Arizona Chickens

[a little chiken]

17 pullets went out of here to new homes this weekend!

My "for sale" pen has less than 10 pullets in it now, but that is only because I haven't had time to go through the birds again. Still have Black Copper Marans, Rhode Island Reds, Blue Copper Marans, New Hampshire pullets from this year--3 to 4 month olds plus a few 2+ month old Black Copper Marans.

If anybody who doesn't butcher their own birds wants a nice STEWING HEN---already processed, bagged and ready to cook---I processed 4 of them yesterday. Plus a couple of young cockerels. I sell them processed for $5/pound--organically fed from hatch. PM me for weights/prices of what I have fresh right now. They will go in the freezer after Wednesday.

Oh--and I finally did a tally on paper. I know it has to have errors--what is on paper and what is in the pens sometimes don't match, I wonder how that happens

but chicken count for this year's hatching is down to 226. Don't ask what I started with

that is a lot of chicken!!

 

[desertmarcy]

that is a lot of chicken!!

Yes, and my feed bill is going up even though the numbers are going down because a lot of them are growing really fast right now. I hatched a lot this year to try to get some really good breeders and show birds, especially the Marans, they are harder than the dickens to breed up. I hatched 2-3 hundred of those alone.

 

[a little chiken]

well I do not have that many chickens but I understand the feed bill thing with our mini zoo here...lol.

 

[Bobby Basham]

I'm hoping it I can replace the needle myself. I don't want to have to move it around too much

Ya know this stikes a nerve with me...in a good way.

I'm a record player fanatic and you ought to see my collection. Needles are still available and easy to replace. If the old needle is still in place, get the number off of it. If not, flip that carridge over and there should be a number on one of the sides. Use that number to match it with the correct needle. You can get needles at Garage-a-Records, Parts Express, Radio Shack and many other places I can't remember right now. With the exception of about three, these are all Magnavox.










OOOOH, that's not all of them and don't get me started...LOL!!!! -

-BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

 

[City farm]

Gallo you have any Moringa seeds or grape clipings you could send me? How would you go about getting a cliping from a fig tree. I have a old fig tree that needs to be removed but I want to take clipings and replant them.

Fig cuttings start best in early spring/late winter just before they bud out. Use one year old growth, about 1 foot length taken off the end of a branch. Wrap several layers of wet paper towel around the bottom few inches of the cut stem and put the whole thing in a plastic bag and twist tie shut. Put it somewhere warm and don't check it for about 2 weeks. Carefully unwrap the paper towels and look for tiny roots. Once you see the roots forming, then take the cutting out of the bag and pot it in soil in a nice well draining mix and keep well watered. Be very careful at that stage the small rootlets are very fragile. I made three cuttings from my Conadria fig this spring, two took and are doing great.

Thank you for the details.. We have a few neighbors that have nice fig trees & I would love to try that for some of the rentals that have no trees in their yard..

 

[chicksurreal]

Your nt kidding me.. I hope I can see it in person someday? One of my dearest friend, that is my neighbor would of salivated over it.. She decorated her home in 40's,50's, &60's.. So wonderful to enjoy her home.. She is my friend that gave me a record player.. Does anyone know where I could get a needle for a old record player? I remember @Bobby Basham worked on them..
I did email a company 2x with no responce.. I did get records for it, looking forward to playing it. I will post up a photo of the player..

That would be great!

I can't wait to see it myself! I love glass (I make glass beads) and collect chicken "stuff", so it's a double treasure.

 

[City farm]

 

 

Yeah, bitter tastes are associated with alkaloid substances which are in turn sometimes troublesome.   I wonder if our alkaline soil has a contributing factor.  I did did a quick search and found that eating the roots is not recommended because of potentially dangerous alkaloids (I don't know for sure about the veracity of that).  I'm going to try drying them too.  I've been drying the celery leaves from the celery I grow.  Fresh, the leaves are practically inedible they're so bitter, but dried they're really good.  We put them in soups.  Maybe the moringa will be a bit like that.  Desertmarcy, have you eaten the leaves you've grown?  Have you tried feeding it to the chickens?

Mine aren't big enough yet for me to want to harvest. No, I haven't tasted them, I guess I should. Maybe if you grow them in more mulch that might help acidify the soil a bit? IDK, our water is too alkaline. I grew celery one year and had the same experience, very bitter, but I never thought to dry the leaves, shucks.

When I first grew celery here in AZ I started with Tall Utah (I think?) and I was so disappointed that it was hit or miss as far as bitterness.  I was always pulling stalks from the outside of each plant and mixing individuals from several plants together.  Then I realized that the bitterness was mostly confined to specific plants.  All the stalks from a given plant were either bitter or not.  So, from a patch of about 100 plants I tasted each one and pulled out all the bitter plants.  Interestingly, I removed almost exactly half.  I then grew out and kept seeds from the remaining plants and from those seeds most of the plants were not bitter.  I think it needed another year or so of selection, but even with the first crop we have been so pleased.  I've been planting from that first batch for the past six years or so.  In fact, it's probably the most favorite thing we grow in the winter.  The dried leaves are such a treat in the heat of summer when we're unable to grow it, but can still get that amazing flavor.  I think there are some of those seeds in the seed box.   Even after all these years the germination rate is surprisingly good.

Yes there are a ton of the celery seeds.. They had fallen out of the original bag, so there is a separate bag with all of the extra seeds, along with some misc seeds.. I have never grown celery.. Since I have switched to above ground pots, due to the dogs & chickens distructive behavior.. I am still looking for a used metal horse trough..

 

[chicksurreal]

That's a cool record player!!!

 

[City farm]

Oh no, what happened??

i have a severe UTI. i thought the pain was from my spinal stenosis but um no. 

Get better soon..

 

[City farm]

[COLOR=006400]Thanks for your purchase. 

Have not been on BYC for a long long time.  I will have to get back here more often.  I just updated all my info since it's been almost 7 years since it was updated.  2 more grandchildren since then.  Same dog and cats but not as many hens and only one goose now. 

Thanks again.

Jacie[/COLOR]

Welcome back.

X2!