Ideas

I got the idea to put the plastic jars with the bottom cut out they make it so much easier to fill chick feeders and waterers. I even double stacked the feeder so it would hold more. I saw at the tractor supply store the had waterers sitting on short two by four wood blocks to keep the water clean longer.

This week we are checking into poly-something a corrigated type of sheeting to go over the run to keep rain and snow off this fall and winter. We will have to order it in.

Sept.

The hens have been enjoying the fresh plums this year. I picked them last week. The squirrels were really getting after the plums so I was glad to get them picked. I pruned the plum tree too.

The chickens have also been enjoying the grapes on the deck as well. 

It's been hot we have had more summer after tbe school year started again. The weather is suosed to change. The hens will be glad for the relief
from the heat.

The hens enjoy the hose being on a bit they wade in the water on the ground to cool off their feet.

This week

I am using this with a blue tooth key board to post. 

Chickens are done molting now the new feathers came in with white fleck kind of like they are going grey! At the feed store they said a new higher protein feed is out for chickens that are molting.

Yesterday I cleaned the run I covered the run with plastic; we've had thunder storms ìn the area this week. The run cover needs to have some tweaking to get it more secure, we did get some leakage where it blew back and the water in. I need to get it a bit more secure on the top before the next rain storm.

We need to repair a shelf but I need to get the brackets for that project before we begin. 

Post from new tablet

I am trying out a post from my new gal. tab 3 seeing how it works.  Some have had issues w gal. But they have been working on a fix for it.

Okay I am able to edit. there is a learning curve with this.

This edit is from my chrome browser♡ 

New Samsung Galaxy 3 Tablet

I got a new Samsung Galaxy 3 tablet it's a 7" and I'm learning how to use it so I can post chicken pics and videos. Having a ball with my new techie toy for my bday. But there is a definite learning curve. Our son wants to see it aka translates to mom can I play w/ your new toy! LOL! 

After taking back the newest Google Nexus froze up & I had to return it because of some issue with map apps in locating my location when I was in photo taking mode. So I did not check that box on this one that identifies where I am. I'm very happy with this so far and the Samsung apps. too. I choose a white one. 

Now I'm waiting on the case to come in they were out of stock when I was at the store. 

Broken

Yesterday I got a Google Nexus 7 a bday & 40th wedding ann. gift and it is broken in less than 24 hrs. it froze up in the camera function. ACK! I was outside trying to get some photos of the chickens and it stopped working. I can't get it to do anything! Gr-r!!! I'm not happy and I'm taking it back. 

Pros of this are clear pixels on it and the stuff I used except for the camera did work. I was trying to get it up and running so I could have a Bible on it for church this morning. I got the battery all charged up last night so it would be good to go for today. 

I'm trying to see what I can get resolved. I did manage to get a few photos taken before it froze up and those were saved b/c I'd synced some stuff before hand. [I had not even learned where the flash function was on it.]  No off line owners manual came with it. 

The unit is hot and I do not know how to disengage the battery. Guess I'm going to take it back asap. before it blows up what a bummer! 


Today I got a Samsung galaxy tab 3 & I'm learning how to post from it!

Egg Custard

Egg custard 
3 eggs 
1 c. milk 
1/2 c. sugar 
1 tablespoon vanilla 
dash of nut meg. 

Whiz in blender & bake until center is set. I put mine in the crock pot on high cooked it apx. 2 hrs. and checked it after doing some chores outside and it was done yummy!

Crock Pot Cobbler

Fruit Cobbler 
Two cups fruit your choice in season I used one cup black berries and one cup plums. One cup brown sugar. One teaspoon cinnamon. Mix and place in large crock pot on high setting. 

One yellow cake mix 
Two cups milk
Three eggs [medium]  
One tablespoon vanilla 
One cube butter melted [1/2 cup] 

Mix cake mix milk, eggs, vanilla, butter, until it is pan cake batter consistency. Pour one cup over fruit. Save the rest of the batter for other cobblers. Cook until done mine took apx. two hours I was working out side in the yard. Serve warm with ice cream. This is what I remember having when I was a kid yummy. 

Try other variations with peach apple cherry canned pie filling will work for this as well. 

For a variation it's fun to sprinkle oatmeal and cinnamon on top for more texture. 

Eggs in the Crock Pot!

I made custard in the crock pot tastes great I'll use less sugar next time and tweak it with splenda at some point. --it turned out pretty well. 

Bread pudding I made in the crock pot vanished very quickly! 

Cobbler I cooked in the crock pot our grand daughters were competing who got to crack the eggs and put them in this recipe and helped mix it up making recipe so much more fun to do. What I learned was the cobbler should have been in the bigger crock pot, the custard needed to be mixed more.  Still tweaking these recipes a bit. 

