# On ducks - Is "duckling" a culinary term for full-grown duck?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-ducks-is-duckling-a-culinary-term-for-full-grown-duck/342236>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 30, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-ducks-is-duckling-a-culinary-term-for-full-grown-duck/342236 "2006-01-30T18:30:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-ducks-is-duckling-a-culinary-term-for-full-grown-duck/342236/21 "2006-01-31T22:29:24Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Why can’t you get mutton in the U.S.? I ran a thread on that question but got no satisfactory answer:

While I cannot immediately provide a citation, I would guess that in most markets one cannot buy mutton in the U.S. because U.S. culinary tastes do not consider it “good eatin’” and there is simply not a sufficient market to establish a steady supply. (Horse, dog, and a few other critters that are eaten outside the U.S. fall into the same category.)

The USDA _does_ have [standards for mutton (with the lamb standards)](http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/stand/standards/lamb-car.pdf) (.pdf) and not, that I can find, for horses, indicating that some mutton must be sold in the U.S., but it would probably be a specialty market in regions where traditional local custom or ethnic tradition supports enough sales to make it worthwhile.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-ducks-is-duckling-a-culinary-term-for-full-grown-duck/342236/22 "2006-02-01T02:49:50Z")

</div>

> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Or even goose?

BION I have never actually cooked a goose but they have them in the frozen section of the local Giant, and I have eaten one for Christmas dinner. But you won’t find gosling next to the duckling.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-ducks-is-duckling-a-culinary-term-for-full-grown-duck/342236.md?page=1)