Pluck a Duck

I scared it off after it attacked

A few weeks ago, while I was in Sydney on business, Myles called me and asked me if I wanted a duck. I wasn't that fussed and told him if he got one he would have to look after it. When I returned home a few days later someone proudly showed me a HUGE duck.

The Chopping Block

Apparently the previous owner was having trouble with the duck. It had been trying to have too many 'relations' with a female duck - it was also very aggressive towards humans. Myles was keeping it in the unused chicken coop and was feeding it chicken food. A few days later Myles set it free and it spent a few days swimming in our many dams. At night Myles would collect the duck and put him back in the chicken coop - for protection. But then it attacked Myles...

We flipped a coin to decide whether we would kill the duck or just set it free. The duck was lucky and was set free. But then he got hungry...

The duck would arrive each morning and tap on the door - wanting food. Myles fed him each morning but that damn duck would keep attacking us. So we decided that for the safety of visitors, and us, he was going to have to be eaten. Because it was Myles' duck I told him he had to kill it.

So on the fateful day I spent an hour researching how to kill and prepare a duck.  I cut the corner off an old potato sack. The plan was to put the duck in the sack and when he popped his through the opening Myles would chop his head off. So Myles caught the duck and I put the sack around him. His head popped through and Myles placed the head on the chopping block. It wasn't the cleanest chop but Myles managed to do the job. The body was flapping around in the bag - so it was a good idea to place him in that bag. The worst bit was the mouth was opening and closing as though he was still alive. It totally freaked me out so I buried the head quickly.

Myles then hung the bird upside down and allowed the blood to drain. A few minutes later he had stopped bleeding. We had read, and seen, people pluck ducks and there are two methods; a dry pluck, or wet pluck. The dry pluck is more hygienic but more difficult. Basically you just pull the feathers off it. To wet pluck a duck you need to put the duck in hot water for a couple of minutes - then the feathers come off easily. Myles and I plucked the duck and found it wasn't too hard - just messy. But towards the end we realised the down from the duck was going to be a little difficult. So we dunked him in hot water and the down came off fairly easily. I then put on some rubber gloves and gutted the duck - it was not a pleasant experience!

We hung the duck in an old fridge to rest.

The next day we called the neighbours and asked them to dinner - to have the duck. They agreed so I started prepping the duck. It still had some small feathers on it so I got a disposable razor and shaved it. Inventive? It looked ugly so I trimmed off the wings and then roasted it for a couple of hours - chinese style. When it was cooked it looked even uglier. I couldn't serve that. So we sliced it up and boiled the bones to make a duck stock. I then made a duck noodle soup and added the duck meat at the end. It tasted OK but the meat was very dense.

I don't think we will ever do it again. I felt like Hannibal Lecter.

We another another two ducks who run wild on the property - they have only attacked me twice.