Remember the Emu craze

[Little Cow]

i tried (at different times) to cook both a goose and duck for Christmas..using instructions I got from folks at CT.
They neglected to tell me to unplug my smoke alarms and that I would have to give my oven a good cleaning afterwards and that the whole front part of my house would smell like goose and duck fat for weeks to come.
I've seen hogs that didn't have that much fat or rendered down grease in them.

Sticking with turkey, ham and brisket from now on...

We still do a goose with the beef and pork roast at Christmas, I did about 500 geese every year at Laverstoke organic farm, always sold out as did the turkeys, not sure if they are still doing them since I left though. Ducks are more difficult to cook but the wife likes to keep a couple of Welch Harlequins for eggs and meat - they are great for slug and snail control in the vegetables as well.

Is it a lot of work to dress them out?

 

[Son of Butch]

Nearly 60 yrs ago when all the farms had diversity, Mom would order a dozen ducklings every spring
from a local hatchery. My memory is they were always delicious. Though I was too little to help
at butchering, I remember she was careful about saving the feathers and taking them somewhere to
have a feather pillow or two made.

 

[Son of Butch]

i was thinking of getting a small elephant ... I'm sure they don't eat that much...
would be fun to ride one around the farm... no exotic animals laws here.

Me too!

Handy for pulling vehicles stuck in the mud, ditch or snow without having to start the tractor.
In the winter a wet sponge across the underside of their trunk, then to the flag pole and they'd
be ready and waiting for the next job.

 

[greybeard]

I dunno about all that. I've heard elephants can be vindictive...

(I rode one once, when I was about 10 yrs old..he had hair about as bristly as an old hog)

 

[andybob]

[/quote]
We still do a goose with the beef and pork roast at Christmas, I did about 500 geese every year at Laverstoke organic farm, always sold out as did the turkeys, not sure if they are still doing them since I left though. Ducks are more difficult to cook but the wife likes to keep a couple of Welch Harlequins for eggs and meat - they are great for slug and snail control in the vegetables as well.
[/quote]


Is it a lot of work to dress them out?
[/quote]
If you want to hand pluck and save the feathers it can be time consuming, I do this with the ones for home, the large scale abattoirs use wax which is quick and easy for aquatic birds.

 

[Hootowl]

How many of you have ever slept on a feather bed? Wonder how many it took to fill a mattress

 

[TexasBred]

How many of you have ever slept on a feather bed? Wonder how many it took to fill a mattress

They didn't use emus for that.

 

[Hootowl]

How many of you have ever slept on a feather bed? Wonder how many it took to fill a mattress

They didn't use emus for that.

Nope, duck breast feathers.

 

[greybeard]

A feather pillow ever gets wet, you may as well burn it.