Nevadans? - Page 1383

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gadsden 

I just joined, and live in Palomino Valley. While we do not have chickens anymore, I am interested in most issues of self reliance and independence.

Well, this is the right group, then.  Almost everyone on this thread is involved in at least some kind of sustainability, cost-reducing, reliance something-or-other.  I love this group!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gadsden 

I just joined, and live in Palomino Valley. While we do not have chickens anymore, I am interested in most issues of self reliance and independence.

Welcome Chris! I'm glad you found us. There's tons of information on here.

Everyone! Boy am I exhausted. I'm so exhausted I had to spell check the spelling just so I could remember how it was spelled.

Oh no, Aubrey, I'm so sorry about your little girl. That must of been really hard on you. I know you've been through a lot too but still.

Missy, I didn't know if you knew but once you make your cheese turn the pot back on and heat up the whey to 200 degrees. You'll see some white stuff on top of the pot, it's true ricotta. Once the water is heated to 200 degrees, I then pour it into a muslin lined stainless steal colander or use an old pillow case. Let the whey drain back into the pot by pouring the whey back in and hanging the ricotta from somewhere and let it drip into the pot. Then pour it on the plants. From 2 gallons of milk you end up with only 1/4 cup but I figure why not since it's already there. It sure does work on the tomatoes. My bell peppers started turning yellow yesterday so John poured whey water on them. I'll let you know how the peppers did.

I had a scare today with Missy, my WH, she was in the pond just as I needed to leave to go to work. I saw the water was low but I figured she would be okay since we have bricks inside it for them to get out. I should have just filled it anyways. I told John when I saw him at work today just as he was leaving. When I got home he said she was in the crate and wanted to know if I wanted to do anything. I was very surprised. I asked why didn't she climb on the bricks to get out and he said he took the bricks out. There was another duck in there trying to help her get out but she was too tired. I don't know which duck it was trying to get her out, John said it was a white duck, well the only dark duck is Mo because everyone else besides the younger ones are molting. I think it was Justin but I'm not sure. She's fine though. They pulled her feathers off her wings. I put Blue Kote on them and gave her 1/2 an aspirin. The ducks were really upset with me working on her and she was pretty upset with me too. I figured she would be better with everyone and she is. She's sleeping now with Justin, Mo and Sierra surrounding her and won't let anything get near her. Man, I feel so bad. That was a huge lesson learned. Keep that pond filled.

Leroy isn't crowing yet. Yesterday it looked liked he wanted to do something with Lacey but Bella wouldn't hear of it. Bella jumped right on top of Leroy just as Leroy was about to jump on Lacey. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. Bella is so dominate. She's for sure in charge again but in a very nice way.

Bridgette refuses to go into the coop. She hangs with the ducks day and night. All day and all night. They love her but she really should try to become friends with the chickens. She refuses to. She likes the ducks only.

I'm now picking zucchini and my garlic is starting to dry out at the tops and leaning over. The garlic will be ready in about 6 weeks from now by the way it's looking. Then I'll pick it and dry it Collect the outside cloves for fall planting and store the rest for using.

Off to bed I go now. I'm going in late tomorrow. For some unknown reason I've been placed on swing shift. Let's hope it's short lived. I haven't caught up on everything on here. I'm hoping everything is going well with everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sherylreno 

Everyone! Boy am I exhausted. I'm so exhausted I had to spell check the spelling just so I could remember how it was spelled.

 

Oh no, Aubrey, I'm so sorry about your little girl. That must of been really hard on you. I know you've been through a lot too but still.

 

Missy, I didn't know if you knew but once you make your cheese turn the pot back on and heat up the whey to 200 degrees. You'll see some white stuff on top of the pot, it's true ricotta. Once the water is heated to 200 degrees, I then pour it into a muslin lined stainless steal colander or use an old pillow case. Let the whey drain back into the pot by pouring the whey back in and hanging the ricotta from somewhere and let it drip into the pot. Then pour it on the plants. From 2 gallons of milk you end up with only 1/4 cup but I figure why not since it's already there. It sure does work on the tomatoes. My bell peppers started turning yellow yesterday so John poured whey water on them. I'll let you know how the peppers did.

 

I had a scare today with Missy, my WH, she was in the pond just as I needed to leave to go to work. I saw the water was low but I figured she would be okay since we have bricks inside it for them to get out. I should have just filled it anyways. I told John when I saw him at work today just as he was leaving. When I got home he said she was in the crate and wanted to know if I wanted to do anything. I was very surprised. I asked why didn't she climb on the bricks to get out and he said he took the bricks out. There was another duck in there trying to help her get out but she was too tired. I don't know which duck it was trying to get her out, John said it was a white duck, well the only dark duck is Mo because everyone else besides the younger ones are molting. I think it was Justin but I'm not sure. She's fine though. They pulled her feathers off her wings. I put Blue Kote on them and gave her 1/2 an aspirin. The ducks were really upset with me working on her and she was pretty upset with me too. I figured she would be better with everyone and she is. She's sleeping now with Justin, Mo and Sierra surrounding her and won't let anything get near her. Man, I feel so bad. That was a huge lesson learned. Keep that pond filled.

