Waterfowl Dispatch and Dressing - 2 day course
This course was spread over 2 Mondays, very useful to beginners or those needing support regarding what they already did at home. A band of us turned up at Pammy and Richie's shop and farm. They both were very happy to share what they knew about anything and everything re birds and smallholding generally, added to by the other attendees who also had a great deal to contribute on all topics and were a most capable and informative group. It was all well organised and we were made to feel at ease. All questions were answered as fully as possible no matter how basic.
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On the first day, we went right through the killing process, a dummy run on a dead duck first, not only doing our own but also watching others doing theirs, hence the usefulness of having many others on the course. All the questions asked were pertinent and useful, someone else always seemed to ask questions I forgot. We all then plucked our birds, some brave ones had a go with the plucking machine, most of us went with hands only, and we were also able to use the wax bath to give a lovely finish on our birds.
The second day was gutting, this was organised, step by step. Again it was so useful working in a group, to see all the possible pitfalls and the individual differences between birds. The importance of hygiene was really emphasized and practised. We were then also given a jointing master class by first Richie and then an attendee Ann, again leaving us feeling confident that we could now have a go.
On both days the hard work was done in the morning which ended at about 2pm on the first day, then we ate our lunches in the kitchen whilst chatting generally about small holder issues and getting any blanks filled in on any nitty gritty details. The legalities of killing were discussed and we all had handouts to come away with.
Since the course I have had the confidence to dispatch a couple of birds. I have been gutting quite happily (making the odd mistake), but I at least have full awareness of what I am meant to be doing. Thank you Pammy and Ritchie - most welcoming and capable hosts.
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