Duck prices? Options

[silhouettestable]

Can anyone give me an idea of what price per pound duck sells for? I'm raising some to put in the freezer for my dogs but I'd like to sell some also to recoup at least some of the processing fee. Either that or do the deed myself and keep them all but I'm not sure I really want to get into that. Used to do our own chickens and turkeys but we've been taking them to the processor for years now.

[juliepoudrier]

Not an answer, but a question for you: what does it cost you to have poultry processed? My butcher does it, but the price seems prohibitive unless I were having large numbers done.

J.

[silhouettestable]

Not an answer, but a question for you: what does it cost you to have poultry processed? My butcher does it, but the price seems prohibitive unless I were having large numbers done.

J.

You know this is probably going to sound stupid but I can't remember what I paid last year. It used to be a minimum charge of $4/turkey for 16 pounds & under and $0.25/lb above that, double per pound for birds over 30lb but I think it went up last year. I think it might have been a $5 minimum now, $0.30/lb and $1/lb over 30 lbs (they're trying to discourage the really big birds). Chickens I don't remember at all but they are a set price per bird, not by the pound. I don't sell any chickens I just raise a few for our own freezer so I don't necessarily keep track of the costs all that well. With turkeys I get about 10, keep 3 for our own holiday dinners and sell the others.

I just called last night to check the cost for ducks and they said $6.50/duck. I figured that with my ducks laying so many eggs I'd incubate them and hatch out some ducklings to raise for my dogs. I've got them on starter feed right now but the plan is to mostly let them free range so that I don't have a lot of money invested in feeding them. From what I hear duck is not inexpensive to buy so if I market them I may be able to get enough back to pay for the processing the whole lot and it will work out to be inexpensive meat in the freezer. I just need to find out what would be a fair price to ask for free-range duck.