Chickens are usually the first livestock raw homesteaders learn to nurture and litigate for meat . Broiler types , like the Cornish cross , have been spawn to have luminosity feathering that is easy to pluck . They also plump out quickly and are very economical to raise .
However , if you are ready to move beyond broiler chickens , why not see duck ? Despite what you may have hear , in the right circumstances , ducks can also be very economical to bring up and keep as a ego - sustaining meat generator .
Processing ducks takes a few moment longer than processing broilers . However , if you are prepared to put in just a little more work , you could enjoy expensive , gourmet delicacies like duck prosciutto , rillette , liver pâté , Sir Francis Bacon , confit , return duck’s egg adipose tissue , and more for a fraction of the cost at home .
The canonical step used to work ducks are very interchangeable to processing a chicken . However , there are some significant differences you need to be cognizant of before you start .
allow ’s go through some old - prison term , low tech ways of doing it , and some more modern methods to help you make a plan for processing at home .
Old Time Homestead Processing
If you want to process ducks as our homesteading ancestors would have , it ’s very simple . When you want to eat duck meat , you go out and foot out one for harvest .
Step 1: Make the Kill
Since ducks have long , thin necks that are easy to fall apart , you could hold their body in the felon of your arm . Then use your dominant hand to pull and twist the cervix until it breaks .
Then if you wriggle another two times , the head will come off . At that compass point , support the duck by its feet and let the blood drain out through the open cervix .
Alternatively , you may take the duck to your firewood chop block and utilize your hatchet to break up the chief . This is a bit harder to do than breaking the cervix because you must pin the duck’s egg to the block and manoeuver the tomahawk carefully .
verify to keep your paw out of the way . Also , make certain you get enough force behind the hatchet to make a blank kill . A meat cleaver can also be used if you favour .
you could either rapidly collect the duck’s egg by its feet to aid in permit the blood flow out . Or you’re able to just bequeath the duck to hemorrhage out on the chopping pulley . The duck’s egg carcase may move a substantial amount after death . So , make indisputable the domain is clear around the hack block .
Step 2: De-Feather
Now you could pluck out the feathers . Dry rob a duck is a tedious task . you’re able to pull some by clumps . However , other feathers such as on the wing and tail are so deeply embedded that you have to plunk them individually .
wry plucking select a half - hour or more . Also , you will probably do important price to the peel . So , do n’t bear the skin to be smooth like you see serve up in fancy restaurant .
Because dry hustle a duck is so much work , some people just sputter the snort . This get rid of the skin and the feathers at once .
To scrape a duck , you ’ll need a sharp knife with a near point . I rule it easiest to come out my cut at the neck opening where the skin is loose after the head removal .
Then , you’re able to cut a scratch down the neck , like opening a seam . After that , utilise the tip of the tongue to poke into and lick the pelt off of the essence from there . The process pack a few minutes .
It ’s also substantially done by someone extremely comfy with using a knife . citizenry prone to cutting themselves while chop vegetables on a cutting board will likely have serious trouble and safety challenges doing this .
Step 3: Eviscerate
Once you have the feathers out of the fashion you need to remove the viscera ( gut or innards ) .
The hard part of disembowelment is make certain you do n’t nick the bowel when take away the venthole or kick downstairs the bile theca when take out it from the liver . Otherwise , it ’s just a matter of taking the prison term to do a good job .
Here are the steps I use for disembowelment :
Here is a video to show you these basic steps .
It normally take 2 - 3 hour to eviscerate a duck . However , the video is 7 minutes long because I exaggerated the step to demonstrate what ’s going on each stride of the way . This way of life you’re able to follow along if you require while processing your own duck .
Also , observe , I was running late to feed my livestock and start dinner when I recorded this video recording . So , I did n’t finish to sharpen my knife .
Clearly , vernal duck is so tender that you’re able to even do this with a blunt knife . Still , trust me , it ’s much well-situated with a sharp one !
Step 4: Cook and Eat
At this full stop , homesteaders of the yesteryear would have just cooked that duck up for dinner party . They might have use up some cold for tiffin and dinner tomorrow too .
Modern Homestead Duck Processing
As modern homesteaders , we have other options in how we serve and use our ducks . permit ’s take a looking at some of the thing forward-looking homesteaders do differently .
The first place we often differ is in the kill . Today many people , who are accustomed to killing chicken in a kill cone , will habituate the same unconscious process for duck .
The main reasons we habituate kill cone for processing chicken these days are to :
Unfortunately , these things are n’t entirely true when processing duck . So , before you resolve to apply a kill cone for ducks , consider this .
Kill cones are incredible for volaille because when you hang a chicken upside down , its organs beseech up against the lungs . This decelerate the oxygen flow to the nous making them serene and more sluggish . Since they ca n’t think clearly , they are n’t as afraid .
This isabsolutely not truefor the duck we bring up for sum . They are “ dilettante ” who are designed by nature to routinely put their heads upside down underwater for long periods of sentence without losing oxygen catamenia .
Kill cone do not melt off their stress at the sentence of death in the same elbow room it does for chickens . In fact , it might in reality increase it because it can add a few minutes to the processing metre just strain to secure them in the cone .
Unless you are skilled at swiftly getting them in and securing them in the retinal cone , it can be very nerve-wracking for you and dread for them . Frankly , I find duck’s egg to be less try if I simply pick them up and dampen their neck .
They are usually gone before they have time to file that I am hold them . There are very fiddling stress and fear for either of us .
I know that lots of mass are n’t comfortable with neck opening - break . Also , some people do n’t wield enough force play for a light break and may take several attempt to ruin a neck . So , in many cases , a putting to death cone will be the most humanist way to sue a duck’s egg .
