butcher chickens

Just the ducks nuts?

by Farmer Liz
“Just the duck’s nuts” is a common slang term in Australia and New Zealand, meaning “the best”, for example, “that hotel was just the ducks nuts, it had everything we needed within walking distance”.  In Australia there is also the child-friendly version “just the duck’s GUTS”.  Until recently I thought that the meaning of this saying was the irony of ducks not having nuts, similar to “the bees knees”, and the guts version didn’t make sense because duck obviously do have guts.


And then I was reading my chicken book and realised that chickens and ducks do have nuts.  Oops.  Turns out the large white bits that I thought were lungs are actually testicles (see my post on homekill chicken)!  They are huge compared to the size of the rooster, and they are tucked up inside the cavity, so I had no idea, I just pull out all the bits and don't really know where they come from.  (And I have been leaving the lungs in the cavity, not sure if it really matters, they are the dark pink spongy bits that are difficult to get out).


Chicken nuts (lower organ in photo), for example,
which I assume are similar to duck's nuts

So now I’m really not sure what that saying means.  The duck has both nuts and guts, and I’d probably not want to be compared to either of them!  Maybe the originator of this saying was not aware of avian physiology and assumed that the lack of external nuts meant that the duck had none....


And just to gross this post up a level, apparently people EAT the chicken nuts! 


Any ideas what this saying really means?  Does anyone have a slang dictionary and can look it up?  I can’t find anything on the net and now its really bugging me….and does anyone eat these?




By the way, my chicken eBook is now available if you want to know more about backyard chickens and using chicken tractors.  More information over at the chicken tractor ebook blog.  Or you can get it directly from my shop on Etsy (.pdf format), or Amazon Kindle or just send me an email eight.acres.liz {at} gmail.com.




What's the eBook about?
Chickens in a confined coop can end up living in an unpleasant dust-bowl, but allowing chickens to free-range can result in chickens getting into gardens and expose them to predators.

 A movable cage or “chicken tractor” is the best of both options – the chickens are safe, have access to clean grass, fresh air and bugs. Feed costs are reduced, chickens are happier, and egg production increases. 

 But how do you build a chicken tractor? What aspects should be considered in designing and using a chicken tractor effectively? In this eBook I aim to explain how to make a chicken tractor work for you in your environment to meet your goals for keeping chickens. 

I also list what I have learnt over 10 years of keeping chickens in tractors of various designs and sizes, from hatching chicks, through to butchering roosters.


Reviews of the Design and Use a Chicken Tractor


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