Crust-less spinach quiche' was a surprise that it was such a hit! We had ours in a wrap the carb count is better and the family liked it that way; but it was a bit watery because I did not put flour in it. Next time I'll do it in the crock pot as well. Tonight we'll have egg salad in a wrap, or tuna salad in a wrap.  

I may try poached eggs as well. 
Recipes coming I have saved them some where around here! 

Got it!

For a treats the hens got crumbs from the box of vanilla wafer cookies and raisin bran cereal, some green grapes with seeds, and one green plum. 

I cleaned under the roost again today and got a frame I'm considering for a frame to hold the plastic we will put up over the wire mesh on part of the roof. The hens do not mind the rain as much as I do when it drips down my neck when I'm out doing chores the tin ends right on the walk way where I go through from one door to the other. I hope this will work. Last year we did not put up plastic because we figured the wind on the wire would just shred it. 

Part of the nest box has a nail loose and the bottom is coming out so we need to repair that this weekend. We moved it to solve that problem. I got 12 eggs today. The days are getting shorter so next month I'll be thinking about getting the light up and fall stuff we need to do. 

This week I've been trying out some recipes and I'll be posting those I finally got the cobbler one to turn out like I wanted. 

August News

Each week it seems I learn some thing new with chickens here. This weekend at a flea market an old timer had some eggs for sale and I was getting some pointers on what to do with a broody hen w no rooster that should be done sitting. I like what he said that they did. They moved the chicken that were broody out away from the others without any eggs, in to an isolation area then after a week they were ready to rejoin the flock. 

What I've been doing is moving the broody hen to a cage away from the others in the morning and then when the hens are done laying at noon closing the coop if there are stragglers they can use the outside nesting boxes. Then I let the broody hen out of the cage and she is more than ready to rejoin the flock. 

Today the broody hen that I was working with  has rejoined the flock after only a day and a half. I'm SO happy about that. Then today found another two that have gone broody of this years hens so I have isolated one and will do what I did yesterday with the other one next. It seems to be working. 

Today I gathered eleven eggs I got a thin shelled egg today so I added oyster shell calcium to the feed, they have it in the run but thought I'd better put it in their feeder as well. And one cracked egg so I had those for my brunch. 

I put up the big feeder that holds a lot for our weekend away. I've removed that one an put up the others. The hens were having a hard time getting the last of it out of the big feeder so I poured it out for them. 

The road construction in our area does not seem to bother the hens at all this week. 
Ten eggs yesterday one was not salvageable was broken. The cracked ones went for boiled eggs I'm thinking egg salad sandwiches or on half a bagel open faced style. That would be fun on the mini ones as well. 

I dug up some bulbs on the West side of the coop, the hens liked getting bugs, our grand daughter had so much fun digging in the dirt with me! First I had to move some wood and then  I watered it so the digging would be easier and would attract more bugs, then I put the hose on another section in front of that to do some more digging on later. 

We are rethinking the placement of the red coop to use for brooders it needs to be closer to the main coop and power source We may be redesigning one to fit on the current coop and incorporate the window we have on it for a hen access place.  


I've put of an eggs for sale sign in our window this week. 

Herding Hens

We've had some thunder and rain here this week. I've fed the chickens this morning and let them out. Today I need to water them and fill their big water font. Plus fill up the big feeder to see if it lasts a couple of days I got it hung up yesterday in the chicken run. 

I dismantled the nest of the broody hen that went next door to for an unsuccessful hatch not surprising with no roo. After a month it was time. The grand kids helped me heard her back home after she went back to that spot she was sitting again. She has showered in the rain and returned to the flock now. That's a relief!The other broody hen is still sitting on a golf ball but is in the coop. 

We got the smallest egg I've ever seen today about an inch and a half long I suspect it is just yolk. It's a very pretty egg dark and speckled a lovely egg. One of the New Hampshire red pullets have already started to lay eggs. We gathered eight eggs today. 

I made deviled eggs and our grand daughter helped me mix up two different kinds of cookie dough. 

Peanut Butter Cake mix cookies

P.B. Cake Mix Cookies 
Preheat oven 350* 
Prep. 5-10 min. 

Ingredients: 
1 yellow or chocolate cake mix
2 small eggs 
1 Tablespoon vanilla 
2 Tablespoons water
1 c. peanut butter 
1 cup toppings we like chocolate chips optional. 
Cinnamon

Directions: 
Stir eggs in to cake mix with vanilla peanut butter and water. 
spoon on cookie sheet; sprinkle cinnamon on top make fork marks on top. 

