Weird Egg

The egg is hard like a regular shell.
Weird.
Layed by a 4 year old hen.


(special thanks to my hand model -- niece Anna :-)

.....dr momi

My First Wind Egg Ever!

      Aka, a fart egg (gross), a dwarf egg, a cock egg, or a luck egg. 

      A wind egg is itzy bitzy, even smaller than a pullet egg.  It looked like a quail snuck into the chicken coop and layed an egg.  I can not remember ever having one of these in all the years I've had chickens.  I haven't opened mine yet, but I understand that they have no yolk.  Evidently it is caused by a piece of reproductive tissue breaking away which stimulates egg production.  Cute little thing!

The egg collection today.




.....dr momi

Chicken Liver Pate

Before you go "blech",  I will just have you know there were three crackers on this plate
and I unconsciously ate 2 of them before I took the picture! YUM!
THIS is what I want my organic chicken livers to become each year!!
(I will work at a better cracker underneath it.)

Organic Chicken Liver Pate

1 # organic chicken livers
1 cup milk (I used goat milk)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 TBL, olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3-4 small garlic cloves minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. salt - or to taste
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup brandy

Put liver into milk and refrigerate for two hrs. (or overnight if you just forgot about it like me :-)
Melt butter, add oil and onions and cook over med. until soft, then add garlic.  Cook a little longer (do not brown).
Add liver and spices cook until liver is brown with just a bit of pink inside.
Remove skillet from burner and add brandy.  Put back on burner and light the brandy. 
Continue cooking until all liquid is gone.  Let cool.  Remove bay leaves.
Blend till smooth. (I used an immersion blender - worked good)   Refrigerate until very cold. Freezes well.


.....dr momi


Linked To: Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

How Much Does This Egg Cost?




So......if the chicken that layed the egg on the left is a 1 year old large hen, that lays me an egg every day and eats twice as much
as the chicken that layed the egg on the right,  a two year old leghorn who lays an egg every other day......
Do I really have to cull the leghorn??

 
.....dr momi

Linked To:  Homestead Barn Hop

Garden Invaders

     I tried that video tape fencing.  It sure does shine and shimmer, and make a noise in even a slight breeze.

     It did not break or stretch, and was easy to put up.  I only used two old video tapes I bought for 25 cents each at a rummage sale.    ..............but,.....and it's a big but,........it sure doesn't keep out the ducks!  Chickens were a bit more cautious, but give them time and I'm sure they will be in the garden too.  Looks like I will be buying net electric fence to keep them out. (all ducks and chickens are back in  their pens for now....awwhhh.)

    Look who else has been in the garden......

....a wild turkey.
Rick says it's a hen.  She probably has her nest close by.
Oh yeah....I'm sure she'll be bringing the babies around soon.

.....and a deer (or two or three)



.....and the fox.
I'm sure she is making a round every night.
Never know when I'll leave that chicken coop door open!

  I may put my small experimental fence up on the other side of the garden and see if it does anything with deer, turkeys, and fox.......not too hopeful.

.....dr momi

Baby Duck-Chicks

     I have totally confused the grandchildren.  "Why is the chicken on the baby ducks?"  "Because she's their mama."     ?????? -- comes up on their face.

     The banty hen hatched out the duck eggs -- 28 days sitting.  She did a good job.  However, I have a little to learn yet.  Of the 5 eggs, she has 3 ducklings -- because of me.  The first one to hatch in the chicken coop in the bucket evidently was trampled upon (or pecked to death) by another hen who layed an egg in the bucket. (With the ma-ma hen in it yet.)  The duckling had a cute "tophat" just like Elton.  Perfectly healthy one minute, and dead the next time I peeked.  Uggh!

     I quickly moved her bucket and all to a new outside pen, laying the bucket on it's side.  She hatched out 3 more ducklings.  Then I decided to pull the bucket out as it was rolling about some.  I was careful to pull the whole nest out of the bucket, they still were in an old dog house for cover.  The unhatched egg was in the middle of the nest.  She then proceeded to take up caring for the other 3, and quit laying on the egg.  Uggh! ....and it was ready to hatch.  It wasn't a dud.
    
     Lesson learned -- once I get that broody hen going next time, she has to have her own little pen -- and no disturbing her!  I'm sure there would have been 5 ducklings if not for me.



Grandsons Ryan and Riley holding the new babies.



They love her and she loves them.  :-)



.....dr momi

Getting All My Ducks In A Row



Literally I guess too.....
The ducks love "bug finding" in the woods.

