All grown up and completely gorgeous, our Muscovy ducklings are no longer ducklings! Instead, they’re trying to fly all over the garden and eating us out of house and home with their love of and obsession for chicken scratch as a snack!
So, I’ve been joking on social media that it’s time to send them to freezer camp…
but it’s not really a joke 🙂
And so, with Kitty beginning to lay eggs again (which we’re taking as an official sign she’s done caring for her ducklings), Kim culled one of the ducks last weekend as a trial run, to see how it would be and see what she felt she needed (supplies wise) in order to cull the remaining nine we’re intending to cull.
Of course, we’re keeping Red & Kitty and have also decided to keep two of their daughters (because, eggs).
So, last night was the first meal I’ve ever eaten that included duck, and it was absolutely divine!
Delicious, not oily (like everyone worries about with duck) and so very worth the few tomatoes they’ve eaten in the garden.
And so this weekend we, (with the help of a friend) will cull the remaining nine, give a couple away, sell a couple, and send the remaining few to freezer camp to feed us over the winter.
This whole raising your own meat thing is intense…
and so incredibly fulfilling in so many ways.
xoxo,
M
Just wondering, did you pluck your ducks or skin them? We have processed Muscovy’s once and they were the hardest things to pluck. Any tips or tricks on how you did yours?
Hi Nancy! We plucked the feathers and then used Hank Shaw’s way method to remove the down! We need more practice, but it was *much easier than pulling all the down by hand!!!
I’m like Norma, we can’t get ethically raised duck easily here, and the one place I could get it from are very heavy corn feeders ( we’re not fans of that ). One day I will raise my own on some land!
I hope you do a post on the cull day, especially if it’s any different to culling chooks )
Oh and speaking of chooks…our broody is up to day 8 of sitting on her eggs!! It’s so amusing to watch her race of the nest once a day and scratch, eat, poop, drink, all on high speed! Less than 2 weeks to go!! I’m worried about her as its turned cold and is raining…but I guess nature knows what it’s doing 😬
Hi Linda! I’ll definitely write a reflection on our experiences culling the ducks (we did them yesterday)! It seems as though good duck is hard to come by…everyone I’ve talked to is so excited about our ducks 🙂 I have to say, it was quite the experience, start to finish, and we will definitely do it all again next spring and summer.
I’m so excited for your hen and her clutch! Our hen has still not hatched any chicks…something’s wrong, I just haven’t had it in me to crawl under the nesting boxes and investigate all those eggs 🙁 Stay tuned.
Hope you have a lovely week!
Oh I’m sorry to read that your chicks didn’t hatch 🙁 hopefully she doesn’t break any when she’s done…pew!
I’m glad to read you’re going to hatch the ducks again next spring. Does that mean she won’t sit again this year or you won’t let her hatch again?
Love duck and your meal sure looks delicious, wish I could get good quality fresh duck.
Norma Chang recently posted…Harvest Monday, August 15, 2016 – Chinese Long Beans + Containers Harvest
Do you have a local Farmers Market nearby? I’d ask around there if anyone has duck or knows anyone who does. Often times farmers will raise small amounts of items you might not see at the market and will sell it to you if you just ask 🙂
Great ideas, thanks for the suggestion.
Norma Chang recently posted…Harvest Monday, August 22, 2016 – Container Ginger Update + More Container Harvest