In case you thought that my Valentine’s blog was too racy, those ducks have been up to preparing for Spring. As winter approached, we arranged for our neighbor to help cull our flock. We did not need to feed all those ducks for the winter. We asked that he keep at least half a dozen hens and 2 drakes. That sent 23 ducks to freezer camp. While cleaning the barn recently, we noticed the first nest of eggs of 2017.
hermitsdoor 
Oscar, you are just too clever not FOR words (well actually that too) but WITH words! Freezer camp….Getting layed….just for starters! Winks. Grins. Raye
Yes, and being clever gets me into trouble sometimes too… As to “freezer camp”, that came from one our neighbors. This fits under the country concept that you do not name livestock which you raise for food. However, our neighbor’s children did, so when Billy the Goat or Bessy the Cow went away to be butchered, they just told the children that they went to freezer camp.
Yes, long ago dairy-farmer-wife. Know the ‘You’ve Got–That Naming Feeling…Wrong, Wrong, Wrong” memory. Story: My children, ages 5 and 8 at the time, and I took Amtrak train from Portland OR to San Diego CA to visit relatives and friends. Breakfast car filled and children and I had to sit at different tables…although close to each other. They sat with a lovely older couple who were asking them questions, engaging them in conversation, etc. Son Bill, 5 yrs., volunteered we were raising two pigs. Couple: “Oh? Do they have names?” Both in childlike chorus voices declared (loud enough for all to hear) “Yes….Ham and Bacon!”
Needless to say….they became shining examples of tell the truth even if it’s true!
That’s an awful lot of ducks 😉
They make great BBQ in the crock-pot. Also, being somewhat gamey because they live outside eating bugs, their meat is better for stews and spicey dishes.
It makes me wonder – shouldn’t all our meat-like food sources be eating bugs outside?
YES! However, the USDA and agro-education for the past 100 years has focused on cash crops and developing products that companies (e.g. chemical companies which are behind most GMO foods) can sell. Come our way and I can show you “poultry houses” which have 50,000+ chickens or turkeys inside them. These are “harvested” after 8 weeks. They have been genetically bread to make meat. If allowed to live much beyond 8 wks, they drop dead from cardiac arrest because they cannot sustain theit weight. Maybe I’m speculating, but part of our obesity problem and girls maturing earlier has something to do with what they are eating.
I don’t think it’s speculating – I think it’s logic.