Hi, all! We are totally new to homesteading, having been city folks until a year ago, and our first big adventure has been our Muscovy ducks. All was going well (or relatively) until the cold led to some frostbite on feet. We were planning to process our first birds this weekend, but now have a few questions related to the process/what we need to look for. Essentially:
1) Does anyone have a method that works to treat wounds on a Muscovy male/Goose size bird? He's much stronger that we would have guessed, so it requires 2 of us to hold him down and care for his wounds, and we found it very difficult when trying to warm up the frozen foot.
2) He has some blisters from the frostbite on his feet, and a few have opened/are bleeding. Is he ok to process (and eat), as long as none of the areas appear to be infected?
3) What are the things to look for, in general, to determine if a bird is safe to eat? We have tried to find a list, but haven't had any luck. Eating our own tomatoes for the first time last year felt risky, so we definitely want to cover our bases with the birds!
Thanks for any help/insights!
