I love it when winter procrastinates, as do our newest arrivals. The Bunnies (a.k.a. Stew, Cassoulet and BarbyQ) are enjoying my final raised garden bed gleanings. They seem to enjoy the ‘Spicy Greens’ blend as much as carrot tops and red-leaf lettuce. Re-locating their cages to positions within the chicken coop has yet to top the project list, but it will have to soon as they’d like to be warm when winter comes calling in earnest.
At that point, we will have achieved another step in the cycle of nutrition and waste hoped for on this farm: rabbit droppings are perfectly suitable for chicken consumption, as they are composed of digested grass (or alfalfa). It’s like free-range in a pellet; the laying hens will always have the option to roam out-of-coop, and I am certain their new bunk mates will not distract them from the glorious bugs and grubs of the field.
As to our dearest loudmouths, the Quack Club, all eleven were dispatched today by the kindly Mr. Nolt of more northern Pennsylvania realms. A tad early, with regard to their size, the Pekins were slaughtered at an ideal time to avoid the development of pin feathers. Such underlayer warmth has a habit of sticking in the skin, rendering the body difficult to clean entirely for cooking. If you were to skin the duck before cooking, there would be no problem. Then again, just go eat a chicken if you aren’t interested in the duck fat.
VIDEO: click on the following for some candid footage- a quacker’s last bath Advice has it that the Pekin duck develops the pin feathers around week eight in life, and does not loose them until around week 14. So, get your butchering mindset ready at week 7, or wait until week 15. I would hope to absolutely verify this advice with personal experience, yet feel confident passing it along due to multiple conversations with persons more duck-y than I.
One final note on ducks: Given water, quackers will cavort until it is gone. It is not uncommon to enter their sleeping quarters in the morning only to find evidence of a full-blown rumpus. I highly recommend creating a safe night haven for them in an area which you can muck out easily. We took to putting their water in an enclosed container, such as a regular chicken waterer, sitting inside a very large plastic potted plant base. I still had a wet stall to deal with. They’re like pigs in mud – unless it’s everywhere, life is no good. This is definitely one critter you want to have out-of-doors as much as possible, simply to prevent cleanup tasks.
