crispy crunchy duck

[stargazingmommy]

I went out to pour hot water in their drinking water to unfreeze it. I took a few minutes to hand feed some cracked corn and pet the fat little jerks, like i always do.
This morning though, the peking was...crunchy....for lack of a better word.
Her feathers were a bit frozen.
She didn't seem to worried about it...I think it bothered me more than her.
is it normal to have a crispy crunchy duck during really cold times?

 

[jbourget]

sure why not, could have been playing in the water before you went out?

 

[dianaross77]

Aww, man. I thought you had a good recipe!

 

[stargazingmommy]

Quote:
Oh I do....
drizzle orange and lemon juice mixed with melted butter on the skin(of course after plucking and cleaning) then sprinkle sea salt all over it.
Cut up apples, oranges, and lemons and stuff them side, and bake covered till the meat is done. Then uncover and continue baking until the skin is nice and crispy...
Of course being our pets this isn't going to happen....you should have seen the look on the teens faces when I even suggested buying a duck at the grocery last week....

 

[dianaross77]

YUM! I'm still not against eating them! I have one drake that I'd gladly eat if he weren't already promised back to the breeder. I'm getting really tired of getting hissed at every time I go out in the yard. Such a tude!

 

[stargazingmommy]

Quote:
I have a boy and a girl. just the 2.
the nasty little boy doesn't hiss. He waits till I bed over to pick up the mornings lone egg and either gooses me, or grabs my pant leg to try to pull me out of the pen.
To bad he's a skinny scrawny thing(I dont' think runners really get fat like his peking mate), I would love to cook him for dinner

 

[Imp]

Of Gosh!
Be careful stargazingmommy, your post reminded me of another eastern Wa. BYCers post, from last winter I think. She found her duck(s) feet frozen to the ground. Ugh! I can only imagine.

Imp

btw- I really like your user name.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Frozen water on the feathers doesn't seem to cause any problems.

My ducks don't normally have frozen feathers, but the geese do it on a regular basis and it hasn't hurt them yet.

My ducks are shut into a dry pen and coop at night. The night water is over a drainage pit so they can't make mud.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Additional: it's just about impossible for water to get down to the duck's skin. So if they have ice on their feathers, they are going to be insulated from it. There isn't going to be any ice down on their skin to chill them.

Remember, they all are wearing water resistant down coats.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
I worried about my ducks and ganders feet last winter, we had ice and snow that stayed for weeks and their feet stayed bright red but they never froze to the ice, That would have been awful.