Ducks!

[baymule]

The ducks are 3 weeks and a couple of days old now. They are huge. I made them a shelter with a pallet on 4 plastic milk crates and stapled 2 plastic feed sacks on the pallet to waterproof it and gave them some shade. They quickly outgrew their outside brooder, so I had to give them some more room. I made them feeders with plastic milk jugs. I cut 2 holes in each side and can put about 1/2 gallon of feed in each one. THEY EAT!

DH came in the other morning almost in tears. A duck crawled into the milk jug to get that last crumble during the night and got stuck. It's little wings were stuck out each hole and it was upside down in the milk jug. It looked dead. Concerned, he opened the pen and went in to investigate. When the duck heard him, it started screaming PEEP!PEEP!PEEP!PEEP!PEEP! and all the rest chorused in unison PEEP!PEEP!PEEP! PEEP! all screaming their little duckie lungs out. DH picked up the milk jug and the poor stuck duck's little flappy feet were beating a tap dance on the milk jug, but it wasn't going anywhere. DH gently pushed the wings back in the jug and got the duckie out. PEEP!PEEP!PEEP!PEEP! DH was laughing so hard he could hardly tell me about the duckie.

It is pouring down rain, lightening and thundering. Most of the ducks are under their shelter, but 4-5 of them obviously don't have sense to come out of the rain. DH and I keep looking out the back door at them. While I was watching, the last holdouts finally went under the shelter. Then the little stinkers came right back out in the rain. Hail started falling. The rain drenched dummies finally decided since the rain has lumps in it, they would go under the pallet shelter.

The hail stopped and the whole crew all came running out in the pouring rain to.........get a drink of water! Really? Really you dumb duckies? Pouring cats and dogs and you want a drink of WATER?? Then they all ran back to their shelter. Lightening, thunder, monsoon rain and they are once again gathered around the water fountain like a bunch of office workers exchanging the latest gossip. They run back and forth like a bunch of idiots.

The rain is already clearing out. It came in hard, fast and hailing. It is still raining, but not very hard. Lightening is still striking and Polly our Australian Shepherd in curled up in sheer panic between our recliners, drooling and shaking. And the ducks? Back at the water fountain, gossiping.

 

[journey11]

They sound like unruly children!

 

[baymule]

They are certainly entertaining!

 

[bobm]

Bay ... that is perfect DUCK weather don't you know !

 

[baymule]

So like overnight, the 3 Runners have tiny fawn feathers on their breast and wings. I can see fawn pinfeathers on their tails.

 

[baymule]

Dummy Ducks, WE ARE GOING TO EAT YOU!!! They are soooooo stupid. I don't think I'll have the slightest twinge when I send them to freezer camp. I feed and water them twice a day and they still stampede to the corner, trampling all over each other, in a panic to get away from me. And now they are quacking, so they are stupid, loud and annoying. But they are amusing to watch as long as we sit on the deck and don't get too close to the pen.

They waste a lot of feed, so this evening I put 7 hens in their pen and the "chicken clean up crew" got right to work. They pecked the spilled feed, scratched up the wet soggy leaves I am using for litter and spruced up the place a bit. The ducks stampeded to their corner, screaming. They finally got brave and one crested duck even pecked several hens. Then he pecked Robin, the Queen of the Roost. Dummy Duck, wrong thing to do. She lit into him and he ran for his life.

@TheSeedObsesser I might need some advice on how to send them to that Duckie Pond in the Sky. I put the chickens in a cone and cut their throat and let them bleed out. Do I do the same thing with the ducks or is it better to chop their heads off? You mentioned that you are the lucky one who gets to butcher the family ducks, so maybe you could do a tutorial thread next time you provide duck for dinner.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

I don't have much experience when it comes to different ways to slaughter, but I am an expert ax user. ("Off with their heads!") The benefits of of cutting chickens' throats come for ducks too. Same benefits: easier to pluck, more tender meat, etc. - the only difference might be that you would need a bigger killing cone for the ducks. Duck necks are thick when compared to chicken's, so cutting their throats might actually turn out to be easier. I've considered cutting their throats or maybe piercing their brains but using the ax just seems so easy and simple, maybe next time. (Although the killing cones might be impractical when it comes to geese.)

What do you think when it comes to cutting their throats vs. the ax?

 

[baymule]

@TheSeedObsesser before I butchered 9 roosters from a straight run chick purchase, I researched the most humane way to send them to that great Coop in the Sky. The killing cone seemed to be the most humane, least stressful, so that is what I did. But if that would work as well for the ducks is something I don't know. I might have to try it both ways to see what works the best. How hard are Pekins to pluck at 8-12 weeks? I am counting down the time left on these hysterical idiots. (sounds awful, but it's true)

They are eating their heads off like pigs at the feed trough. I can definitely see how it would be better to have room for them to forage, for their own happiness and for the feed bill as well. I supplement them with greens, dandelions and weeds from the garden. Maybe when I get the duck population down to just the 3 runners, I can give them the run of the yard.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

8 - 12 weeks? Your testing my brain aren't you? If they have their complete adult coat of feathers in, I'll say that one should take as long to pluck as two chickens - maybe three as it's hard to get all of the down out and it's your first time plucking a duck. For fully - grown chickens the feathers can almost be peeled off (if dipped), not the same for ducks. Do you dip your birds in boiling water before you pluck them? What I would do is dry - pluck them as best as you can first (the feathers from the main body, as much of the down as possible) and then I would give them a quick dip in the hot water to get (most) of the rest of the down off. If your ducks are as big as I think they are (I don't pay great attention to size compared to age) then it will be hard to get the rest of the down off. We just leave the little bit of down that left on, we don't eat the skin (I actually do, but my appetite is just about un-spoilable. The skin is surprisingly good, depending on how the bird is prepared.) Even though I have plucked many ducks, I have still not gotten much better. Good luck, hopefully I didn't scare you too much!

Their dumb antics are fun to watch, but boy can they wreck stuff!

 

[baymule]

@TheSeedObsesser thanks for the advice! When that time rolls around, I am going to start with two, so I don't overload myself. I haven't plucked my chickens, I have skinned them. They have been 4 month old cockerels and old laying hens, so I boiled them for rooster salad and soups. I don't want to skin the ducks, so we'll see how it goes.