Bird Harvest

Two people suspended the duck above a small garbage can. One person held the feet and pinned down the wings, the other held the duck bill in one hand and a knife in the other. The duck's main arteries were slit and bled into the can. The duck thrashed a bit, but the blood let quickly. The duck was clearly unconscious in seconds, and in a few minutes, was totally drained.

We've read that it's hard to pluck a duck, but we found it to be really easy. We took the duck inside, and dipped the whole carcass into a large boiling pot of water for just a few seconds – long enough to tenderize the skin, loosening up the feathers and quills, but short enough to keep the carcass from cooking. Laying the carcass down on a table, we simply ripped out the feathers. Some of the wing feathers were more difficult. We “cheated” taking of those with a knife, skinning the tips of the wings.

To clean the duck, a slit was made near the anus, avoiding a large gland ducks have in their tails. Through this opening we spilled the intestines and stomach into a bowl. The other organs – heart, kidneys, liver, etc. - had to be dug out by hand. The lungs are inside membranes and attached to the ribs; these membranes have to be popped and the lungs peeled out of the abdomen. Once the abdomen was cleaned out, the esophagus, gizzard, feet and head all still needed removal. The head and the feet were simply cut off with a hunting knife. The esophagus and gizzard required more finesse: a little wiggling from both the inside of the abdomen and from were the head was once attached.

Only trace amounts of blood remained in the carcass; cleaning the bird was, well, cleaner than we had expected. Care should be taken, however, when making the first incision in the lower abdomen. Ducks have a large glad sac in their tail that, if punctured, smells horrific. As do the intestines, if ripped open. The gizzard should also be handled gently. This sac will be filled with whatever the bird has recently eaten: grass, corn, cockroaches.

After cleaning, the duck looks like any bird bought at the grocery store. Dead, cold, and a bit pimply. C watched the first duck harvest, and helped clean the bird. She did the actual harvesting on the second bird, and also helped with the cleaning. A rooster was harvested in a similar way a few days later. Cleaning the rooster was a bit easier than cleaning the ducks. We skinned it, rather than plucking it. Because it was an older animals, skinning it took a bit of work, but was similar to peeling off a wet, ill-fitting sweater. But with a knife. Lots of tugging, a bit of writhing, and some prying. But the skin, feathers and all, literally peel off. Also, there is no gland sac in chickens.

It was, it must be said, much easier the second time around.

The meat is eaten. The duck was nicely done up in a fancy dish by a fancy chef but the rooster so old and tough that he was only suitable to be boiled down for stock. Nothing should go to waste. This is something that we feel pretty strongly about. Even the "waste" - guts, feathers, etc are put in a special, dog-proof, compost bin so that they'll help make new soil.