Processed my first duck, and boy do i have questions!

[FrankiesquarteracreFarm]

I played the unsexed lotto and came up 4 drakes to 1 duck.
Processed my first drake today. Kill went clean and smooth ( I opted for between the legs, over bucket, neck slit with spine break) obviously a heavy moment but I feel the good boy didn't suffer needlessly.
Next step, pluck. Welp I missed the mark on the molt and had lots of pin feathers to contend with. Oh did I mention it's a black feathered duck too? So after realizing this was taking a lot of time, I ice bathed him after I had the down off. Then started to work on the pin feathers occasionally rinsing down with cold water. I just plucked the breasts and fileted them off skin intact. Skined the rest of the bird and took the thighs and leg meat. And the heart and liver. Running out of time unfortunately, the rest went to the bottom of a planting hole for my new persimmon tree. Not what I had in mind for my first Drake but lessons were learned and nutrient recycling and all that.

So on to the Qs;
1) I took my 2 breasts and thighs patted them dry sprinkled with sea salt and oil added a sprig of rosemary and sage. Out in ziploc bag and put in fridge. Is this okay and will it keep for 2 nights?

2) How many small feathers can you leave attached to skin and still render the fat?

3) How do you tell when a drake is fully feathered and not starting to molt?

4) any other tips and suggestion?

Thanks ahead of time

 

[Floof]

I don't have a wealth of processing knowledge yet but the people over on the meat birds forums have been very helpful!

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

Good times, huh? My perspective is as long as the kill is as quick and painless as humanly possible, the rest is trial and error. I have a lot of experience sending skinned chickens to Freezer Camp, ducks less so, and I haven't perfected plucking. (I also raised meat rabbits, so skinning is just easier for me. I'm learning to pluck though!)

1. The meat will not spoil for a week at least, if your fridge is in the 32-35F range. It will go through rigor mortis for a couple of days. There are many opinions out there on the best methods, I prefer the "dry aging" method where the meat sits in a pan with only a loose cover of wax paper or parchment paper, so the outer layer dries out a bit. (The nastiest bacteria for humans (e. coli, salmonella, etc.) generally live on meat surfaces and require moisture to live and breed.) Then after rigor mortis has subsided, a good thorough rinse is all that is required to put the moisture back into that outer layer.

2. Very much personal preference. Feathers aren't poisonous or anything, just not something that anyone really wants to have two scoops of for breakfast. I look at it in a cost-benefit way, like when you first start plucking a bird you're getting a lot of feathers for not much effort, but at the end it takes a lot of work to locate and remove the last few. I use a blowtorch to get those pin feathers, and the hard-to-remove wing feathers especially. (Pro tip - do this outside, not in the kitchen.) I'm a bit of a foodie and haven't noticed any burnt feather smell or taste to the fat, but try it yourself! I figure I'm channeling my ancestors, who most likely weren't too concerned about it.

3. I'm not sure I can help. I try to process at 7-8 weeks and feathering isn't a factor in the timing, just body mass.

4. I like how you processed a single bird and now you're reflecting on it. I recommend trying different methods and approaches, and see what you liked or didn't like about each. You will probably develop your own style over time anyway, but this is like giving it a head start.

 

[Eggstatic ChickyDoo]

For 2- I've never done a duck, but with chickens and quail I've found that a quick swirl in hot water loosens the feathers in the skin. Swish the bird in the water for a few seconds, getting as much skin as possible wet and warmed, without letting it heat up enough to start cooking. I like the water about 180F/82C. Pluck the feathers from the wet-skin parts, repeat as necessary. There will still be some pin feathers to pull, but they'll be looser, and the "hairs" and big feathers will be much easier to rub out of the skin.

 

[Wannabee Offgrid]

Could someone please help me? I processed three drakes I got from a friend this week. Can someone please post what "normal" organs look like?

Below are the pictures of the internal organs of a Peking duck. The liver is dark (pic #1 - top side of liver) and "stained green" on the underside (pic #2) - same color of the gallbladder. The GB was intact when I removed it and I didn't squeeze the contents of the GB into the liver. - is this liver any good? My hand is touching the skin that was between the vent and the ribcage. It is greenish, not damaged.

Also what are the large whitish organs (bottom right) and why are they 1/2 gray? in the other birds they were all creamy white...

Would this be a safe bird to eat? I don't see discussions on how to tell if the bird is healthy. These were backyard ducks raised on organic feed and also allowed to free range periodically. They were "older" and culled because she had too many drakes.

 

[Kiki]

I have never butchered a duck yet but I'm going to guess everything looks ok.

Bottom right bean shaped thing might be his balls.
@R2elk Am I right?

 

[Isadora]

The greenish skin in the second pic is from an old bruise the bird sustained while alive.