How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy

I was probably five or six when I got my first duck and then of course the right of passage required I clean the duck. I had watched my father who I can only assume learned from his father but I still today, do it as he taught me way back then. 

The Mallard duck is the prize most of us aspire to harvest and more to the point, the male green-headed Mallard. I have seen these as huge fat birds and thin young birds, and of course, the fat ones are most desired. 

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
A fresh Mallard Drake – The prize for most.

Start the process by first understanding you do not pick or pluck a duck; you roll the feathers and down off. One exception is the neck where you gently pull the feathers towards the head. Hold the duck by the neck and put the body on the edge of the trash can where you can shed the feathers directly. Begin by pushing your thumb across the breast feathers toward the tail. Again, do not pick the duck and go with the grain from neck to tail. If you pick you will leave behind down and feathers. Keep pushing the feathers off to completely clean the breast. 

Don’t worry about pinfeathers and hair as that will be cleaned up later. A word on pinfeathers, “blood feathers” is that leaving them behind can create an unsavory taste so if too many are present you may have to skin or breast out the duck. Continue to rotate the duck and do the same for the back. Clean under the wings in what would be the wing pit. 

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Use your thumb and push the feathers off the bird toward the tail.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
You may need to dampen your thumb but avoid picking the bird.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Get under the wings and work toward the tips about an inch.

Once done with the body, work up the neck a few inches to clean it and work the feathers off the inside portion of the wings. Be gentle here and pull the feathers toward the head. Be careful or you will tear the skin. Do the legs also. No need to go too far out the wing, but clean that too so you can next remove the wings. Some will clean to the first joint so that is your choice. No need to remove the tail feathers but that curly feather looks great in your hat. 

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Get the legs clean right out to the orange skin.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Take your time and get the bird good and clean.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
When feathers are all removed the bird should be clean of all but hair.

The pinfeathers need to be removed if present so pinch them out. Most of the time a squeeze will push them out or use the edge of a knife to hold the pinfeather and pull it out. The next task is to singe the bird. I use a propane torch, but in a pinch you can use a fire or a few newspapers. I have even seen some use a hairdryer. Just hold the duck by the neck and legs and remove all the hair. Note, I have not removed the legs, or neck yet.

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Note the wings, feet and head are attached while you singe the bird.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Use a propane torch and lightly knock off the hairs leaving a really clean carcass.

Take a pair of shears or wire cutters and break the wing bone to then cut through the skin and muscle to remove the wings. Be very careful as the bone can break and be very sharp. Nip off the sharp ends with your shears. Do the legs too.

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
After singeing you can remove the wings.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Remove the legs.

Now you can remove the neck with a large set of shears and remove the feet too. Next, the body needs to be gutted. Many will vent the duck through the tail, but a better method is to use your shears and cut the duck down the middle of the back. Now open the body wide open and remove the guts. Use your knife to cut around the anus and preen gland and pull all that out with the guts. 

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Remove the neck.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Ready to split.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
I use a large pair of shears to split along the back spine to open the cavity.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Pull the guts toward the tail but do not remove them yet. If you pull too hard the intestine will break loose and contaminate the carcass.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Now you can carefully cut the tail, anus and preen gland from the bird.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Here is your interior ready to wash out.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Both the exterior and interior are ready for a wash.

I then use a garden spigot and wash out the interior completely. Be careful as there are a couple of sharp bones in the cavity. Using a force of water will remove all the blood, lungs, and other internals easily. Wash the duck well and then you need to soak it in saltwater overnight before cooking or freezing. 

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
A high-pressure faucet does best to remove lungs and other interior parts. 

There you have it – a simple process leaving you a duck you can eat. As always you have to be careful with steel shot as it tends to break teeth. Just be careful.  

How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
Beautifully cleaned Mallard.
How to Dress a Duck – It’s Easy
And the interior is better as cleaned by splitting the body instead of reaching in and trying to pull out the guts.

There are different recipes for the brine, but I just use salt overnight. Some add brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce but feel free to add your own style. Enjoy the flavor of a Mallard you shot, cleaned, and prepared for dinner. 

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About the author: David R. Vaught, Ph.D. began hunting waterfowl at a young age due to his father being a waterfowl biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Today he hunts both public and private waterfowl grounds and is always working on something related to waterfowl throughout the year. He loves to turkey hunt and fish for walleye and crappie in the spring. David is a university professor, holds an NRA Level II coaching certification and works with youth in trap and skeet shooting in the summer with his annual trap-shooting academy.

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  • GREGORY STABRYLA January 12, 2021, 7:18 am

    Is there any way to get duck blood for soup. Can’t find it any longer.

  • Joseph N Potter January 7, 2021, 12:10 pm

    I always pressure cooked my ducks with onion salt and pepper. Served with long grain and wild rice and gravy made from the stock. Good good good.

  • Peter J. Bertini January 7, 2021, 10:37 am

    I almost fainted looking at the photos …… hahahahahaha

    I wish I ate foul and other wild meats. I would so much love to be a grizzly adams or Ted Nugent, but alas, I just don’t have what it takes.

    I’m a prepper and have all the equipment and plans ready to go on a moment’s notice, but the cowardness of hunting live game, gutting and eating it will in the end prevent me from being the man I’ve always wanted to be and prove to be my ultimate demise.

    How I envy all you guys and gals that can live this life.

    I’ll just have to live my life through reading all about everyone else’s here and other places.

  • grif January 7, 2021, 1:03 am

    Nice pictures, but a video would have been a huge plus.

  • Rock Island Auction January 5, 2021, 3:51 pm

    Much appreciated and quite helpful!

  • John January 5, 2021, 11:10 am

    I Learned this same way from my father more than 70 years ago. Cook it at 450 for 15 -20 minutes. My family are rice farmers.

  • Sgt. Pop January 5, 2021, 9:15 am

    Now that is some good information to have. Thanks, never tried it and will next time.

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