OK, since nobody wants to buy any ducks we decided it is time to slaughter some ducks to reduce the rapidly growing population! Our butcher for today was Bebe, a guy who has a lot of experience as butcher of a variety of animals: chicken, goat, cow, pig and snake. Bebe said that he can slaughter 15 ducks in one day! But for now, we asked him to slaughter 8 ducks. These ducks will be part of our meals over the next several weeks.
Previously, it was Terry who butchered our ducks. This time having the expert, we learned lots of interesting things — for sure, Bebe is much faster and thus accomplished a very humane way of duck slaughter. He also advises not to put the un-plucked carcass in cold water but rather to put it in boiling water immediately after slaughter. This method ensures that there is no off or overpowering gamey taste in the duck meat.
Bebe’s wife, Penny helped pluck the ducks. This is meticulous work since ducks have very fine feathers. I have also asked Penny to catch the ducks for slaughter, telling her who to slaughter and who NOT to slaughter! Daddy Duck and the best duck hens are not slaughtered, neither Twisty nor the black and brown coloured duck pairs we purchased from another duck farm in a nearby village. It would be horrific if the wrong ducks were slaughtered!
Lunch and dinner are two version of duck stew with vegetables. I find this to be the best way to cook the less meaty sections of the duck such as the wings, backbone and neck. The legs and breast will be prepared as confit.
We still have a lot of ducklings — about 17 of them — which will soon be placed in the fattening pen. There are also a good number of ducks laying eggs and duck eggs are large, delicious and nutritious. The fact that ducks are so easy to raise for food makes them a very ideal part of a self-sufficient and self-sustainable homestead.
So if you’re interested in getting some ducks — particularly duckling — just let us know, before they get fattened and butchered in the next couple of months! Duckduck! ?
