Butchering ducks

So, we butchered 8 ducks on Monday.  And boy was it interesting!  Pinfeathers suck...enough said.  We thought we had timed it right so that our ducks would not have any, but we were wrong!  Next time we've decided to try duck wax to help with those ity bity pinfeathers.  I won't get into all the details of butchering, because there are many websites out there that do a great job.  Here are a few highlights...

Our table setup



The ducks waiting patiently.



What bright fun buckets! 

For such a sinister use...

Jon and his dad getting the turkey frying/scalder to heat up.

This here is a duck plucking hat....Goooo Big Reeeedddddddddddd!  (I was frying in the sun, as evidenced by my pale skin and needed a good hat.  And the only one I found quickly was Jon's Herbie Husker Hat.  Have you ever seen Jon dressed as Herbie Husker?  It's priceless!)

That was one exhausting day.  Thank goodness for awesome family!  Jon's dad and stepmom came up to help and worked their butts off.  Without them we would have probably gotten two ducks done in the same time.  Thanks Kirk and Wanda!

I definitely have a new found appreciation for what it takes to put meat on the table.  It is hard exhausting and emotional work.  It's difficult to reconcile the feelings of caring for animals and then killing them, but we are not vegetarians.  I wish more people would be able to take part in butchering.  I think we would appreciate our food so much more.