Option: add 7 chocolate chips or m & m's on each cookie for a variation 
Bake 10-12 min.@ 350 cool and enjoy. 
Great for ice cream sandwiches. 

Trip to the Tractor Supply Store

After breakfast our dear grand son helped with the chicken chores he's the fill in person to help out when needed around here. I had the grand kids eat breakfast on the deck I put a table cloth on it dear grand daughter wanted to know why there was a "cloth" on the table. Later we did some errands to the Tractor Supply Store got the hens some more food, putting away stuff from the farm and tractor store. 

I got a galvanized chick feeder I wanted a spare and they were out last time I was checking on them. I cut the bottom out of a plastic mayo. jar so I could use it for this one it makes so much easier to fill the feeder just being able to pour it in. The hens use this as well. 

Then Hubby got busy trying to beat the heat fixed the roosts and perch in the chicken run. The hens were not happy with him messing around out there in the chicken run one was really squawking a lot. It was really quiet outside unsualy so not a sound from other birds; I said "maybe that hawk is back who knows". Then I got busy with the tasks at hand and I rinsed off the ramps for the roosts got the roosts scraped off and the chicken ramps got those back up. 

Hubs grilled lunch yummy burgers for us for our lunch those were great. We also got a small five gallon sized galvanized bucket, like a trash cans we had when I was a kid. This one is like a miniature one of those. Saw they had them on sale, this one is for chicken feed. The clerk said this shipment came without a handle but I knew we had a wooden knob at home from another project. So I rounded that up and hubby put it on while the burgers were cooking. I filled the galvanized mini can with the bottom of the bag feed that was left and I'm glad that worked out so well. 

One egg was broken today when I gathered them seven so far today. Yesterday our grandson came up to the deck grinning ear to ear our grand daughter was tattling that "he got eggs without the basket"; he had eggs stuffed in all of his pockets; such memories we are building around here! They do love to gather eggs and help with the chicken chores.  

I set the waterer up on some 2" x 4" blocks to get the water up off the ground to keep it cleaner that is working well. 

I got a plastic egg carton for the fridge and some of the foam cartons for when folks want eggs those were on my list. 

Mopsy and Flopsy

After my walk today the two hens I'm calling Mopsy and Flopsy one has a floppy comb. Were busy in the nest box hanging out and lots of cluck cluck CLUCK clucking was going on. 

I was watering with the hose and spotted a hawk fly off out of the tree in the neighbor's back yard so it was a warning call to take cover that time instead of the "I've just laid and egg" clucking. I picked apples for them after getting on the old rickety ladder I've decided next time I need to get out the other one that's better and taller. I raked the chicken yard and got fresh apples chopped up for the hens so they can have the worms inside them too. 

I freshened up the nest boxes with shavings and cleaned under their roosts. I Saw one of the nest box perches needs some repair and I stabilized it for now until we can get to it in the morning when it's cooler this weekend. 

I gathered ten eggs today so far yea for a full basket of eggs. Of course when production was down I gave away all the egg cartons I had collected. [Me rolling my eyes.] I do have a couple of spares I keep the clear ones and some I cut in half to use when production is less so they will do for now. The broody hens took a break in the afternoon and got a drink stretch and had some food. The do not poo in their nests. 

One of the younger pullets sort of pecked at my hand when I went outside and had no food for them it was like she was saying "hey don't forget about us"! I picked her up and packed her out to the chicken run and put her by the food. A couple of them are tame enough to be petted and she was one of those. I'm going to see about getting them to eat out of my hand but I'll put on my leather gloves first. 

Summer Heat

Our chickens are all alive and well we have plenty of shade and water buckets all around the yard under shady areas. Some frozen treats or okay with the hens now they have decided. I've been watering the hot spots during the day to cool it off a bit and they enjoy the cool grass. They've been eating less feed. We got eight eggs yesterday. The guy from hubby's work was very happy with his eggs, on Sunday for family breakfast they made making pancakes and got a double yolk-er the kids got a kick out of seeing that they were helping to make the batter! Out of that doz. several were double yolkers. It's a challenge to explain that double yolk eggs are sort of random and do not all come from the same hen as far as I know any way. 

When I open up the coop window one hen jumps up on the ledge and I jump back expecting a chicken bomb, that's when a chicken takes flight and you need to get out of the way! But this one did not fly just saying hi and I petted her so that's the new routine a couple of them are tame enough so that's great. 

Our granddaughter got between the feed and one got pecked once so now she will not go out in to the chicken yard or coop she is afraid. Not all bad if we get a roo it's good that she remains a healthy distance from them but so far none are roos. The hens from this spring's crop of Rhode Island Reds all seem to be laying. Delaying my summer plans to paint the inside of the coop as it's a pretty busy place through out the morning. Maybe in the afternoon but it's been in the triple digits this week here so that's not very appealing. 

