Larkwell Valley (2023)

[JacinLarkwell]

Yes, the black head spot indicates base black, so no chocolate there. Still means that Moose is split

That's awesome!!! I'm so glad I kept him! So this one should be female then?

 

[Canadian Wind]

That's awesome!!! I'm so glad I kept him! So this one should be female then?

Unless one of the chocolate hens was the mother, in which case it could be either/or.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Unless one of the chocolate hens was the mother, in which case it could be either/or.

Okay. So I'll just assume it's either then. It's probably A$$hole's , but it could honestly be any of the three (Pebble, the other chocolate was also broody and building nests, so I don't think any of these are hers)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@Canadian Wind , how do you process your ducks? With wax? The person I was planning to take the drakes to just told me they won't do ducks,, so now I have to figure out how to process these three since I had been planning on dropping them off for over a month now.

 

[Canadian Wind]

@Canadian Wind , how do you process your ducks? With wax? The person I was planning to take the drakes to just told me they won't do ducks,, so now I have to figure out how to process these three since I had been planning on dropping them off for over a month now.

Wax doesn't work. I hand dry pluck mine. For Scovies, since they're lean, I skin them.

You can try scalding before plucking, but it takes much longer than with a chicken since the feathers are waterproof, and I worry it might not be good for the meat flavour.

I even dry-plucked the chickens this year. May not do that again, scalding a few moments makes it so much easier and it's so short a time before I plop them in ice water I don't worry as much. (plus my hands will tank me! Just starting to be able to make a fist again!).

 

[JacinLarkwell]

So just plucking straight after the kill? No scalding?

 

[Canadian Wind]

Pretty much. Depending on the temperature, I didn't even get to that immediately. If it's cool enough out I would dispatch however many I was going to do that day and then just process after that. Below 5c I may even dispatch a few more and do them over the next few days, but I prefer to just dispatch 2-3 at a time due to my arthritis.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Pretty much. Depending on the temperature, I didn't even get to that immediately. If it's cool enough out I would dispatch however many I was going to do that day and then just process after that. Below 5c I may even dispatch a few more and do them over the next few days, but I prefer to just dispatch 2-3 at a time due to my arthritis.

It's not going to be above 45F here anymore apart from the odd day, which was part of rhe reason I would have done it way earlier if I'd known they wouldn't do ducks

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My issue is I'm so slow that they get stuff before I'm done plucking usually, let alone getting everything out and I can hardly maneuver them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Plus I need to figure out how to dispatch them. They're way too large for my typical method