Plucking ducks...Wax, torch, etc. ?

Wax works great.

I old school pick them, then use a butane torch to singe off any remaining down/hair.

Keep the heart and liver after gutting for a buttery sauteed snack, or start saving them for a dirty rice if you can't eat it by itself.

I'm not to big on the gizzards... but they make decent crawfish bait.

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Wax works great.

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Once upon a time I had about 30 chickens to kill. I researched the wax and found out a 10lb block of wax from hobby lobby was about 10% the cost of "duck wax." It worked ok on chickens, not great but definitely helped. I would imagine it would work really well on ducks.

OP - Only takes a small bit of wax to make a film on top of a hot pot of water. Then dunk in ice and go to ripping off long chunks of wax/feathers.

Cleaning 8 at a time I wouldnt want to mess with wax. I would just pick em nice and clean and torch them a bit.

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old school pick them, then use a butane torch to singe off any remaining down/hair.

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Breast them out is incredibly easy and you can do the trick where you have both breast still connected to the chest bone so you can slice the meat more precisely later, or freeze. I usually just breast them out and pull the meet out when I get home.

If you are plucking for the whole bird, I would just do it the old school way and not use wax or any of that, granted it takes longer.

Also, what is the law on raising ducks as pets and to eat? I am assuming its fine since they sell baby mallards at tractor supply. I had a friend's dad buy some and those frickers lived for like 5 years and would fly all over the place and come home. Surprised more people don't just start buying ducklings and raising them to increase the numbers.

These are Rouens, so they look almost identical to mallards, but are 2-3 times as large. Because they're a big, fat meat bird, they can't fly. Fighting the bobcats around the house is a never ending battle.

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These are Rouens, so they look almost identical to mallards, but are 2-3 times as large. Because they're a big, fat meat bird, they can't fly. Fighting the bobcats around the house is a never ending battle.

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Sorry was posting on the job. I just realized they weren't mallards. But I'm 99% positive about 15 years ago my buddys dad bought some baby mallards at Ace around Easter and we expected them to die but they lived forever and would shite all over the shop. They'd fly away to the pond and when it would flood back behind his house and come back home. I was always shocked they never got eaten by a bobcat or anything else.

Pluck them . Tame ducks are easier to pluck than their wild cousins .

Tractor supply has a plucker for around 500 dollars if you plan on doing it often.

Instead of wax we use sawdust. Pluck the big feathers off first, then dip the duck in boiling water for about 10 seconds. Not too long cause the skin will tear. Then roll the duck around in the sawdust. Then rub the sawdust off the duck with your thumb. Then singe off the "hairs".

How much does one of those weigh?