Chicken Notes & Ideas

Today I got one egg first thing today it was cold so had been laid a while ago none in the nest box last night when I last checked. 

U.S. farm report had good info. but an hour long was too much time. will have to try to catch the rest later on the net. I like to follow info. on crops and stuff and get ideas about feed. http://www.rfdtv.com/shows/agriculture/u.s._farm_report/

Speaking of feed I'm going to put the corn meal in the freezer to kill any potential bugs from hatching. I'd not thought about G.M.O. corn being in the feed we use until I saw the show this week,  I'll be giving that some thought. 

Decided we might try to get some Rhode Island White in the fall to have them ready to lay by spring to prevent the lag time we had this year. It's sort of an art from keeping on top of that. I'll have to call and put in my order. 

The hens are not keeping up with the apples at this point. I got a shrub rake, I had to attach the handle before I could use it. Then I cleaned out the coop and run yesterday. After that I Freshened up the nest boxes with new shavings hoping to prevent the occasional cracked eggs. Surprised how long it took me to figure that out! LOL! 

Beginning the new tech. stuff will get a new cable modem tomorrow afternoon. To get the tech. net stuff on the smart phones we have will double the bill so we will not be doing that. Bummer. =( Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a tablet and do it with that using the cable net. 

Soft Shell

 Hoping to get some new technology by fall so I can put up some chicken videos, & pic. 

The other day a chicken laid an egg directly in front of me, it was a soft shelled one. So I upped the amount of oyster shells in with their feed. That was amazing and I could tell that she was one of the hens with the crook in her comb. 

I've been getting between 4-6 eggs a day this week. Only the EE is laying from the older hens. 

Hubby brought home a cage to use for chicks or isolation from a guy at work that wanted to trade it for eggs. I have sent the first doz. with hubby to work for the guy. He lives in the city limits and cannot have chickens and is really missing the fresh eggs. I was glad to hear that he did not mind green eggs! 

Grand kids have been having fun helping to feed and gather eggs naming the chickens that are their favorites. It's a challenge to tell them apart with most all of them the same breed this year. 

Ours do not like the frozen treats so much in the hot weather they wait until the treats of frozen fruit are thawed to eat it. 

Double

Double yolker egg today elongated shaped. That was a fun one to find it was an elongated egg more so than the average egg. Last night I put my gloves on and picked up the broody hen briefly so I could check her eggs and she had two pullet eggs in her nest so she's sitting on three eggs now. So the new hens have been laying for a week now. 

I got some herb plants marked down one each of lemon thyme and regular thyme planted those in the front yard, where the chickens will not eat them so much. 

At the farmers market I got some zucchini  Swiss chard, and carrots. Then I realized after I got home that I should have had the guy leave the tops on the carrots when he asked I could have given them to the chickens! 

I dropped of feed sacks to the gal that uses them to make feed sack totes and next time I'll ask if she does the feed sack aprons. Picked up another sack of feed while we were down town. This one is a new design! 

Egg-citing News!

Exciting news here from the hen house! Loud clucking was heard this morning and one of the new Rhode Island Red [RIR] pullets has laid an egg; so at 22-23 weeks we have a new productive batch of hens here! Yippie!  I suppose it is so silly to get this excited over such a tiny egg golf ball sized egg! I noticed she had been hanging out around the hen house a lot lately sitting in the nest boxes and being friendly with the others that were sitting & laying.  Our 5 year old grand daughter found it and was the most excited! We got 3 eggs yesterday one green one the Easter Egger has been laying really consistently this week. Plus one beige egg with a pointy end I'm trying to figure out which hen lays that one. 

While I was out in the yard I found a pink tomato but the chickens found it first and was 3/4ths of the way eaten; but I'm in such a good mood about having a new layer I'll forgive them this time. I put the tomato cage up it needs to be wrapped with netting still. That will be next up on my to do list.

When I was out in the yard the other broody hen came flying over the fence from next door clucking loudly as if to say "I'm home!" I had to step back because I was in her "flight path" so she could have a safe landing! She was home for food and water.

Other neighbors have their house up for sale and are clearing out stuff and I got a couple of new to me egg gathering baskets and crock pot for the chickens water-er in the winter to keep that from freezing. I'm going to try that out hoping it's not too hot.  I have sun tea brewing on the deck now so I'll be sipping on that soon. 

Looking forward to the farmers markets this weekend. Today one of the roos woke me up at 5:15 sort of a squack not really a crow; he's still learning. I'm not sure if it was Stewie or Golden Boy there are two I think are roos in this batch. It's time to think about getting their pen ready to go. The hen coop needs to be repainted.