Thank you all for so much interest and ideas on my thread!
Mspony, I wanted to be careful about just letting my dogs have parts of the ducks they could not recognize from the animal, like the organs, which we don't like to eat, and cook them. I train foster dogs from the humane society and don't need to teach them to chase poultry. The muscovy hold their own most of the time though.
I give all bones to my chickens as they adore them and gets rid of them for me so my dogs don't get tempted to get into the trash for them and hurt themselves on cooked bones, etc. My sons get grossed out when I feed the chickens chicken bones, though!
Love the broth idea, Wifezilla, you seem to be the duck guru around here! I'd love to see your set-up and taste things in your kitchen. And Bourbon Red, french cookbook is a great idea! I've seen recipes for confit but I'm sorry, that fat just looks so gross. And I find I don't care for the smell of duck fat, I know people cook in it, but we tried it and didn't really care for the smell of it while it was cooking. The food was good but the smell turned off all of our appetites. So I'd have to try confit first before trying to make it.
missthenorth, I hope we have more luck with these ducks, so far none of them have sat on any eggs. But we had a bossy cayuga drake here, he was mating with everyone and I removed all eggs. Now that he is gone my muscovy drake is finally taking care of his ladies. I think it is a little late in the year for us to try, but next year I'd love to have a September hatch so we'll have duck for Christmas!
Debo I don't know how to tell Pekin male from female, with muscovy it is easy as pie. I wish we had gotten a few Pekin though, these muscovy eggs don't seem as large as the Pekin ones I've seen. Am I wrong?
Scovy's don't need water to mate, in fact, I have not seen mine mating in our pond.
Thanks again.
Hubby is ready for these ducks to go bye bye. they are dirty all the time, poop all over the patio, do not use the pond. All that would be tolerable if they actually contributed towards the freezer camp. Well, these 6 will be going to freezer camp as their only contribution. Ifthe one who is setting right now actually hatches some out, she will get a free pass to raise the younguns, but the rest are going.
). I make mine in the slow cooker, and do it outside, as DH doesn't like the smell of poultry cooking. The fat, after the cooking is done, is just used to seal the meat from the air. When you want to eat some meat you can put the whole pot in a low oven, just to melt some of the fat, and then pull out the pieces you want (Smooth the fat back over any remaining pieces to seal again). Let the extra fat drain off, or wipe the meat down to remove more of it, and then heat and crisp the meat in a hot skillet - either in the remailning fat, or use a different fat. After this the meat really isn't fatty. I usually serve this with homemade noodles, and whatever veg. is looking good - though red cabbage with apples would go particularly well I think. I reserve the breasts for something else - as mentioned, there is always something to be done with the breast - but then cut the rest into manageable pieces - drumsticks, thighs (or both together if not large), wings, back in 2 pieces, and the neck - and do all of these for the confit. The bony bits aren't too good for straight eating, but they add nice flavor if added to a pot of beans (for example). Once you have finished eating the confit you can re-use the flavored fat - for another duck, or chicken, or rabbit. And I know you said you don't like the fat, but for those who do it is excellent for things like sauteed potatoes 
