Does anyone feed duck?

[silhouettestable]

I'm talking about actual duck meat, not kibble with duck as a meat source. If you do, do you feed it raw, or cooked and if cooked how do you prepare it (I have never in my life cooked duck, I can only assume it would be roasted like a chicken if it's whole). How do you find duck as a meat source for dogs? I'm assuming being waterfowl it would probably be fattier than chicken or turkey.

 

I have a few ducks that are pretty much pets, but they are laying eggs. Eggs, and eggs and eggs. LOTS of eggs. A friend of mine has already taken some to incubate, and I'm thinking of incubating some myself to raise duck for the dogs to eat. I do already raise meat chickens and turkeys, for our own consumption and to sell a few, so I'm starting to think, why not ducks? If I find there is a market for them I could maybe sell some, and put a bunch in the freezer too. In the winter I like to have meat for the dogs when I'm working them, sometimes it's just some leftovers and trimmings from our own meals, sometimes I cook up some chicken just for them and I like to make them broth too. Because they work outside in cold weather the fattier the better, they use the fat as an energy source and they don't get fat from it because they are working and burning it off.

 

Just thinking, as the eggs keep accumulating. I could just collect the eggs daily and feed the eggs to the dogs (I don't like duck eggs scrambled etc., although I don't notice a difference from chicken eggs for baking). Right now there are close to 4 dozen duck eggs in my coop that could be set, I've been leaving them there in case the ducks decided to set them but so far they haven't. They just keep laying them and they bury them in the shavings to keep the temperature right. Sometimes they move them around and expose them, other times most are buried. A couple of weeks ago my friend took close to 4 dozen to incubate and now I'm thinking of doing the same.

[Maralynn]

My grandparents used to raise them and would butcher some out. It's a darker meat with a bit more fat than chicken. It was richer than chicken too, closer to beef in flavor if I remember right. You can roast it just like a chicken or turkey

 

I've gotten duck a couple of times for raw for Missy - on clearance after a holiday. I'd keep it in the rotation except it's usually quite expensive to buy.

[rushdoggie]

Roast duck with apple prune stuffing is one of my finest childhood memories. I am sure that my dogs would be happy to revisit that memory with me.

 

Seriously, I have a friend who has a dog with bad food allergies and she feeds him duck (raw) and sweet potato (cooked). Hes been very happy and healthy.

[MaryP]

I tried feeding my dogs raw duck once and they wanted nothing to do with it. I also tried feeding raw rabbit; same response. I'm not sure what they found so unpalatable about those two meat sources, but they weren't going to have any of it. Damn urban dogs.

 

I think we may have ended up grinding up the duck and rabbit and mixing it with other meats that my dogs would eat.

[silhouettestable]

I tried feeding my dogs raw duck once and they wanted nothing to do with it. I also tried feeding raw rabbit; same response. I'm not sure what they found so unpalatable about those two meat sources, but they weren't going to have any of it. Damn urban dogs.

 

I think we may have ended up grinding up the duck and rabbit and mixing it with other meats that my dogs would eat.

 

Was the duck and rabbit domestic or wild? Could it have had a "gamey" smell or taste? My Lightning is really funny about stuff like that. I cooked up some ground venison for the dogs one day and he barked at it and ran away When it was mixed with chicken and mixed into his kibble he was okay with it, but not when I offered him a piece on it's on. No way! He is kind of the same with lamb. Even when it was cooking he kept looking worriedly (is that a word?) at the kitchen and running away. My other dogs all loved the venison and the lamb, whatever the flavour or scent.

[MaryP]

Was the duck and rabbit domestic or wild? Could it have had a "gamey" smell or taste?

 

It was domestic. But, it probably still had a more gamey smell/taste than the meat that they typically eat.

[Lenajo]

I feed duck, raw. It's fattier than chicken both inside and out. I strip off the really thick, heavy yellow fat on the outside. According to my vet that kind of fat is where any of the toxins in the bird tend to accumulate, plus the dogs don't need *that* much fat LOL

 

I've had one dog that did not like it and has always refused. The rest are crazy about it.

[KrisK]

I boil the duck eggs and give them to the dogs - shell and all. They love them! I cut back a bit on their kibble when they get eggs.

[silhouettestable]

I feed eggs too, whole raw eggs in the shell. The dogs just don't really need too much "extra" stuff right now when they're not really working. It's the winter time when they're training and racing when I like to add the extra protein and fat from meat. That's why I was thinking ducks in the freezer might be a good thing. I wonder if eggs could be stored in the freezer? When I get frozen cracked eggs in the winter I feed them to the dogs, but I've never tried purposely freezing eggs and storing them that way. My coop doesn't have electricity so without light and heat I get very few eggs from the chickens in the winter, and the ducks stop laying. I wonder if I could put some eggs away in the freezer for the dogs for when my supply is low.

[jdarling]

"Does anyone feed duck?" Sometimes. Not on purpose. Echo wishes I would.

 

I just got myself five ducks (4 hens and a drake). I love duck eggs ... it's like Easter every time I find a few eggs.

 

A friend of mine is in the duck egg business. She produces dozens and dozens per day. When she has ducks she doesn't want, she will either put them up on Craigslist pretty cheap and they go real quick, or she will breast them out and feed the carcasses to the dogs. There's tons of recipes online for duck breast.

[KrisK]

I am fairly certain you can freeze the eggs for use later on. Anything I have read talks about putting them in bags so I'm assuming they are freezing without the shells. I love my duck eggs as well. I fry, bake, boil, scramble and make awesome omlettes! The main trick is to let the egg warm up before using it out of the fridge and not overcook.

[timberviewfarm]

There was an article in GRIT magazine this month on freezing excess eggs. I skimmed through the magazine last night when I was bringing in the mail and I saw something about mixing them up and putting them in ice trays...I can actually read the article if anyone is interested.

[martySQ]

When I feeze our excess of duck eggs, I p[it the yolks in one ice cube tray and the whites in another. I poke my finger into the yolk so it breaks. one yolk per cube. one white per cube.

After frozen, put in ziplock bags or plastic freezer containers. thaw what you need slowly and use like normal.

[martySQ]

ummm , they make a pretty mean pickled egg too if you are interested in those... but yikes... I can't handle the aftermath of that although the boys at my house love them and use the aftermath as ammunition against their brothers....(or whoever they are stuck in a car with on the "over the river and through the woods" trip to thanksgiving or chirstmas...)