Butchered first drake, had some questions

[Floof]

So I just butchered my first drake. I have too many and lost 3 girls recently (just vanished but I'm hoping they're hiding brooding somewhere) so my remaining females are looking really overworked. I watched lots of videos and read everything I could find. I settled on the broomstick method and it took 3 tries before it actually severed his spine despite gently stretching out the neck and then giving a strong pull. I heard small pops the first 2 times but still had to try a third. Was I just not pulling hard enough? Did I pull at the wrong angle possibly? I have 5 more to butcher and don't want to cause any unnecessary suffering. Once the deed was done and he stopped flapping about I carried him back down the hill and scalded him with some soapy water to pluck. It took forever but I expected that. When I went to remove his innards I worked everything out and was able to identify most of the insides but the testicles were ENORMOUS. I'm talking like the size of an apple each! Is that normal? I don't think I can convince my family to eat them but should I roast them up for my dog or cat? Also, I wasn't sure what to do about the gland at the tail so I ended up just cutting off the tail which is sad because I love roasted turkey tails. Is there a way to remove the preening gland neatly while leaving the tail intact?

I'm not looking forward to doing this again tomorrow but I appreciate all the help and advice this community has to offer.

 

[BReeder!]

I don't know the broomstick method. Sounds like it relies on pulling to break the spine and nerves in it. They sounds brutal to me. I use a log as a chopping block and an ax. A good cleaver works too. I cut a hole in the corner of a feed bag. The bag goes over the duck like a cloak with its head and keck sticking out the hole. This keeps wings from flapping. I hold the duck horizontally and allow it to rest its head on the log (the flat cut side up). Then with an ax in my other hand I make a clean, hard strike at the neck. My goal isn't to just cut the neck, but to get the ax intro the wood. That way I ensure it's a clean kill with one swing. Too light with the swing of the ax and the duck might just get injured and then suffer. If this does happen, suck it up and swing again right away so the animal doesn't suffer long. A second person holding the duck allows you more control of the ax and your swing - I don't get that luxury though since DW isn't a fan of the killing. She will help pluck though which gives my hands a rest.

Now for the plucking, I use a turkey fryer to boil water. It's a big pot on a propane burner. Works great. I just use water. Not sure what the soap is for in your setup. I would say it's not necessary. Be sure the water is hot bot not boiling. I attach a hook to a foot. This allows me to dunk, pull out and hang without touching really hot water. I also have to redunk sometimes to finish plucking and the hoom makes that easy since I don't have to untie the bird from a rope or something.

Testicles like an apple is impressive. I don't recall my drakes' being so well-endowed. Lol.

The tail, I too just remove it. I've considered trying to remove the glands and smoke the tails. We use smoke turkey trails in beans and other cooking and I think duck would be lovely but I heat decided it wasn't worth the effort of removing the glands.

 

[Floof]

I don't know the broomstick method. Sounds like it relies on pulling to break the spine and nerves in it. They sounds brutal to me. I use a log as a chopping block and an ax. A good cleaver works too. I cut a hole in the corner of a feed bag. The bag goes over the duck like a cloak with its head and keck sticking out the hole. This keeps wings from flapping. I hold the duck horizontally and allow it to rest its head on the log (the flat cut side up). Then with an ax in my other hand I make a clean, hard strike at the neck. My goal isn't to just cut the neck, but to get the ax intro the wood. That way I ensure it's a clean kill with one swing. Too light with the swing of the ax and the duck might just get injured and then suffer. If this does happen, suck it up and swing again right away so the animal doesn't suffer long. A second person holding the duck allows you more control of the ax and your swing - I don't get that luxury though since DW isn't a fan of the killing. She will help pluck though which gives my hands a rest.

Now for the plucking, I use a turkey fryer to boil water. It's a big pot on a propane burner. Works great. I just use water. Not sure what the soap is for in your setup. I would say it's not necessary. Be sure the water is hot bot not boiling. I attach a hook to a foot. This allows me to dunk, pull out and hang without touching really hot water. I also have to redunk sometimes to finish plucking and the hoom makes that easy since I don't have to untie the bird from a rope or something.

