How many pin feathers do you leave on the carcass?

[kimlasavio]

Ok, just got done processing our first three muscovies today, about 14-week-old males, cleaned carcasses weigh about 4 to 4-1/2 pounds.  We tried to get the birds plucked as cleanly as possible, but after four hours plucking by hand and, yes, with tweezers, there are still quite a few little black pin feathers present, and I'm exhausted.  My question is when do you stop plucking?  Are some pin feathers left going to be a big problem?  If this is how long it's going to take every time, I think I will become an advocate for skinning.  We think the water was a little too hot and we dipped a little too long - the first bird lost quite a bit of skin and I ended up skinning him.  By the time we scalded the others, the water had cooled a bit, and the skin was intact, but as I said the pin feathers were almost impossible to remove completely.    Thanks!  Kim

[rjole]

we get the Backyard Poultry magazine and in the Feb/Mar Volume 5,Number 1 2010 there is a great article on Muscovy.in reading this they say 17 to 18 week for butchering. I have haeard of this time frame before as well. It gives them the extra time for the pin feathers to develope. The magazine site is:wwwbackyardpoultrymag.com Good Luck.. Oh they make a great soup..

[Cathy]

I think some people actually use a wax to remove pin feathers, and one guy I know of uses a little butane torch like what is used for grills and he scorches the pin feathers off.

[larsentown]

Definitely had good experience with singeing the pin feathers off many a chicken and some ducks, too! The propane torch, sold for the kitchen or the workshop is best, but I've also waved (carefully!) the carcass over the flame of the burner I was using to heat the scalding water. I've even used a torch made from a rolled up newspaper! Worked okay, but left some ashy spots on the bird.

Never tried wax, but mostly because I've never felt the need to.