Duck butchering went well yesterday. I picked the two white drakes out of the bunch while they were still inside their hooch, and trailered them down to the house in a wire dog crate where they hung out until early afternoon. The weather was perfect – 63 degrees and sunny – so no cold fingers nor any flies.
We noted that the first bird plucked easier than the second; we think because we scalded it longer. There wasn’t any problem with skin tearing, so next time I’ll probably swish a little longer in the hot water before cooling them in the ice water.
I’ll be getting a tool to help scrape out the cavity, too, as that was a little difficult with their long bodies. The livers look wonderful, can’t wait to cook them up. Both birds are “relaxing” in the fridge in their vacuum-sealed bags, the one to be roasted on Thursday and the other to start the freezer flock. They dressed out right around 5 lbs each. Perfect.
Thistledog's Farm 