[pegs]

Hi all,

This post describes a useful method of killing ducks. Please don't read any further if you find the thought distressing or are squeamish. I don't want to offend anyone.

We have just undertaken our first 'duck-death' as poultry keepers. Surprisingly although there was quite a bit of information on the web on killing and gutting chickens I didn't find any advice relating to domestic ducks. My book Starting with Ducks was strangely reticent on the all important Ending bit.

The advice that we DID get was varied and from friends, and friends of friends. The approach we chose seemed to work well and not cause too much unnecessary trauma to the ducks (or humans) involved. It did take TWO PEOPLE, though it might be possible to do with just one.

SO if you are ever thinking of converting your lovely layers, or superfluous drakes into dinner the following seems to be a good approach. Muntjac advises slaughtering chickens around 48 hours before you wish to eat them and the same applies to ducks as their muscles need to relax again from the initial rigor mortis before cooking.

1. separate off ducks from their usual source of food (if free range), in a smaller pen area at least six hours before due to slaughter. The smaller pen area makes for easier catching later.

2. Ensure they still have access to plenty of water.

3. Sharpen axe. And find a chopping block. Find a suitable blanket/folded old sheet to cover their wings, a blunt instrument and a bucket.

4. When the time comes, approach the birds calmly speaking to them and place blanket as firmly as possible around their upper body, trapping their wings. Cup their neck and under body gently but firmly. Don't throw the blanket at them as they will panic. Ours were pretty untame and so it took a few goes. I found it helpful not to look directly at them until the last minute and then I was able to get much closer.

5. Then I held the duck (still in the sheet) by its feet with it's head hanging down and hubby bonked it firmly on the head with a rolling pin so that it was stunned. This had the effect of making the duck straighten it's neck and hold its head forward which made the next bit much easier.

6. I held the duck's body and positioned its now stiff and still neck over the chopping block and the magnificent man (he wrote that)  did the deadly deed. Try to chop close to the head  as the neck makes a fantastic stock.

7. Then hold the bird over your bucket by the feet (the blanket is redundant at this point) to let as much blood as possible flow out. The bird will twitch and arch it's neck for a good few minutes which is very disconcerting.

8. Pluck the bird immediately starting with the wings as they go cold quickest. We only plucked to the first wing joint and then removed the rest of the wing when preparing it for cooking. Don't worry too much about tiny small feathers on the tail either as you will cut that off later too

9. Singe off any remaining hairs with a blow torch (we used our camping gas cooker which was just fine)

10. Hang for 48 hours or so

We prepared for cooking the night before. It is pretty simple too and goes like this:

1. Cut a circle just above the 'knee' joint of the leg. Bend backwards to snap joint. Grab foot firmly and pull as though trying to bring the tendons with it. Doesn't matter if a few stay behind.

2. Cut off wing. Some people say do at the base but we just did it at the first wing joint so there was some wing left on the carcass

3. Cut off neck as close to base as possible. Skin and place in bowl for keeping.

4. Cut of tail/bum area.

5. Lay duck on its back. Make sharp incision below breast bone in line towards their bum, piercing skin but not so deep that you peirce any intestines or such.

6. Pull apart skin. with a clean hand reach up and over all the internal organs and try and remove in one pull. Make sure to get the oesophagus pulled through from neck area. Keep the heart and liver to one side for frying up separately (make sure doesn't get any nasties from gall bladder - I think -  on it).

7. Flip onto breast and reach your hand in to run your finger's along the inside of the duck's back to get the lungs (two bright red areas). That took a few goes with one of ours.

8. Rinse through with water. If need be go back and make sure the neck is fully removed. Tuck in skin at neck and bum ends. We did a second singeing with camping gas for good measure.

Voila canard pret a rotir. Yum Yum...

[Leaf]

well done, was that your first Kill/Clean?
The "lights" or lungs, are the hardest bits to get out, they look like sponge, and always stick between the ribs, important you get them out as they are poisenous once cooked.
Now geese, thats a different story!

[pegs]

Thanks, it was our first kill AND clean - I had plucked and gutted a chicken last year whil e my husband hid up the end of the garden.

My friend reckons everyone that eats meat should be made to do this as part of a carnivore's licence. Not sure how well it would take off but I certainly feel like I've earned mine.

The lungs were really hard on one of them. My husband kept saying not to worry about them but I had a feeling they might not  be healthy ..so glad I bothered.

Geese sounds scary to me...

[digby]

My Dad plucked a goose once, apparently you have to iron it to keep the fat warm as there is so much fat and it goes cold very quickly.

[Leaf]

i dont, i just pluck away, depends on age of bird, i normally do about 20 a season, takes between 45 mins to an hour.

[digby]

i dont, i just pluck away, depends on age of bird, i normally do about 20 a season, takes between 45 mins to an hour.

Perhaps my Dad was just particularly slow, He usually does Pheasants.