fifteen minutes after we killed a duck or a chicken they were in a pan, so bleeding out wasn't a problem.

 

[Danaus29]

Grandma hung her chickens from the clothesline (upside down, by their feet) and cut their heads off. They bled out pretty good.

 

[Vineland]

Has anyone tried butchering ducks that are 2-3 years old? I'm not sure if they'll be too old and tough to enjoy at this point.
Has anyone tried it? Were they still tender?

The age of the animal being butchered has nothing to do with the tenderness of the meat. The age of an animal impacts meat flavor more than it influences tenderness. An older animal moves more over time, which creates more blood circulation and it’s that circulation that creates flavor compounds, making older meat more flavorful.What's Influenced Most by an Animal's Age: Meat Tenderness or Flavor? | Grand View Outdoors
Proper aging is the key to making meat from older animals tender and delicious. Aging is an ancient practice which consists of hanging the carcass in a cool environment such as a barn or a walk-in cooler for a number of hours, days or weeks. “Aging is controlled rot,” says Danforth. “There are certain enzymes that are present in the meat that are kept in check while the animal is alive that ‘go rogue’ after the animal dies. They begin to snip at the proteins that make muscles contract and at the connective tissues.” In doing so, these enzymes render the meat both more flavorful and more tender. Aging also allows some moisture to evaporate, leading to a concentration of flavors in the meat. And fat begins to oxidize, adding a desirable, nutty flavor to the meat.
The Case For Eating Older Animals
People who aren't fans of duck often complain that they find the meat to be chewy, which is totally valid. Duck breast is certainly chewier than chicken breast, especially when it's undercooked (I strongly believe that duck breast is best cooked to at least medium for this reason). However, dry-aged duck breast is so much more tender than unaged duck breast, even when cooked to the same exact temperature.
How to Dry-Age Duck at Home
Killing the animal properly also affects the flavor, tenderness and quality of the meat.
Home processing of poultry

Butchering by Adam Danforth $22 on Amazon wonderful book on butchering and aging of meat.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Gumbo, stew, lots of similar ways to use duck meat, age will not matter.