Bryan wrote:

> I'm pretty up to speed on Old Testament dietary laws, and there's
> nothing in there about not roasting a waterfowl on its birthday.
>
> Deuteronomy 14:21 does say:
> Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it
> unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou
> mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the
> LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

Thanks for citing this. I won't comment on God's OK to sell tainted meat
to strangers at the gate. :-) The idea of an animal being cooked in it's
mother's milk so horrified the Jews that they separate the pans used for
cooking meat from any that may touch milk. This is good policy, I think.
My point is that they have no restrictions on cooking an animal on it's
birthday - that stinks. For us humans, a birthday means we get free
cake. For ducks, it means you could get roasted or made into peeking duck.