One of the recent changes on our homestead has been getting ducks. We’re starting with raising Muscovy ducks for meat. We purchased three hens and The Drake from a local lady. This has been super fun, and definitely a learning experience! Let me tell you about the demise of The Drake.
The third day we had the Muscovies, one of the hens disappeared. No idea where she went, or if she was taken.
The Drake was just plain mean, stalking us, and very possessive of his hens. When the two hens which were left started setting on eggs, he went ballistic. Poor guy was lonely, I know. But it is hard to feel sympathetic when he was so mean. When we milked in the barn, we’d have to cage him up or carry a stick. He would get so mad we were in his territory he would literally shake with rage.
Did you notice I said “The Drake was just plain mean”? Yes. The Drake is a Was. He has gone bye-bye.
Here’s the story. The sweet little hens hatched out seven of the cutest ducklings you ever saw.
The Drake ate three of them. We didn’t realize he was our culprit until Mikah caught him red-handed (or red-beaked) eating the third one.
Lest you wonder – yes, we did keep the ducklings and hens separate from The Drake. But, the ducklings would get out and The Drake would be waiting to gobble them up. They must have provided a substantial meal because he only ate every couple of days.
We found out about his strange diet last Thursday. (No, we don’t think he ate the first hen who disappeared.) Jeff left work early to come home and butcher The Drake. It was bloody and tiring and hopefully we will get better at processing ducks. Yes, I’m reminding myself, we are raising these ducks for meat. So we better get good at it.
So now The Drake is in the freezer. I have to figure out how to cook him.
The remaining four ducklings and the two hens are still the sweetest. One of the little ducklings, Angel, is smaller than the others, and she seems cold. We hope she makes it. We decided not to nurture her inside the house because we want the ducks to raise themselves. If she doesn’t make it, that’s a sad fact of life. Yes, we will cry. But it will be okay.
Next up: Khaki Campbell ducks for eggs. They’re on order…
I agree that the processing is not fun. We have done three ducks now (all gifts from a friend) and five (or maybe six) chickens and one turkey. Since I have a mass amount of meat chickens to process this summer I’ve been studying up on it. I don’t know if you have seen the Deliberate Agrarian’s online chicken processing tutorial but it is very good. It might help a little with the duck processing as far as ways to organize the ‘event’. I know one of the challenges we had with ducks was the plucking. They required a longer scalding than the chickens and are still difficult. I guess the feathers being waterproof has something to do with that. Carla Emery’s book (Encyclopedia to Country Living) addresses that too. I think you mentioned you have that book? For me deciding to raise animals for food was a huge leap. I never thought it would be something I could do. I certainly don’t like it but I really try to take excellent care of the chickens while I can and be thankful that God provided them as food for us.
.-= Millie @ Real Food for Less Money´s last blog ..Tuesday Twister May 11 =-.
Hi, Millie!
I do have Carla Emery’s book and I read it out loud during the whole process (while Jeff was working). Everything was okay, just the evisceration simply does not make sense. A video would be good! I haven’t seen the Deliberate Agrarian tutorial – so I will check it out! And yes, the plucking was difficult. We didn’t know what could be singed – it is possible we plucked more than we needed to. Again, a video would be great.
Thanks, Millie! And like you, I am thankful God provided these birds for our food, so even though the process is yucky, I kind of look forward to getting better at it!
Duck soup?
Wardeh,
I’m so sorry you had such an aggressive drake. They are like that some times. We haven’t had ducks in a while, but we’ve had Pilgrim geese, very calm and domestic.
I grew up raising chickens for meat and eggs. We raised 300 pullets at once to about 5 months of age when we slaughtered them for market. We did this once a year and then just had our layers the rest of the year.
There are videos out there on processing chickens and ducks, I’ve seen them over the years.
.-= Sylvia´s last blog ..Question and Answer ~ What Is Repentance? =-.
Wow, never knew ducks could be that aggressive. How about some duck stew? I pray those babies survive, they are so cute!
.-= Jen S´s last blog ..The Two’s =-.
What a naughty boy he was! Those poor ducklings.
We’ve watched a lot of nature shows over the years and always hate when animals within the same breed do that.
We lived with my Grandma & Grandpa for a year when I was 11/12 years old. I remember her preparing a chicken for supper every now and then. I never liked seeing what she had to do. I know you do what you have to do, but I think I would have a hard time seeing it all now.
Praise God you have a husband who is so smart about all of this!
Hi guys….
I want to add that hand raising a drake will make them a little bit less aggressive. They will still ‘fake’ chase you, putting on a good show for the gals, but won’t be to serious about it – unless…. You make the mistake of petting, carrying and hand feeding their ladies :~)
Did that farm up north that raises Muscovies ever pan out? It would be nice for you to get some new-blood plus a new drake you can raise at the same time.
Jami
P.S. I’m still looking forward to the culling lessons at B & K farm
Too bad about the drake. Horrible, in fact! I think it’s great that you are raising them for meat. I wish I could see photos of your set-up ~ how you house them and such.
Hiya, Jami! Yes, I think you’re right that it will help to hand raise a Drake from a baby.
We are still waiting to hear on that farm from up north. The man who was our contact was having major surgery, and I haven’t wanted to call and bother him if he’s still recovering.
Ooh, yeah, can we go with you to the culling lessons?
Susan – I’m thinking roast duck!
Sylvia – My parents did a similar thing – but only with 100 chickens.
Jen – I didn’t realize it either! That guy was so ticked at us all the time!
Yolanda – I will do that, but it isn’t fancy. We need to step it up a bit because of the 30 Khaki Campbells that are (hopefully) coming in June. Right now they have an area of the barn, which – so sweet – the hens and babies don’t prefer to be in. They’re waiting at the door, or flying out, on their own.
The evisceration really is the hardest part. Not just the yuckiest, but the hardest to figure out. Hubby has mostly used the pages in Living With Chickens to figure it out over the past few years. I have only done one chicken start-to-finish. Mostly I do the plucking and the finish work
We have both come to kind of enjoy the process. It is exhausting but it’s very gratifying as well. We haven’t had any ducks yet; I don’t know if we ever will since we lack a pond or anything else to swim in on our land.
.-= Lindsey in AL´s last blog ..TNDadx4 posted an update: Kinda lost, but waiting for things to straighten out. =-.
I am having problems with the ducks eating the eggs. I have seen a hen eat some. I have not thought about the drakes eating them though. I have 4 drakes and they have not been agresive, thankfully. I do not handle the ducks or the chickens because the rooster did get testy when I used to pick up one of his hens. Now he does not bother me. I am curious why you are getting Khaki Campbelss for eggs.
Linda – I will try to remember why my husband picked Khaki Campbells for eggs — I think because they’re good layers and also small, requiring less feed. He also picked a bird that is earth-colored so it would blend in with the woods/ground and be safer from predators.
I raise Muscovy’s for show, eggs, hatching and meat. I butcher frequently.
I have lots of birds left from the hatchery this year – why don’t you call me and we can talk about layer ducks, muscovies, meat and family. (I’m a friend of Kerry Olson’s).
Erin
Hi, Erin! My apologies for the delay in answering your comment! We are no longer raising Muscovies for various reasons, but have Khakis and Runners for eggs. So exciting — they just started laying a few days ago! I would love to visit with you sometime about ducks. I’ll look up your website! Thanks for commenting!