     Today "Miss Grey Duck" (she doesn't have a name :-) went broody.  She wanted to sit on the 5 eggs in her nest.  I wasn't ready.  Not enough pens for broody hens -- chicken or duck.  And the chicks growing in the garage needed to get outside.   So, the garage chicks got moved to the duck house today, of course then the ducks needed a  new pen.  .....and I still don't know where the duck can go broody and not be bothered by the others.  I'll have to keep picking up eggs until I'm ready to figure it out.

The chicks are now in the duck shed/pen which is rather open,
so, a garage sale $10.00 dog house is now their brooder.
  It's suppose to be cold and rainy the next few days.

The ducks are now in a temporary pen between the
 "chick shed" and the chicken run.  They don't have a shed but they
always sleep out in the open anyway.   I'm just hoping the fox doesn't make
a trip through the place tonight.

This is how I like to shore up the coop walls so
fox don't try to dig under.  The chicken wire is layed
 on the ground about one foot, and then up the posts.
Unfortunately, I don't have enough rock to shore
up the duck walls for tonight. (I've used a little bit
of "everything else" -- I hope it's enough.)

     When I moved the water tank that the chicks were in, I found the missing chick.  The store didn't miscount....It must have flown out and then got caught in a mouse trap.  Uugghhh.  It was one of the pullets.  The meat chicks wouldn't be able to fly that high. 

     Five ducks, twenty-three meat chicks and 5 pullets (will be layers) all in their new housing.

.....dr momi

Happy Easter!



     After I had this all made up and read it again I started to laugh  ---  if we all get pregnant it's not my fault!!  I mean,.... may we all have new life on our homesteads, and within our souls.  (If my kids get pregnant.....YES!)                         Happy Easter.....He is Risen!!!



.....dr momi

Happy GROWING Chicks

     The chicks just outgrew their water tank.  Usually by now I would have moved them from the garage to an outdoor pen.  It's way too cold yet.  (Very late spring!)  They are 3 weeks old now, and getting cramped.  Just so happens I have another old water tank.  So, I divided them up.

     This is a temporary situation that needs to be done, but, isn't something I like to do.  The reason being is, the chicks will really start in on a "pecking order" in the next couple weeks.  Some will be "top chicks" -- others not so much.  The ones at the bottom of the pecking order, will literally get "picked on" until every one is established into his spot.  Sometimes they will actually  peck a lower chick to death if you don't watch it.  After a while, everyone knows their spot and peace returns.

     The problem with making two separate "flocks" right now, is that when I do put them all together outside, a new pecking order will happen all over again.  It's tricky making sure you don't loose any.

Because I was counting to make it even, I realized I am missing a chick!
Pretty sure they miscounted at the store. :-(
Probably 1 more week in here before moving outside (with a light) .



2 weeks ago (already a week old)





...and today, 3 weeks old

  


















.....dr momi

Chicken Disaster

      Not mine.  My daughter's.  Today the outside "barn dogs" pretty much wiped out her little flock.  It was her first flock of chickens.  Kerri spent a good part of last summer getting her coop and run put together, and was just finally really enjoying them. The dogs never seemed to bother the ducks that run freely around her in-laws barn.  Thinking they would leave the chickens alone too, she let the chickens out to "bug-hunt".   Not a good ending.

     Last year I raised way too many pullets.  More than I knew I could keep.  I did it on purpose, figuring Kerri would be ready for a flock.  I gave her 3 laying hens and 3 banty's.  Of course it had to be the 3 hens, and one of the banty's that didn't make it.

     I still have more hens than I need in my flock.  I have them for "such a time as this"  ---  insurance in times of disaster.  Now that they are laying an egg each, every day, there is no way I can use 7 eggs a day.  Especially when I have duck eggs for baking too.  So, my little flock will get split up again.  She will take 3 laying hens.  That will leave me 4 hens, 2 banty's (to hatch eggs), and Cookie Monster (the rooster).

     Six pullets are growing up with my meat chickens, that will be the start of next years flock.  Kerri will be leaving her chickens in the run, and I better not have a run-in with the fox!



Two hens didn't show up for the family portrait......the flock, soon to be split again.



My daughter Kerri (....and Belle and Peanut)
Mama to Remington, and wife to Jason.
Very upset "chicken mama" today.

 
.....dr momi

Chicks Are Here

    

     I blew it with getting my chicks ordered early enough with Murray McMurray.  They wouldn't be able to fill my order for 20 jumbo cornish cross chicks until May 30th.  My fault for waiting so long.  If I got them that late we would be in the middle of really hot weather when they seem to be the most vulnerable --- a couple of weeks shy of butcher time.  They just can't handle the heat when they are that big.  So......
    
