DUCK: We wondered why so few poultry producers offered duck. While arguably not as popular as chicken or turkey, there certainly are enough folks out there who enjoy eating duck to warrant producing it. The reason, we discovered, is that, to put it plainly, ducks are a pain in the butt to raise and even more trouble to process. A few ducks kept as pets aren’t a problem, but fifty or more is another story. Ducks, being water fowl, prefer to take a drink after each nibble of their food. They force the water through their sinuses, flushing them clean of obstructing food or mud particles. Water and ducks together in a barn or shelter makes  for wet and unhealthy bedding. Until, like turkeys, they can be moved into an outdoor enclosure, keeping them watered and dry at the same time is a challenge and a constant chore. The other less endearing aspect of ducks is that they like to keep to themselves. Unlike other fowl, who will eventually trust you enough to eat out of your hand or even sit in your lap, approach a duck and it waddles away. They’re easily panicked, and approaching 50 ducks in a confined area can lead to deadly pileups as they frantically retreat from your advance en masse. But they can be enjoyable to observe from an unthreatening distance and we do enjoy listening in on their nearly constant gabble.  

The real difficulty with ducks is the processing. It’s not that easy to pluck a duck. Even after two cycles through the scalder and plucker, scads of tiny pinfeathers remain. A lot of for-hire processors deal with this inconvenience by skinning the ducks, which saves all the trouble of plucking, but also deprives the customer of that nice thick layer of duckfat right under the skin. We give our ducks a whole body waxing, dunking the plucked carcasses in liquid paraffin and then in cold water. Most of the residual feathers come off with the solidified wax. Most, but not all. There’s still plenty of tweezer work to get a really clean carcass.   Which is why there isn’t anyone raising ducks for table here in Vermont. But we’re professional masochists, true gluttons for punishment, and so you’ll be able to order ducks direct from us.