[Sca-cooks] butchering ducks and birds

[Stefan li Rous]

Susan said:
<<< I have had to go to the Central Market to pick out a lovely duck. They are kind enough to kill it form me out of sight. Then I must pluck the feathers and my cleaning woman cracks the beak and removes the entails. One bird is enough for me. I do not know how you can put up with more! >>>

I’ve never dealt with a live duck. The only time I’ve dealt with a live animal was the lamb that Phlip's class at Pennsic (actually outside of Pennsic) did.

Sheep don’t have feathers. How do you get the feathers off of a duck? Why do you need to break the beak, rather than just cutting off the head?

At least there is a fair amount of meat on ducks and the larger birds, what I can’t understand is dealing with the much smaller birds, like quail.

Thanks,
   Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****