D Day!

[yoanbob]

Seperated the eaters from the layers this morning to clear their digestive tracts ready for D Day tomorrow.
Thats Duck Day!
Quite upset, not that you shouldnt be if you eat meat, but still, we brought 'em up since they were eggs! and although your carefull to name them all dinner, they inevetably get distinctive names, "brown boy" "runner boy" "biggest girl" did "insert cute activity here" today.

so any last minuete advice appriciated, we looked at all the options and decided on the chop. not looking forward to the gutting bit, any tips anyone?

also how long do you have before rigamortice?

very sad but nessasary
a) to decide if we are really vegi's after all.
b)we cant afford to feed them any more.
c)there are too many adults for the land we have.

help!

[CountryFayre]

it is all about quality of life not length. Feel good that you have given these ducks the life they have had. We have 3 children and feel good about anything that we can produce ourselves with a lack of chemicals or growth hormones added. If 'farm' stock were not kept by people like you then they would not be around. The demand for pet only homes would not have kept a lot of these breeds going over the years.

You are doing the right thing. However it may help to put them at the bottom of the freezer and forget about them for a month or two and when you do the deed, try not to look at their face as you will see human emotions. Although all creatures are very intelligent and should be respected, they are not human

[yoanbob]

Turns out i'm a big girls blouse.
Bob had to stuggle alone.
A huge learning curve for him as he cant even carve a chicken.
it was very quick and painless, they were calm and relaxed.
the meat looks incredable, better than anything we have ever bought.
thanks for your comments CF while i know all that to be true its still very hard to do your own.
I'm very proud of Bob and have a new found respect for him.
I just turned to jelly and ran away.
we havn't decided if we will do it again or not yet but bob wants to volunteer at the farm shop to learn more, which is good. think i'll just stick to the care and husbandry role.
very shocked by my reaction, thought i'd be stronger than i was.
its nice to know how well treated they were and the care that went into their diets and the freedom they had to roam and forage. our meat was produced to the very best of our abillity and they had great lives.
All freedom comes with responsibillity and our freedom from supermarket meat comes with the responsibillity of slaughter. its not pretty, but we will dine on amazing food.

[Digger-07]

Years ago my Granddad kept rabbits for meat. My brother & I went to see them regularly and had no problem knowing that they would dissapear regularly-we knew where they went and as part of the growing up process Granny showed us how to skin and draw them.

Anyway one visit we saw a big white one which we both took to immediately. We knew we could not have him as a "pet" and he was no different to any other buck in the run but we fed him dandelions and carrots.

Others went for the pot but "Rabbit" (he was not a pet so we could not name him) seemed to never be ready according to Granddad.

When Granddad died about 7 years later we were still visiting "Rabbit". Granny said that he could not bring himself to kill him. She said that he never got attached to his stock like he did to Rabbit. He kept pigs, lambs, goats, chickens and geese and never had a problem dispatching them but Rabbit lived with us until he died naturally.

The moral - even a hardened countryman can be a softy at heart.

[yoanbob]

thanks digger.

[CountryFayre]

nobody 'likes' doing it. It is just one of those jobs you have to get on and do and NOT think about. We have been self sufficient on all meat except beef for 10 years now and we still don't like doing it!! And yes, there is always the odd one that stays around!

Well done for having ago. Eat a few home produced dinners and you won't be able to buy supermarket meat 'cos it will taste like soap!

[ugly gourd]

I knew a lady farmer many years ago and every time she sent her cows to market she cryed like they were her children

[yoanbob]

ah bless.
i guess thats the way it should be.
i feel better today, i think its because im the one who lets them out each morning, puts them to bed, collects their eggs, changes their water and cleans them out, i end up spending a lot of time with them.
dont have a problem skining and drawing wild stuff, just couldnt face my own.
still, if all we got out of it is bobs new found intrest in butchery and a few great meals at least we know now that we can do it, or rather bob can and i cant.
if we didnt feel sad we would be poor humans indeed.
thanks for your comments.

[Mrs Dobby]

Have to say I admire you both for being able to do it Yoandbob, I've killed game before, but it is different when its something you've reared yourself, I've no idea how I'd react!

[dexterdoglancashire]

I really admire you YB - although I love the idea of being "self sufficient" I couldnt bring myself to kill an animal - (I cried on each episode of the River Cottage latest series!) I would be a veggie first, because I am a big scardy cat, well dog, actually! Shame I cant keep chooks on my lottie - now theres an idea! I could keep them in my back garden.....................dont think OH would go for that one at all! (only for their eggs of course). Dexterdog

[Crazy Chickie]

I've got D-Day or C-Day (chicken day) coming up soon. OH is ok with doing the deed and I'm going to be plucking n dressing. Little apprehensive about it but as CountryFare says they have had a good life and its not like they'll be carted round the country before dying. Well done YB and CF for living well and being responsible.

[yoanbob]

that was our plan too, just couldnt do it tho, i'm fine with game. OH had to do it all, and i was in the next room giving directions, (OH never even carved a chook before)
good luck CC.

[Crazy Chickie]

Thanx YB, will let you all know how it goes, eek. Dreading it really, like you say they end up with nicknames n you kinda get to know their characters. Ah well they've had good chookie lives ...

[Nicos]

Never had to do the deed myself - although been on shoots and had to pluck/gut partridge/ pheasant/ duck / grouse.

Quick death made it easier for me to cope with- not nice watching 'resistant' ducks refusing to die -and hated gutting.

Plucking was easier but very time consuming!. Agree that I certainly needed to leave them in the freezer for a few months to remove myself psychologically from the deed....but is that maybe due to a 'soft' upbringing??
Meat was utterly fantastic, and very reassuring that the birds were wild until the last moment!

My only hesitation now of buying wild bird is if I crack a tooth on shot!!
I think I would prefer to buy a free range/wild bird anytime over others and just eat a little less if cost is an issue.
I suppose it's a bit like cows.. a stress free cow ( eg Aberdeen Angus) has less adrenaline in it's system and therefore the meat is more tender. I'm sure this must apply to birds too?
'Not so bad the lad ' would be a good person to ask on this subject??

[yoanbob]

didnt really have much of soft upbringing, parents were poor and we often had stuff dad had shot and watch him prepare it for mum to cook. think its just the knowing them thing.
i was there and know there was no suffering at the end but having had time to ponder the subject, i think its the acual kill, and the reminder of mortallity that got me, maybe its a girl thing.
anyway while i will happily prepare wild game and fish for the table i will in futre be elsewhere on d and c days.
we dont eat much meat anyway due to the cost of decently bread and reared food.
I was seriously considering going back to being a full on vegi for a while but on balance im glad we did it, im glad i was sad, and the meat is excellent.
nicos i think your right, even taking my birds to the vet is so traumatic for them that i am close to tears, so sending them to somone else just wasnt an option. there is no need in my view to make their end any more horrid than it actually is.
conversly OH found the kill bit easier than he expected.
to my immense relief!
we put hoods on them to calm them and it worked a treat.
how have you decided to do it cc?
we didnt think neck wringing was really an option with ducks as their necks are so long and flexible that it would have caused undue pain, and not having done the bleed thing we didnt feel skilled enough to carry it out properly although we think its the best option for the meat.
sending brave thoughts your way cc.