How to Use a Kill Cone to Process Ducks
Put the duck’s egg headlong into the kill cone . rip their head through the bottom . lastly , use a sharp tongue to slit their jugular and carotid arteries on both sides of the neck .
In this cause , it isextremelyimportant to have a verysharp knifeready before you make the killing . You will need to use the side of the brand to raise up some of the feather . Then make cryptic cuts , near to the bone so that the blood begins flowing quickly once cut .
If you want to use a kill cone , then keep these tips in mind to make it quick and less nerve-racking .
For most meat ducks , you need a bombastic - sized kill cone . These cost a few dollars more than a Gallus gallus cone . However , if you attempt to use one design for chickens and not for ducks , you ’ll have a hard time fitting them in the cone cell .
Even non - flying duck have wide , powerful wings . They can very easy use them to back out of the kill cone and get out .
When they do , they might damage their wings or bruise their muscleman , have the carcase less gracious for you . Not to mention you ’ll have to cover with the stress of chasing them down . Plus , their stress and fright will make the meat try less desirable .
rather , keep a hand on the duck ’s back , securing it in the strobilus until you have complete control of the neck opening . Then , you may use the neck to keep the duck from gage out of the cone while you do the deed .
Ducks have more feathers and thicker cutis than chickens . ensure to cut deep to hit the jugular and carotid arteries on both sides . Once you see rakehell spurt quickly from both side , it will take about twice as foresighted for a duck’s egg to die as it does for a chicken .
If the blood is not flowing fast , you likely pretermit or did n’t thin out deeply enough . When in doubt , cut again rather than wait to see if you did or did n’t get it right . you’re able to even remove the entire chief to be certain .
Even after you have a good bleed , some ducks will endeavor to escape right on to the bitter remnant . As such , they can back or twinge out of the cone while bleeding out .
Control the neck opening until you are certain a duck’s egg has transcend . That room they do n’t have to tolerate needlessly . Also , the carcase is n’t damage in the process .
to boot , you could direct that lineage flow into a bucketful of water to use as fertilizer . Or you could direct it into the straw to compost . stemma is an excellent nitrogen source for plants .
Scalding
Another thing that advanced homesteaders do to make plucking feathers easier is to apply some seed of heat to soften the follicle around the feathers prior to plucking . The caper with this is to get the skin warm , but not to cook it .
Scalding is my pet method .
For chickens , you may scald at 130 - 135 ° F , but for duck 155 ° F seems to put to work better . Also , chickens only take a minute or less , but for duck , it can take 2 - 3 minutes for their follicles to soften .
The cay is to move the duck lightly up and down in the mint , so the hot water gets under the downlike plumage . Also , keep checking the feathers because they get mild then start to fix and harden . If you are n’t paying attention , you could overlook the window and gear up the feathers .
Paraffin and Singeing
Other way to get the skin ardent is with paraffin or singeing .
Singeing is done with a blowtorchor burning shuck . Paraffin is essentially similar to the idea of waxing your branch .
I have never used either of these methods for break plumage follicle . They both seem horrendous to me . Even so , some people blaspheme by them .
Other Considerations Before you Process Ducks
There are a few other matter to consider when processing ducks .
1. Withholding Food
Some people withhold food for 8 - 12 hr prior to processing . If you are a professional processor , solid food withholding is usually require .
in person , I march in the first light before duck eat . This way their crop and intestines are already mostly empty . Or I let ducks forage like normal and only utilize a little bagged feed to lure them to me so I can capture them .
As you fancy in the eviscerating TV , the crop and intestines should come out inviolate so there ’s petty chance of release . However , it can be harder to loosen up and move out a stuffed full crop . As such , hop-skip heavy alimentation prior to processing is a ripe idea .
2. Feather Window
I have also learn the term “ feather window ” . I have not found this magical opening for easy plucking . Still , I do receive it much comfortable to roll when duck’s egg are fully feathered .
If you attempt to pull off during molts , there are always some part get feathers that are hard to grab . You may even have to get your tweezers out .
So , if you are processing untested ducks , who go through two feather revolutions , wait until their feathers are filled in and legato . Do n’t seek to process them in one of their gawky in - between stages .
These “ windows ” diverge by breed because they are based on when duck size up and outgrow their old feathers . Just look at your duck .
If they are fully feathered , and at the right system of weights , you ’re good to process . If not , hold off until the plumage eat up occur in or have the pair of tweezers ready .
For matured ducks , beware of the nuptialmoltsand wing moulting . The exact timing of these molts depends on weather and environmental consideration .
It ’s also easier to pluck in belated bound or early summer after ducks have lost many of their downy feather and before they put on a Modern thick wintertime pelage .
3. Processing Multiple Ducks
I used to hand appendage ducks to sell at the Fannie Farmer market . It took me about 20 minutes per duck start to terminate include cutting them up for the promotion .
However , on any given day , I find doing more than 10 ducks was just exhausting . Now I will serve one as involve for dinner .
Or I ’ll work on 3 - 4 at once if I have some time to make gourmet items like duck rillette , confit , or prosciutto or bacon . To make those items , it really works out well if you have several duck to put to work with at the same time .
4. Mind Set before Processing Ducks
One final consideration , on when to work , is your State Department of mind . Killing animals , though necessary if you want to run through meat , does cause some genial emphasis . I treat is a sacred act and do everything in my power to check that thing go well .
For example , I only process when I am rested , healthy , and mentally ready for the work ahead . Or if I have lots of other stressful thing hold up on , I might put off processing until I can get some of it under control .
Sometimes you have no choice about when you process . However , if you may plan ahead , and be in unspoiled form for doing the caper , by all odds do !
Then , make trusted to take account every bite of that duck you raised , processed , and prepare entirely on your homestead .
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