 

Leroy isn't crowing yet. Yesterday it looked liked he wanted to do something with Lacey but Bella wouldn't hear of it. Bella jumped right on top of Leroy just as Leroy was about to jump on Lacey. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. Bella is so dominate. She's for sure in charge again but in a very nice way.

 

Bridgette refuses to go into the coop. She hangs with the ducks day and night. All day and all night. They love her but she really should try to become friends with the chickens. She refuses to. She likes the ducks only.

 

I'm now picking zucchini and my garlic is starting to dry out at the tops and leaning over. The garlic will be ready in about 6 weeks from now by the way it's looking. Then I'll pick it and dry it Collect the outside cloves for fall planting and store the rest for using.

 

Off to bed I go now. I'm going in late tomorrow. For some unknown reason I've been placed on swing shift. Let's hope it's short lived. I haven't caught up on everything on here. I'm hoping everything is going well with everyone!

I might try making ricotta with my cultured cheese.  The website where I get my info says it doesn't work well with acid whey, though.  Next I need to go to Trader Joe's and see if I can find a goat's milk that's not ultra-pasteurized, so I can make some chevre.

So glad Missy is ok!  A few weeks ago, I went to put the duckies to bed, and Curry wouldn't get out of the pond.  Then I realized she COULDN"T get out of the pond, and the other ducks refused to leave her.  When my friend had switched out the pond pump, he had left a rope on the filter bag, not realizing we were even going to get ducks, and it was around her neck.  She wasn't choking, but she could only swim about 5 feet in either direction.  I told Russ, who was almost falling in the pond as he reached over and cut the rope with scissors.  Now it's cut so there are no loops in it.  Curry got right out, and the two drakes ushered her into the coop.  The whole scene almost made me cry... the ducks that wouldn't leave her at 11:30pm, and the husband who nearly fell in the pond trying to save my duckie.  Maybe I was just emotional that day anyway.

We are having a yard sale on Saturday to get a little extra cash for my husband's next business trip.  For the Philippines trip, they pre-paid him travel money... this time, they only reimburse.  We don't have a big pot of travel money in the account.  Yesterday, I walked through the house making a list of what we could sell.  And I realized that, even if we had never had this bronchitis thing, I couldn't put the chickens on the list.  I couldn't pick any that I would sell to make a little bit of money.  I can get rid of my martial arts stuff and cooking stuff, but I'm only getting rid of these chickens as a very last resort.

I'm jealous that you have zucchini.  Mine are growing huge (considering I planted them in potting soil on top of a planter box filled with stuff to compost) and I was worried that they were getting too much nitrogen there, but they have tons of flower buds at the base.  My sugar pumpkins are going INSANE!  Tons of male and female blossoms, and so far they look like the bees are doing their job.  I did notice a lot of ants crawling around the blossoms, so we took some DE and sprinkled it on the ground under the plants, after a good watering.  So far, that garden's totally organic, and the only bugs I've seen are ants and bees.  After it becomes a more tasty environment, I'm sure more bugs will take up residence, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by americanvalkyrie 
So glad Missy is ok!  A few weeks ago, I went to put the duckies to bed, and Curry wouldn't get out of the pond.  Then I realized she COULDN"T get out of the pond, and the other ducks refused to leave her.  When my friend had switched out the pond pump, he had left a rope on the filter bag, not realizing we were even going to get ducks, and it was around her neck.  She wasn't choking, but she could only swim about 5 feet in either direction.  I told Russ, who was almost falling in the pond as he reached over and cut the rope with scissors.  Now it's cut so there are no loops in it.  Curry got right out, and the two drakes ushered her into the coop.  The whole scene almost made me cry... the ducks that wouldn't leave her at 11:30pm, and the husband who nearly fell in the pond trying to save my duckie.  Maybe I was just emotional that day anyway.

I can tell this is going to be one of those "emotional" days for me!  Your story practically has me in tears already!  Maybe I'm just tired.  I really don't feel like crying every time I turn around!

Wow I'm glad to hear of everyone's rescues!

I found one of my RIR hens dead in the coop this morning when I went to collect eggs. No idea what happened to her. Yesterday she was fine and this morning... That's the second RIR I've lost - the first one I'm sure was egg bound.