Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
(kiddie pool) until they are fully feathered—then we observe to make certain they
can easily get out.
We have managed ducks as both free-range on the pastures and confined within net-
ted paddocks. Both methods have their pros and cons. Since we have little predator
pressure we initially released them onto the pastures during the day and herded them
home in the evening. This allowed them access to several acres of prime pas-
ture—and they used it. The method ceased being workable when the entire flock dis-
covered their passion for ripe tomatoes! This led us to the current method: rotating
paddocks fenced with electric netting. Ducks do well with netting considering they
are so well insulated. The first few days they may go through it, but after a while
they respect the nets and behave themselves. They will, however, go right through it
or even pile over en masse if pressured by dogs or aggressive children. We find that
the ducks graze well on fresh growth if moved fairly often. In addition to their forage
they receive a full ration (broiler/grower feed) that we feed twice a day with ample
water and expect them to finish between meals. Limiting their feed in this way pro-
motes grazing and reduces extra layers of fat later in growth.
Processing
The tricky part of duck raising is indeed the processing. They must be processed at
exactly the right time or feathers and down will be in pin and impossible to remove.
We typically process our ducks at eight weeks and expect a 3½ to 4½ lb. carcass. On
processing day we herd the ducks down to the processing shed and pen them up with
hog panels. We also hang tarps around the hog panels to keep the ducks calm and be
sure they have ample water while they wait. We follow the basic poultry processing
routine with a kill cone, scalder, and barrel plucker. The only additional step is wax-
ing and stripping to deal with the down and pinfeathers. This involves dipping the
carcass in melted duck wax (see appendix 1), then dunking it in ice water, stripping
off the hardened wax, and repeating the process. This extra step just about doubles
our processing time, which needs to be made up in the price of the bird. Since we
find the ducks so easy to manage and we typically have zero mortality, the only extra
labor is in processing. We package and sell the ducks as whole birds and currently
charge $4.50/lb. We are pleased with the profit margin on duck, although it is prob-
ably a limited market and we only offer about 150 each year.