Testicles like an apple is impressive. I don't recall my drakes' being so well-endowed. Lol.

The tail, I too just remove it. I've considered trying to remove the glands and smoke the tails. We use smoke turkey trails in beans and other cooking and I think duck would be lovely but I heat decided it wasn't worth the effort of removing the glands.

The broomstick method is just cervical dislocation and the soap is to help cut through the oils in the feathers to scald more thoroughly.
My husband and kids aren't up to the task to help. They are a little more emotional than I am when it comes to our animals. I love the ducks but I can also see that I have too many drakes. I don't know that I can hold the duck still enough not to also cut off one of my fingers if using a stump and an ax. I did snag a traffic cone recently in case I needed a kill cone but I'm afraid that I don't have the stomach for cutting the head off while it's still blinking at me. The thought of holding the head while it's no longer attached is rough... sorry guys that's probably too graphic for most people on this thread :/

Any thoughts on what to do with the testes next time? Do pets like them cooked up? Are they tasty enough to get over the fact that they are testicles?

 

[Isaac 0]

Any thoughts on what to do with the testes next time? Do pets like them cooked up? Are they tasty enough to get over the fact that they are testicles?

I went to remove his innards I worked everything out and was able to identify most of the insides but the testicles were ENORMOUS. I'm talking like the size of an apple each! Is that normal?

They can get to a healthy size to make a guy question his own manhood on occasions, lol. I typically feed them to the dogs cooked, but I have not tried them personally.

 

[BReeder!]

The broomstick method is just cervical dislocation and the soap is to help cut through the oils in the feathers to scald more thoroughly.
My husband and kids aren't up to the task to help. They are a little more emotional than I am when it comes to our animals. I love the ducks but I can also see that I have too many drakes. I don't know that I can hold the duck still enough not to also cut off one of my fingers if using a stump and an ax. I did snag a traffic cone recently in case I needed a kill cone but I'm afraid that I don't have the stomach for cutting the head off while it's still blinking at me. The thought of holding the head while it's no longer attached is rough... sorry guys that's probably too graphic for most people on this thread :/

Any thoughts on what to do with the testes next time? Do pets like them cooked up? Are they tasty enough to get over the fact that they are testicles?

Well there always the option of building a guillotine.
Lol. Sorry for dark humor. This was actually my cousins idea when he heard I occasionally process a few birds. It's clearly excessive.

Have you researched the bleed out method. You make a single quick cut at the jugular. This would work in a kill cone with out you having a detached head in your hand afterword.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If my own dog is reference at all, they'll love them as treats

 

[Floof]

Well there always the option of building a guillotine.
Lol. Sorry for dark humor. This was actually my cousins idea when he heard I occasionally process a few birds. It's clearly excessive.

Have you researched the bleed out method. You make a single quick cut at the jugular. This would work in a kill cone with out you having a detached head in your hand afterword.

I would love a guillotine! My mom is a scientist and worked on arthritis for years. She once mentioned something similar for the rats that they harvested cartilage from. Her coworker told me that the heads would continue to try to bite you even after being removed.

That makes me wonder how "instant" the death really is when cutting the head or throat.

 

[BReeder!]

I would love a guillotine! My mom is a scientist and worked on arthritis for years. She once mentioned something similar for the rats that they harvested cartilage from. Her coworker told me that the heads would continue to try to bite you even after being removed.

That makes me wonder how "instant" the death really is when cutting the head or throat.

Cutting the throat just is certainly not instant. An animal would sufficate and even drown in blood. Cutting the jugular though is bleeding out. This price is often seen as humane because it causes the animal to often peacefully skip away.
Now does death instantly happen with beheading... well it's certain to happen but I too wine if there's a few seconds or brief moments of life after. It seems possible, as the brain dies after the beheading not right at the moment.
All that said, you are killing an animal if you want to eat it. It should be respected and dealt with calmly. I believe in killing swiftly rather than bleeding out an animal, but that's just my two cents. Swiftly doesn't mean instantly, but as close to it as I can make possible without prolonging any suffering.But I recognize that there will be some pain and suffering for the animal no matter what. My goal is to minimize it.