How many feathers are there on a duck?

Answer: Waaaaay too many!

Today was a cold, blustery day that belonged in March, not May. It didn't get much above 50 degrees, and sleeted off and on until about noon.

It was also butchering day for the ducks.

If you recall from past posts, I have brought my chickens a few towns over to be butchered, cleaned and packaged, ready for the freezer in a couple of hours. I had planned to do the same with my ducks. Less mess all around. But upon calling, I discovered that they do not butcher ducks--so I was on my own.

The ducks turned 8 weeks old this week, so it was either take care of business today or wait until they were 6 to 10 months old (after feathering out for the first time, ducks immediately begin molting and become un-pluckable for several months). Since I don't have the space or the inclination to keep ducks until December, I rounded up my canning pot, some loppers, some rope, and set to work.

I won't kid you: Killing an animal isn't pleasant. The goal is to accomplish that act quickly and humanely, and I think I did pretty well. It's a bloody, messy act, but it really connects you intimately with your animal, and the future meal that it will become. Plucking, on the other hand, is tedious, time-consuming, and frankly irritating. Ducks have four kinds of feathers, all of which are hard to pull out, stick to everything, and finally need to be singed off. Burning feathers is a very unpleasant smell! In the end, I had three not-neatly plugged ducks which are now aging in the refrigerator for the prescribed 36 hours. After this time, I will rewrap them and place them in the deep freeze to be enjoyed later. I am certain that they will taste absolutely delicious, and I can tell my guests: Yes, I knew this bird intimately, and boy howdy, does he taste wonderful!