Put 21 ducks into the freezer yesterday. It went a lot better this time.
My son has mastered the EZPlucker. Last time we stopped because it was breaking bones. Not one broken bone this time. We slowed down and butchered 2 ducks at a time, working fast so they could be bled, scalded, and into the plucker before rigor (which is really fast with ducks). 2 ducks at a time and no longer than 15 seconds in the plucker.
The ducks were covered in pins last time. This time, virtually no pins on the 16 week old Swedish. They cleaned up beautifully. However, it wasn't worth the extra time because they didn't put on much growth for the extra feed.
9 1/2 week old Pekins were starting to get some serious pin feathers. They were big enough to butcher at 7 weeks, and probably wouldn't have had pins then.
We tried several different things with the duck wax. Followed manufacturers instructions and floated the wax over hot water. Temperature is fairly critical. We got the wax too hot at the end of the session and then it goes on too thin. Also, it apparently never cools down, so if it is too hot, you wait and wait and wait and it is still too hot.
Best removal of pin feathers was when the bird's skin was hot, then dipped in wax and into ice water. Peeled when the wax was set and the skin was still warm.
We took the bird right out of the plucker, dipped it in wax, and into the ice water, to be peeled as soon as the wax was set. If a bird needed to be dipped a second time, it worked best to put it in the scald water to warm the skin up, and then back into the wax.
A thick coat of wax was really hard to peel off. A thin coat worked best and pulled feathers just fine.
I didn't weigh them all. I just picked up the Pekin on top and it was 4 3/4 pounds, dressed without neck and giblets. The very largest Swedish was 2 1/2 pounds. The very biggest Pekin drake and the 2 largest Pekin ducks got a pardon and they have been added to the breeding flock, so I would have had some bigger Pekins if I'd butchered everybody.
After the wax, some of the Pekins still had a few random pin feathers. I could have dipped them again, but it was getting late and the number of pins left will be very quick and easy to hand pull when I get the birds out to cook them.
The birds look beautiful and are going to make very nice roast duck.
My son has mastered the EZPlucker. Last time we stopped because it was breaking bones. Not one broken bone this time. We slowed down and butchered 2 ducks at a time, working fast so they could be bled, scalded, and into the plucker before rigor (which is really fast with ducks). 2 ducks at a time and no longer than 15 seconds in the plucker.
The ducks were covered in pins last time. This time, virtually no pins on the 16 week old Swedish. They cleaned up beautifully. However, it wasn't worth the extra time because they didn't put on much growth for the extra feed.
9 1/2 week old Pekins were starting to get some serious pin feathers. They were big enough to butcher at 7 weeks, and probably wouldn't have had pins then.
We tried several different things with the duck wax. Followed manufacturers instructions and floated the wax over hot water. Temperature is fairly critical. We got the wax too hot at the end of the session and then it goes on too thin. Also, it apparently never cools down, so if it is too hot, you wait and wait and wait and it is still too hot.
Best removal of pin feathers was when the bird's skin was hot, then dipped in wax and into ice water. Peeled when the wax was set and the skin was still warm.
We took the bird right out of the plucker, dipped it in wax, and into the ice water, to be peeled as soon as the wax was set. If a bird needed to be dipped a second time, it worked best to put it in the scald water to warm the skin up, and then back into the wax.
A thick coat of wax was really hard to peel off. A thin coat worked best and pulled feathers just fine.
I didn't weigh them all. I just picked up the Pekin on top and it was 4 3/4 pounds, dressed without neck and giblets. The very largest Swedish was 2 1/2 pounds. The very biggest Pekin drake and the 2 largest Pekin ducks got a pardon and they have been added to the breeding flock, so I would have had some bigger Pekins if I'd butchered everybody.
After the wax, some of the Pekins still had a few random pin feathers. I could have dipped them again, but it was getting late and the number of pins left will be very quick and easy to hand pull when I get the birds out to cook them.
The birds look beautiful and are going to make very nice roast duck.