My Muscovy Ducks

The twelve "babies" are now as big or bigger than Momma in their secure pen, safe from predators when young in there, but now it is time to catch each one, clip the flight feathers, then transfer them plus the adult male and the two adult Momma birds into my west bed to eat the weeds in there while making the soil fertile. I will dump the rich water in the fiberglass dinghy boat onto the citrus trees in that east bed and move it to the west bed as a superbly portable duck pond. The soil inside that duck pen is hyper-fertile and I am considering growing Filipino White Sweet Potatoes in there, mindful of the light shade cast by the "Gray Street Grape" vines covering the pen. Soon it will be time to do my first ever duck slaughter....as usual, the thought makes me nervous. I've read that their meat is dark and lean, much like cow meat, and I've seen the incredible prices that frozen Muscovy duck breasts command on-line. I will offer a few ducks for sale too to help generate cash for gas and groceries. When I consider how fast they've grown compared to chickens while eating the same foods, I feel they could well be a better solution for those of us who enjoy eating meat and/or whose bodies are unhealthy when vegetarian  (me), I am moved to emulate Joel Salatin and his reliance on grazing animals to control weeds, enrich his soil while providing high quality nutritious meat. The bit of rain I've gotten has made appear very quickly a weed grass I DESPISE, a ground hugging and rooting monster that last year CONSUMED my east and west beds despite hours of hard pulling and digging and cussing......I hope that THIS summer my ducks will save the day.

John