Duck is a very useful animal as they can be breed for their eggs, meat, feather, down, for dog herding training and many more. However, the most common purpose to breed duck is for their meat and eggs. Duck egg is very nutritious, contains a lot of protein and rich in fats. Some people claim that duck egg is way better than a chicken egg. As for duck meat, it provides an exquisite taste, similar to chicken since they have white meat however they have different texture and taste. Duck meat becomes one of the main ingredients for many cuisines like Chinese cuisine, French cuisine and many more. Since there are many demands on quality duck meat, many people want to have their own backyard flocks of duck to breed and raise for their meat. If you are one of them, then you must read this article here now.
Some duck breed has been specifically bred for meat purpose so some of the duck breeds are very good as meat provider, while some of them don’t. If you want to raise a backyard flock of duck for their meat, we recommend you to choose the breed of your duck carefully. Some of the duck has delicious, exquisite taste and bigger meat while some of them are not really suitable to breed for their meat. Now, here we are on 4 recommended duck breeds to raise for meat.
Which are the good duck breeds to raises for their meat production?
The good duck breed to raises for their meat needs to grow quickly and have a lot of meat in their body. Standard meat duck should weigh at least 6 to 7 pounds, and they can grow from ducklings to adult size to at least 8 weeks. There are many breeds of duck that have delicious meat, however not all of them grow fast and some of them need a lot of attention to care for. Some of the best duck breeds to raise for meat production are Pekin, Muscovy and Aylesbury duck. Now, we are going to give you some recommendation on duck breeds that are suitable for meat production bellow here.
- Pekin
Pekin is the most popular duck breed to raises for meat production since they grow up so fast, contain a lot of meat and fats, and they tend to be fairly easy to take care of. Pekin is a standard meat duck for commercial in many countries like the United States and China. Not only for commercial producer, small farm and backyard flocks also suitable and quite popular to choose Pekin duck as their meat production ducks.
Pekin duck has especially fast growth rate and they are renowned for their yellow skin and plump body. They can grow into 6 to 8 pound in just 7 week which is quite fast for meat production duck. However, Pekin is considered to be egg production duck too since they can lay out a lot of white egg. So, Pekin is the general breed of ducks, suitable for any farm purpose like meat production, egg production, feather or down.
If you choose Pekin duck as your duck breeds to raise, then you can get it from local farms and breeder. You can buy Pekin ducklings at a very inexpensive price too. Don’t forget to see our article on how to take care of ducklings for backyard flock so they can grow rapidly for the meat purpose.
- Muscovy
If Pekin is a popular duck breed to raise in temperate region, Muscovy duck is a popular breed to raise in a warmer climate like tropical region. Muscovy originated from tropical countries from the southern hemisphere. They tend to have a slower growth rate compared to Pekin ducks, but what makes them special as meat production duck is their size. Muscovy duck can grow up into large size, a male can grow up into 10 pounds, while the female is smaller but they can grow up into 8 pounds. Muscovy also free have quite high resilience and easy to adapt in a new kind of environment, which are good factors to be considered if you want to choose duck breeds.
Both of Pekin and Muscovy duck is popular duck breeds for commercial duck farm. Any duck meat you could find in a restaurant might be from these duck breeds.
- Aylesbury
Originated from England, Aylesbury is a white duck that grows pretty fast although not as fast as Pekin duck, but still quite popular duck breed to raise for meat in many parts of Europe. Aylesbury grows for about 7 to 8 pound in just 8 weeks with intense care and daily supplement. Aylesbury also appears larger than any kind of duck thanks to their loose feather and deeper keel. Aylesbury is a popular white duck, especially in England.
- Buff Orpington
Although smaller than Pekin, Muscovy and another heavy breed of duck, Buff Orpington is also a good choice of duck breed to raise as meat production Although not many, but currently, there is quite a lot of farm raising this duck not just for their egg but also for their meat. Originally, this duck is laying duck since they have very good egg production but you can also choose this duck as meat production breed. They grow pretty fast and won’t require much space and foods compared to heavier breed ducks.
Duck is a poultry animal that grows quite fast and provides you with a lot of profit if you take care of them correctly. If you are considering to make backyard flocks for meat purpose, we recommend you this kind of ducks for a starter. These are 4 recommended duck breeds to raise for meat. If you want to start duck farm or just want to have backyard flocks, these ducks are suitable for meat production, some of them even quite suitable for any kind of production like eggs, feather and down. Check out our another article on how you should take care of ducklings for your backyard flocks.