The Complete Homestead Duck Guide
(Page 7 of 9)
One other caution . . . there's only one time a duck doesn't take to water: Homehatched and/or-brooded babies should be kept out of the rain and not allowed to swim until they're six weeks old, because their down won't shed water and they can easily become chilled. If your babies are brooded by a mother duck, however, this is no problem ... since the oil from her feathers will rub off onto their fluff and give the little ones some protection.
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DUCKS ON THE RANGE
Four-week-old ducklings may be let out to range in a pen—a fenced yard, 15' X 20', can accommodate 20 ducklings or eight mature birds—and their partial freedom will alleviate any space problems you may have and permit the quackers to forage for part of their food.
After the young ducks are completely feathered out, they may be allowed to roam ... but the growing birds should—until they reach full maturity—still be fed three times a day at regular intervals and have a constant source of clean water available. You must also provide some sort of lean-to, so the "adolescents" can get away from sudden storms.
Full feathering also means that—if the birds weren't pinioned when they were a day old—the feathers on the tip of one wing should be clipped enough to keep your fowl from flying away.
POULTRY PROCESSING
Slaughtering is never a pleasant task, but it's the only way to get homegrown duck an orange on your table. Besides, young ducks are about the tenderest fowl you can eat . . . and even older birds (particularly Muscovies) have a wonderful flavor all their own.
However, when eyeing your ducks for dinner, remember that a bird heavily into a molt is nearly impossible to pluck. This job is easiest just after the first feathering. Mallard derivatives are generally too tough to eat after 17 months, and Muscovies—which mature later—become "stringy" after they reach an age of 20 months.
Confine the to-be-butchered bird for at least one night without food, but with plenty of water. When the fateful day comes, you can lay the duck on a block . . . hold it with a steady grip (or solicit help for that job) . . . and chop off its head. Like chickens, ducks will flop around for a minute or so after they're killed—and this activity can bruise the skin—so tie your bird up by the feet immediately to let it bleed, or throw a cardboard box over the duck to keep it contained.
Other folks think the best solution is to hang the duck by its feet and sever the neck just beneath the lower bill. When the bleeding ceases, you can cool the bird quickly in the refrigerator and pick it while it's dry if you want to preserve the feathers and down.
WANNA PLUCK A DUCK?
Killing, of course, only takes a few minutes . . . but you can count on an hour or so of steady work when you pluck and eviscerate a duck. Scalding, a method which some folks prefer, may reduce the quality of the meat and doesn't work as well on ducks—which have watershedding feathers—as it does on chickens. Also, if you leave the bird in boiling water too long, its skin will tear easily.
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