Following on from my blood fest frenzy last weekend (see here) Rosie, my land lady and I rounded up the 9 ducks she has and got them prepped for the pot and freezer. Another life experience for me. Wasn't quite the same as the rabbits were last week but I was still able to cope. The only thing I would do differently would be to have a decent breakfast before I started. More about that later though.
Rosie and Simon's place is a small holding where they raise small animal livestock to supplement and provide for themselves along with home grown veggies, they also run an Eco friendly gite business. It's an idyllic lifestyle and one I am keen to learn more about, but they're also not afraid to adopt something from the 20th century can make a job easier such as a plucking machine.
So once the duck's necks were broken and throats slit they were hanging to bleed. We did four to start with. Each one was carried over to a big cauldron pot that was just short of boiling and the entire bird dipped in head first for 20 seconds, then it was taken to the plucking machine (the 20th century time saving device). This is a pretty brutal machine but does a great job of taking most of the feathers off. I think the pre-dipping really must be the secret to its success.
After each bird was dipped and machine plucked it was hung to dry a bit then we hand plucked the finer down off the birds. Apparently doing this in the summer makes less mess because the birds haven't grown their winter down coats yet. Rosie was really pleased with the speed of plucking compared to last December in the freezing cold with fluff everywhere.
After the first four were done we went back for the last five. One poor duck must have had an inkling for what was going on because it had got in with the turkeys and was huddled amongst them hoping to blend in. Credit where it's due, for a birdbrain it was pretty clever thinking. So we rounded up the last few and carried them to the barn for dispatching. Ever had to carry 4 ducks by their feet? They get heavy after a while. So Rosie did her one and was able to take each one off of me out of my aching hands. I was worried I'd drop one and then we'd have a chase on our hands catching it again.
There was only one shock moment when she broke the neck of one and its head hung from just the skin on the neck, the bones had separated entirely. So slitting its throat with one of my sharp knives just went clean through, off came the head and the suddenly thrashing bird meant she got sprayed, as did the barn and surrounding area including the next village. The bird was quite dead it's just the nerves kicking in. Poor Rosie looked like she'd stepped off the set of some dodgy 80's slasher movie. Rosie's made of sterner stuff thogh and carried on regardless.
I don't know what it was but this time I declined to kill these birds and after the 7th bird I was plucking I was getting "uneasy". I wasn't wimping out, I just didn't feel right, not queasy either, I can't really describe it in words but after the 9th and last bird was plucked and in the fridge I opted out of the gutting part. By then I had had enough. Like I said earlier maybe if I'd had breakfast and the full stomach might have made me feel better, maybe it was the wet feathers and slimy skin underneath that made me feel uncomfortable, I dunno. But Rosie did the gutting while I was elsewhere cleaning up the mess.
So, as with the rabbits, I have been invited to a roast duck meal sometime soon.
As has been said in the rabbit dispatching thread I posted - Meat eaters ought to experience this, even if only on a peripheral level, you get a greater appreciation of what is involved in getting meat on your plate. I wouldn't want these experiences erased from my mind, I'm glad I have seen what I have seen and I have learned enormously from this... which is why I am trying in my thumb-fingered way to share them with you folks.
One word of advice though, have breakfast before you do any of it.
Thanks for reading.
Aaron
Rosie and Simon's place is a small holding where they raise small animal livestock to supplement and provide for themselves along with home grown veggies, they also run an Eco friendly gite business. It's an idyllic lifestyle and one I am keen to learn more about, but they're also not afraid to adopt something from the 20th century can make a job easier such as a plucking machine.
So once the duck's necks were broken and throats slit they were hanging to bleed. We did four to start with. Each one was carried over to a big cauldron pot that was just short of boiling and the entire bird dipped in head first for 20 seconds, then it was taken to the plucking machine (the 20th century time saving device). This is a pretty brutal machine but does a great job of taking most of the feathers off. I think the pre-dipping really must be the secret to its success.
After each bird was dipped and machine plucked it was hung to dry a bit then we hand plucked the finer down off the birds. Apparently doing this in the summer makes less mess because the birds haven't grown their winter down coats yet. Rosie was really pleased with the speed of plucking compared to last December in the freezing cold with fluff everywhere.
After the first four were done we went back for the last five. One poor duck must have had an inkling for what was going on because it had got in with the turkeys and was huddled amongst them hoping to blend in. Credit where it's due, for a birdbrain it was pretty clever thinking. So we rounded up the last few and carried them to the barn for dispatching. Ever had to carry 4 ducks by their feet? They get heavy after a while. So Rosie did her one and was able to take each one off of me out of my aching hands. I was worried I'd drop one and then we'd have a chase on our hands catching it again.
There was only one shock moment when she broke the neck of one and its head hung from just the skin on the neck, the bones had separated entirely. So slitting its throat with one of my sharp knives just went clean through, off came the head and the suddenly thrashing bird meant she got sprayed, as did the barn and surrounding area including the next village. The bird was quite dead it's just the nerves kicking in. Poor Rosie looked like she'd stepped off the set of some dodgy 80's slasher movie. Rosie's made of sterner stuff thogh and carried on regardless.
I don't know what it was but this time I declined to kill these birds and after the 7th bird I was plucking I was getting "uneasy". I wasn't wimping out, I just didn't feel right, not queasy either, I can't really describe it in words but after the 9th and last bird was plucked and in the fridge I opted out of the gutting part. By then I had had enough. Like I said earlier maybe if I'd had breakfast and the full stomach might have made me feel better, maybe it was the wet feathers and slimy skin underneath that made me feel uncomfortable, I dunno. But Rosie did the gutting while I was elsewhere cleaning up the mess.
So, as with the rabbits, I have been invited to a roast duck meal sometime soon.
As has been said in the rabbit dispatching thread I posted - Meat eaters ought to experience this, even if only on a peripheral level, you get a greater appreciation of what is involved in getting meat on your plate. I wouldn't want these experiences erased from my mind, I'm glad I have seen what I have seen and I have learned enormously from this... which is why I am trying in my thumb-fingered way to share them with you folks.
One word of advice though, have breakfast before you do any of it.
Thanks for reading.
Aaron
(can we do some Alo Alo jokes now please!!!)
