Hi all,
It is time to butcher my first duck. Actually, it is about 5 weeks prior to the date I would normally do it, but I CAN'T STAND his screaming anymore!! Geee.... he is disturbing the neighbors and making me very uncomfortable. I have three and he is the only one squawking all the time.
So anyhow, I looked at a few videos and I also bought a book on butchering live stock. The book doesn't talk about the killing process, it only shows how to kill a chicken.
Some videos show that the duck is stunned by a hit in the head, then plucked around the neck, then the jugular is cut.
Others show a direct cut of the whole head, with the cut starting behind the head.
Well..... call me stupid, I AM. I tried it. I thought of trying the method in my book, which was the same as for chicken.
I hung the duck by the legs, took my sharpest knife, tried to cut the jugular.
WOW. The knife slipped on the feathers and nothing happened. I thought I was nervous and just didn't try hard enough. I tried again with a lot more pressure and again, nothing. Didn't even get past the feathers.
Lesson learned -> BUY A KNIFE.
Question: Even with a really sharp knife, will it slip on the tight, fluffy feathers? Should I pluck the neck like in the videos I have seen? I am really not looking forward to trying to knock him out with a hit on the head. In the video, they hit hard but the duck continues to move.... just looks cruel and doesn't knock him out really..
Thanks for all the help, I am a newbie.. really!
It is time to butcher my first duck. Actually, it is about 5 weeks prior to the date I would normally do it, but I CAN'T STAND his screaming anymore!! Geee.... he is disturbing the neighbors and making me very uncomfortable. I have three and he is the only one squawking all the time.
So anyhow, I looked at a few videos and I also bought a book on butchering live stock. The book doesn't talk about the killing process, it only shows how to kill a chicken.
Some videos show that the duck is stunned by a hit in the head, then plucked around the neck, then the jugular is cut.
Others show a direct cut of the whole head, with the cut starting behind the head.
Well..... call me stupid, I AM. I tried it. I thought of trying the method in my book, which was the same as for chicken.
I hung the duck by the legs, took my sharpest knife, tried to cut the jugular.
WOW. The knife slipped on the feathers and nothing happened. I thought I was nervous and just didn't try hard enough. I tried again with a lot more pressure and again, nothing. Didn't even get past the feathers.
Lesson learned -> BUY A KNIFE.
Question: Even with a really sharp knife, will it slip on the tight, fluffy feathers? Should I pluck the neck like in the videos I have seen? I am really not looking forward to trying to knock him out with a hit on the head. In the video, they hit hard but the duck continues to move.... just looks cruel and doesn't knock him out really..
Thanks for all the help, I am a newbie.. really!