     I checked over at our new Tractor Supply store.  They had some cornish cross chicks in (not the jumbo) that were already a week old.  They fed them and used their electricity......that's a good deal :-)!



I said, "I'll take 20"
She said, "There's only 3 left, do you want them?"
I said, "sure".
23 meat chicks living in the old water tank in the garage.



Grandson Ryan's quote of the day, "It's licking me."  lol



"Riley, look at Grandma......Riley look at Grandma".
Holding a chick takes a lot of concentration....lol.






.....dr momi

Meet Cookie Monster the Rooster




Cookie Monster


He is the most gentle (or most timid as it may be) rooster in the whole world. 
We always laugh because his "cocka-doodle-do" is only
 "cocka-doodle"  -- he forgets the end :-)
He is a Birchen Cochin Bantam. 
 Behind him, is a Leghorn, and a Red Sex-Link (hens).



Wheat Grass For Decoration

     Wheat grass -- I can't stand it.  It tastes so green.  Pond sludge, that's what I call it. (I just shuddered thinking about drinking it.)  More power to you guys who can drink it, it is chocked full of vitamins and enzymes.  I prefer to recycle my wheat grass.  I grow it for Easter time because it looks like spring.  I use it as a decoration.  But, when I give my creations a haircut, the ducks and chickens get the greens. (I eat the eggs --- did you follow that recycle bit?)  Buy your whole wheat berries in the health food section of your grocery store, or at your health food store.

Sprinkle wheat berries generously on top of your potting soil.
Leave plenty of room for water -- and it mounds up as it's growing.

Sprinkle a thin layer of potting soil on top and water.
Keep the top layer moist. (don't overdo it though)



By the 2nd day it's getting growing.



...and by day 4 you have a "lawn"

     By day 6 I will be "cutting the lawn" (with a scissors) and giving the clippings to the chickens.  I keep it trimmed to about 3 1/2 inches.  This will scream "spring" for a couple of weeks, looking absolutely beautiful.  Keep it watered, but again, don't get it so soggy you kill it.

     If you want a beautiful (cheap) Easter table decoration, start a new batch on Palm Sunday.  Put some colored eggs in it --- cute.  If you are going somewhere else for Easter dinner, start one for them!

Ordering Trees/Bushes

     Rick (my husband) and I have been getting our order together from the Menominee Conservation District in Upper Michigan. We ordered from them last year.  The trees and bushes were absolutely beautiful!  So strong and healthy.  We learned the lesson of not ordering more than we can plant in the next day or two from when we get them.  Rick and his brother ordered 200 Norway spruce and some apples last year.    ..........let's just say the chiropractor could have used a chiropractor :-) They are ordering 100 Norway spruce this year and some wild apple trees for their hunting land.  Hopefully they spread it out over two days.  They won't get any help from me :-) 

     I will be planting what I buy for the homestead.  Last year what I bought from them was; 5 elderberries,  5 sand cherries,  5 nannyberries, 5 highbush cranberries, a Wolf River apple tree, and a flowering crab apple.  Everything is alive and well.

     This year I'm buying 5 nankin cherries, 5 more highbush cranberries (part of a windbreak), a Lodi apple tree, 5 hazelnut trees,  10 forsythia bushes, a Stanley plum, and a Victory plum.  That's about all the holes I can dig.  Actually, I will have most of the holes dug and ready before they come.

     Why such an array?  Am I really interested in feeding the turkeys and deer?     uuhhhh No.  I'm sure they will take their share though.  Everything being planted has a reason.  It's either food for our table, with any extra going to the pigs, ducks, and chickens, or, I am specifically planting it for winter feeding of the chickens.  (all those small fruits I will dry).  The forsythias are for early feeding of my bees (and because I love them blooming so early in the spring too :-)........and I might make some sand cherry wine this year. :-)

   

Love The Thaw - Hate The Thaw

     Here in Northeast Wisconsin we are having our January thaw in February :-)  Up to 45 degrees today!  Only 5 more degrees and we'll start seeing people in shorts ..lol.  The thaw sure helps with everybody's mood.  It does feel good.  I even left the door open on the chicken coop.....And Elton the drake.....well he's out there,... ahh... "doing his thing".  The ducks started laying eggs again yesterday.

