Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Feeling like a whupped puppy tonight. I spent about 4 hours behind the tiller today. It was worth it though because I've got one of the garden areas pretty much ready to plant. Might need a little cosmetic repair to a crooked row here and there - but I can probably live with it. If the weather holds I'll get seeds in the ground before long! However, I did hear rumblings about another cold front...argh. I'm so over 'em. I need some nice warm soil, lots of sunshine and just the perfect amount of rain.

Right now I need a shower and a warm bed.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Going to try something new today - going to butcher a duck. Mainly doing it to reduce the population of males. We're a little lopsided at 7 males and 4 females. Have some extra roos too. Not just pig reduction but bird reduction too. Also down 8 goats in the past week and about to list a couple more. They need a few more weeks of mama time and a cocccidia prevention treatment before I let them go.

It's gonna be an outside day again. Might get rain tonight so I really do want to finish off that garden area. I want to convert at least one or two areas that I rowed up with the tiller into beds. Rows are fine for somethings - but bigger bed areas work better for others.

Need to do flea treatments for the dogs too. I hate fleas! But the dogs probably hate them more than I do, lol.

So much to do - so little time!

 

[NH Homesteader]

You have to let us know if you like duck! I haven’t had it for years but I did like it- not enough to bother trying to pluck a duck though

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Duck is done and resting in the fridge. It was a weird butchering experience. I caught him and put him in a cage to rest for an hour or so. When I picked him up I was a little surprised that he wasn't any heavier than he was. Did the deed and dry plucked his breast. I originally intended to just breast him out and wanted that nice plump skin to stay on the breast. Got started and I told DH that he (the duck, lol) was skinny. He didn't have any fat on his breast so I switched tactics and peeled the skin back and filleted out the breast meat. There wasn't tons so I decided to go for the legs and thighs too. Then - what the heck let me get the heart, liver and gizzard. When I got the gizzard out I wondered why it was so different than a chicken gizzard because it felt like it had a bone in it, lol. When I got it out I found that it had a wire in the opening. No wonder he was skinny - he was having a hard time getting food through. Poor guy. But it's done and it wasn't as horrible as I expected it to be. Maybe do another one tomorrow since I have a better idea of how to do it now.

Still got lots to do....wait...that reminds me of a 'favorite saying.' Gotta go put it down while I'm thinking about it!

 

[Mini Horses]

Geesh. How weird is that?! They eat some crazy stuff, apparently. lucky you got him first since he obviously had a problem.

 

[tortoise]

Duck is done and resting in the fridge. It was a weird butchering experience. I caught him and put him in a cage to rest for an hour or so. When I picked him up I was a little surprised that he wasn't any heavier than he was. Did the deed and dry plucked his breast. I originally intended to just breast him out and wanted that nice plump skin to stay on the breast. Got started and I told DH that he (the duck, lol) was skinny. He didn't have any fat on his breast so I switched tactics and peeled the skin back and filleted out the breast meat. There wasn't tons so I decided to go for the legs and thighs too. Then - what the heck let me get the heart, liver and gizzard. When I got the gizzard out I wondered why it was so different than a chicken gizzard because it felt like it had a bone in it, lol. When I got it out I found that it had a wire in the opening. No wonder he was skinny - he was having a hard time getting food through. Poor guy. But it's done and it wasn't as horrible as I expected it to be. Maybe do another one tomorrow since I have a better idea of how to do it now.

Still got lots to do....wait...that reminds me of a 'favorite saying.' Gotta go put it down while I'm thinking about it!

Lucky duck - you picked the right one! but now butcher another to compare!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

but now butcher another to compare!

I will definitely do another one. That was one delicious duck! I sauteed some garlic in olive oil and butter and then pan-fried the breasts in that garlicy oil... and saved the garlic crunchies to sprinkle on some steamed asparagus. So. Darn. Delicious! I am a duck fan for sure! Can't wait to do another one. They've started laying so I'm definitely going to have to hatch some new ones.

Didn't do a whole lot else. Rain was threatening all day so I didn't start tilling the next area. That's ok - my body needs a break. Running that tiller over compacted ground beat me UP! I need a few days and tons of Motrin to recover.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

One more duck down and another one penned and waiting for me. This was a much meatier duck than the one yesterday even though he was smaller overall. While I was butchering the duck I started thinking about chickens. I've got more chickens than I need and I'm definitely planning on harvesting the extra roo's - but started thinking that I don't need so many hens either. I've got ducks that are laying and quail that are laying - so why do I need a whole bunch of laying hens? I'm going to separate my ducks so that I can hatch a few more Khaki campbells for laying. Eventually I'll hatch some more Pekins for eating sooooo thinking that some chicken type birds will be harvested too. And a pig - gotta get at least one of them done this week. Maybe two. Geeze... I'm tired just thinking about it. But - I'm determined to lower the feed bill!

Finally got some rain overnight. We needed a tiny little bit to water the pasture. We got it so now we don't need any more for awhile.

 

[baymule]

You have raised pigs for so long, won't you miss them?

Duck is good. I raised a bunch of Pekins for the freezer once. They were terrible to pick!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I will miss them - but I can always buy some feeders. Even with the higher prices it's cheaper than feeding a bunch of pigs for a bunch of years, lol. I really need their pen space. I want to plant in there.

I had no idea I was going to like duck as much. It's delicious. We had duck legs last night cooked in the Instant Pot - wasn't my favorite compared to the breasts. Flavor was still good, but they were dry. Followed a recipe for cook time - but I think they were way overcooked.

Plucking wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I didn't pluck the whole bird though - only plucked the breast so I could cut it out. Just plucking that much really wasn't bad. I was able to keep the skin attached to the breasts doing it that way. For the legs and thighs - I just skinned em. I was kind of surprised that the thighs and legs were so small. They were bigger on the Pekins - but on the other two ducks (Cayuga and some other black and white duck) they were tiny.