Need duck recipes, both for meat and eggs

[ORChick]

"But as to recipes, I see I need to rethink the confit. It doesn't taste fatty?
I also wonder if perhaps the way I rendered the fat made it unpalatable. When you cook in duck fat, how exactly do you collect it? I boiled the less desireable parts and when it chilled picked up the fat clumps off the top. But it smelled gross!"

If you scrape or wipe most of the fat off the duck pieces (the fat in which they were cooked), and then heat and crisp them in a pan, thereby melting off any remaining fat, they should be just fine. However, we all have different likes and dislikes, and what is good for me might not be for you .
I render fat in the slow cooker on LO. I chop up all the fat I have pulled off the bird, as well as any spare pieces of skin, and let the pot do its thing. After most of the fat is rendered I ladle it into a jar, through a seive, and put the solid bits back in the pot to crisp up and render the last of their fat. I use the crispy bits like bacon bits, or feed them to the chickens.

 

[Farmfresh]

Hey, all you in the duck world! I never thought I would be, but the longer I organic garden, the more I think animals need to have a part in the rotation. I just had a friend find a bunch of Rouens on CL. He wants to butcher, but I'm wondering about how they would work on a farm.

I don't want to hijack, so if there is another thread about this, would someone mind directing me? I searched "ducks" and came up with 19 pages!!!

My main questions:
1. Do Rouens need water?
2. Do they need special feed, or would chicken feed work through the winter?
3. Could I mingle them with my chicken and turkey flock?
4. Would they hang around the gardens in the warmer parts of the year?
5. Do they gobble up ALL vegetation, or what do they mainly eat?

Thanks much!

me&thegals

1. Ducks all need a source of water deep enough to submerge their head in year round. This is how they clean their nostrils and keep their eyes clear. We provided a "splash tub" in the summer and a deep pail in the winter that was kept unfrozen. Ducks require more water than chickens or even geese for that matter. They are also quite messy and so accommodations need to be made for the extra watery mess they make.

2. Medicated poultry feeds will KILL a duck!! Never feed medicated feeds of any kind to a duck or other waterfowl.

3. I would NOT mingle ducks in with a flock of chickens and turkeys if they were to be confined, such as for the winter. Ducks produce a lot of extra moisture by their nature. Moisture excess in the coop during winter months can cause frostbite in chickens and turkeys both. Better to have a separate dryer space for those birds. In the summer most birds seem to get along all right if they have enough space to call their own.

4. Ducks in my opinion usually like to hang were the water is. If you have a sprinkler on the garden - that is where they will be.

5. They love slugs, worms, and other squishy critters under and around your veggie plants. They also like soft fruits like berries, strawberries and ripe tomatoes from time to time.

 

[Sebrightmom]

Thanks for the information. I will have to talk to my husband tonight. Hopefully, we will try a few this weekend.