     What I don't like about a thaw is, I have to clean the chicken coop.  Winter cleaning of the chicken coop is always a problem.  There is too much snow for the 4-wheeler and trailer.  So, I let the litter build up, which actually helps to keep the coop warmer.  There is no smell or ammonia as long as it is freezing out.  This works good until a thaw, then it has to be cleaned because of the ammonia.

     So, today the coop got a good cleaning.  I only make a pile on the side of the coop for now, like I said, can't get the 4-wheeler back there.  Towards spring I will have to handle that pile again.  But, it is really not that bad.  Keeping Billy (the dog) out of the chicken poo has to always be considered.....I always pile snow on top of it, and then he seems to leave it alone.

     I'm going for the "glass is half full" side of this thaw.   .......I really don't think we are going to have any more "20 below" days.  Hey, we're going to be tapping for maple syrup before you know it!

Fly Traps & Little Boys

    Summer is here and that means back to doing fly patrol. Fly control is so-o-o important if you have animals.  I can remember many years back when we were having a family gathering at our place in the middle of summer.  The flies were horrible!  Almost impossible to have a picnic.  .....and the flies in the house!  I remember blaming the farm just down the road.  Well, guess what, it wasn't the farm, it was my own chicken coop!  Flies breed so fast that if you don't have a plan against them, they will win.
    
     I won't spray poison everywhere.  There is a natural solution that works great for me.  Rescue disposable fly traps attract and catch tons of flies, the whole bag will be full, and then I tape the top and throw it in the outside garbage, just before pick-up day.  I have tried other brand names but keep coming back to Rescue for getting the job done.  At the height of fly season I will change the traps (I usually have 3 out at a time between the ducks and chickens) every 2 weeks.  I buy a whole summers worth the minute they go on sale.
    
     There is one disadvantage.  There is a smell.  That's what attracts the flies.  I just hang them on the far side of the chicken coop and deal with the smell.  It ends up only being a wiff here and there -- I can deal with that.  Flies I can't deal with!  It is far enough away from the house that the smell is not a problem at all for our picnics.





Grandson Logan

      Last year I had a very full, smelly, fly trap and I was getting ready for all the kids and grand kids to come for Sunday supper.  I decided I needed to change that trap, so, I took it down and placed it at the side of the chicken coop while I finished up doing something else.  Of course I forgot about it. 
     The grand kids love "feeding" the chickens.  They are checking them out right away when they come.  Well, Logan, then 2 1/2, saw my fly trap on the ground.  There are always flies buzzing around in it.  So, what does a little boy do?  You got it.  He lifted that leg so far and stamped on that fly trap so hard!!  (Had to "kill" the flies...lol...)  That trap burst.  Oh did he smell!  I could see it all happening in slow motion but there was nothing I could do about it.  It sure wasn't fun cleaning him up, but, I can't help laughing every time I think of it.  He was so young I don't suppose he will remember, but, Grandma will tell him the story........





.....dr momi

Log End Chicken Coop

     Thirty miles northwest of Green Bay, (Go Pack) we missed the snow, but the wind is something else!  This is when I am glad I have a log end chicken coop.  I built it myself over a period of 2 1/2 years, though the back wall still needs some finishing.  I made it with 18" Box Elder (a soft wood) logs and clay.  So, the walls are 18 inches thick and I never worry about it getting too cold in the chicken coop.  I worry more about making sure I have ventilation for moisture control.  The clay is made with our soil, that has a lot of clay with just the right amount of sand in it, 1 inch snips of wild oat grass, and water.

     It was such an experiment, I don't think anyone, including me, thought it might last long.  But, here we are on year 6 and it is solid.  I do a wheelbarrow load full of mud repairs each year, as the rain does a bit of erosion, but it is really nothing.  I've been very happy with it.

     The book Cordwood Building by Rob Roy is what got me interested in it.  I had never built anything.  I learned a lot --- like don't use a crooked 2x4 for the roof!!!  But every time I look at it there is a sense of satisfaction.  I built it by myself :-)

That snow drift is 2 1/2 ft. high, but my chickens are warm :-)

Freezer Diving



Tomatoes from last years garden,
just washed, quartered,  and frozen as is.
Tomato soup here we come!!

      I just dug through my bigger freezer, which is really a medium size one.  I'm trying to clean some things out, because I heard I have some grass-fed beef coming my way!  I don't have room for much, but I'm making as much room as I can.  I could do without the wild turkey tail in there, which he (as in my husband) says is destined to be a turkey decoy  - guess I'll let him have the space.  :-)    We have 2 freezers.  This medium size one and a small one.  When we get toward spring as the freezers are clearing out, everything in the little one will get transferred to the other, then we unplug it for the summer.  In general, the vegetable are in the small one and meat in the larger one.
     This is what I came upstairs with.  Two gallon size freezer bags full of the last tomatoes of the garden -- I was so sick of processing tomatoes last Aug.......I do believe fresh (frozen) tomato soup is in order.   A large  plastic container full of brown rice --- from a year and a half ago.  This will get cooked up for the chickens over a few days.  A quart of homemade chicken broth with no date on it ---uggh!  I think it is still good.  I brought it up to the refrigerator freezer to use up next.  A bag of wild grapes and rose hips from a year and a half ago, put in there for winter feeding of chickens.  The chickens are getting it for breakfast tomorrow.  And lastly, a small freezer container full of kale from the 2009 garden  --- and into the chicken food it goes.  You can tell I was lax this fall in  getting things all cleaned up.
     There is still quite a few chickens, some venison hamburger and loins in there, but I made a nice hole for the beef :-) Tomorrow my tomato soup recipe.

Freezing Eggs

Scrambled and ready to freeze.
Make sure there is at least 1/2 in head space.

     Are your hens laying eggs faster than you can use them right now?  Maybe your favorite organic eggs in the supermarket are on sale.  Did you know that you can freeze eggs with excellent results?  It's so easy, and when you use them, you won't be able to tell the difference.  I have used them for baking, but also for scrambled eggs, and they taste just like fresh.
     Begin with Ball Freezer containers, they are by the canning supplies in your favorite store.  The little ones with the purple lids are perfect for three large eggs.  Crack 3 eggs right into the container and add 1/2 tsp. salt.  Now scramble them with a fork, just enough to break up the yolks good.  Always make sure there is at least 1/2 inch head space.  If your eggs are extra large, 3 might not fit, then put in 2  -- but the same amount of salt.  Make sure to label and date, then pop them in the freezer.  I would try to use them up within 6 months.


Make sure to label and date.

     In October when I have extra eggs I will start freezing some.  That way I have plenty of my own eggs for all the extra Christmas baking.  When you use the eggs for baking, make sure to adjust the salt in your recipe to account for the extra salt in the eggs.  If you are scrambling them, you might want to mix in with some fresh eggs so they don't end up too salty.

Cookie Monster & Rooster From Hell

     Cookie Monster is a bantam (banty) rooster. A very gentle calm rooster.  He got his name one day while I was babysitting my almost 3 year old grandson.  Logan was being silly that day, and giving all the chickens he saw running around outside a name.  I can't remember the names all the hens got, but Cookie Monster's name stuck.  Cookie Monster is the only rooster I have right now.  He is the Rooster From Hell's replacement.
     The story is recalled over and over when the extended family gets together.  Belly laughs are heard long and loud.  But, I get ahead of myself.
     Rooster From Hell was determined to nail me, and nail me good.  He was a standard size mixed up breed chicken, and he was mean.  Somehow he figured I was a threat to his hens, and any chance he got he would rush at me with those spurs leading the way.  One day while I was filling up the chicken waterer at the faucet of the house, Rooster From Hell ran from the area of the chicken coop all the way across 30 yards, and with my back turned, nailed me in the back of the leg.  It left a nasty bruise mark.  That was the straw that broke the camels back.  He was a gone-er!  There was no catching him while he was running loose, but the next morning in the coop I caught him (after a battle).  Holding him by the legs, I marched my way to the house and yelled for Rick to get the axe.    .......I swear he understood, with all his might he gave a last ditch effort to get away; and didn't I loose my hold, and he was safe for another day.  Beaten by a rooster.
     The next day I was in town, and when I got home the story was retold to me.  My brother-in-law and nephew Kyle came for a visit.  Kyle was 10 years old.  Rick warned him about the rooster and not to bother him, but Kyle was a pretty "tough" guy,  he was pretty sure he could out run any old rooster.  So doesn't he go down to the coop just to taunt that bird.  The way Rick and his brother told it, they were sitting on the porch laughing their heads off as Kyle was running full blast all the way into the house, "cryin' like a little girl" with that rooster right on his butt! Kyle is 12 this year and the rooster jokes just keep on coming........
     As funny as it was hearing about Kyle and the rooster, I knew I could not keep such a mean rooster around all my grandchildren.  None of them can run as fast as Kyle :-)  It was a bad accident waiting to happen.  Rooster From Hell became "Rooster Soup", and  I have to say, it wasn't the best pot of soup I ever made.  The meat was as tough as... (wait for it)....nails.