California - Northern

[tls_ranch]

What to do with extra eggs and an extra pie crust!

Beautiful!!!! recipe please?

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well We had a pretty good one. My sis and her 3 kids and my Mom came up to our house. Our kids had a blast playing with their cousins.

I cooked a California grown, free range, pasture raised, organic hen turkey. My sis prefers organic...so I splurged on the expensive turkey rather than the cheaper "commercial" type. I injected it with organic broth and some seasoned melted butter. I also stuffed it with apple and onions cut into large wedges for added flavor. YUM!!!! Much different flavor and texture to the meat than the "commercial" turkeys. Worth the money I think and makes me want to raise our own thanksgiving turkeys

Only thing that I wish was different was that everyone has a cold. My sis's kids were a bit sick and our family had some sort of cold virus too. We decided not to cancel dinner and just tough it out. I don't feel too bad today...but have lost my voice and my throat feels like stiff cardboard.

Oh well, dinner was great and it was worth it to spend time with family.

Trisha

 

[ronott1]

Oops...wrong state.
Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.

My email notice still has the original post.

It I lived closer, the Shawneexpo would be a great time!

Ron

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday! I got to be with 2 out of 3 of my kids, which was nice. Haven't had the entire family together since 2006, so I keep hoping for that.

I'm a fairly good cook, but pie crusts frustrate me. I tried making them, using lard, for the first time. They still didn't work. Maybe I need to double the recipe because I have trouble getting the dough rolled out to a large enough size without tearing. I flour the board but the dough doesn't come off it easily. DH said he knew how to do it, but he just took the dough and pressed it in the pan.

Oh well, my pumpkin filling is excellent, so they didn't mind the crust.

Cooper, I've been thinking a lot about hawks and your situation. I keep wondering why I don't have attacks when there are hawks in the sky here every day. We even have eagles that have moved in the valley.

I have one neighbor, about a mile away. She raises lots of poultry & livestock like me. We are the only ones in the area that are not having losses of livestock & poultry to predators. I read her blog and discovered something that we do in common. She thinks it keeps the raptor birds from killing her chickens. I do the same thing but never thought of it as being a deterrent for hawk attack.

We both kill ground squirrels and put them out in a specific place. My neighbor says she does this to train the hawks/eagles to prefer squirrel instead of chicken. I always put them over the back fence so the dogs won't eat them. Any dead varmints that I don't want the dogs to eat get tossed there.

So maybe if you provide the hawk with a different food source, they will leave your chickens alone.

I may try that. He has just taken a chicken liking though I think. I am just hoping he goes away. No sign of him today.

 

[zooweemama]

I don't think that they are sick or anything like that. I'm not an Orp person, but I checked the SOP and that artwork shows the underline as being like a bowl. The chest/breast is a rounded curve.

There's a judge that I'm always bugging with questions. I gather, from what I've heard from him, that chickens should have a flowing shape, instead of sharp angles, straight lines, or parts that look like they don't fit with the rest of the bird. I can't remember his exact words and I'm having a hard time explaining it. Debi, you were there- do you know what I'm trying to describe?

I thought maybe Mediterranean breeds were supposed to be more angular, since so many of the photos that you see of them show them with as birds with breasts that have straight outlines. But if you look at the SOP, even the Leghorns have rounded breasts that have a flowing shape to them.

Looking at my own birds, especially my Delawares, makes me so upset now. I keep looking for the rounded breast/outline and instead I see an upside down triangle shape.

If you get the APA SOP and start going to shows, it makes you start seeing things differently. AmyBeth, you already have an incredible eye for detail and seem to be a perfectionist, so that might help you.

If you want more info specifically on Orps, you might post on the Orp thread or on the Heritage Breed thread. The crowd there is not as friendly as here but have lots of knowledge & experience.

I checked on them this morning before letting them out of their coop and all the hennies chests were less lumpy. They were just full. Shew! I am so relieved. I swear I am THE most paranoid person when it comes to my chickens!

 

[zooweemama]

Jeremy could help. I have not heard from him in a while. Yes, some threads are funny. Someone new to the a breed posts a picture of their pet and someone judges it and finishes with would make a good pot of soup....

. It cracks me up.

If I see a post with a not perfect chicken picture and the person has 100 posts and joined this month, I am a bit more gentle.

Amy Beth, your BOs look very healthy! It will be nice to see what they look like next year after the first molt. That is when you are supposed to judge an Heritage Breed.

Amy - there is nothing wrong with those girls. Orps are a large breed, they eat more. My 2 English Orps get big crops like that too. My son calls them the "fat girls".

I checked on them this morning before letting them out of their coop and all the hennies chests were less lumpy. They were just full. Shew! I am so relieved. I swear I am THE most paranoid person when it comes to my chickens!

Thank you guys so much! I probably get so annoying with my sudden panic attacks. I am learning SO much so far and I appreciate everyones patience with me as I learn and grow. This Winter I am picking up the SOP book for myself for Christmas (or hint to dh to haha). What a thing to ask for for Christmas. haha! I also want a pair of genuine Muck Boots as well.

I am so excited. Duck #8 started laying today. I have some small pullets starting to lay. Today 8 duck eggs and 4 chicken eggs. 1 dozen in 1 day! That's huge for us! haha!

Ron, did you get a chance to work with the duck eggs? I swear this year was awesome for pies and baking. I used ALL duck eggs. Everything tasted so rich and yummy.

I love the tiny pullet eggs for a light breakfast though. For me a 45 gram egg is just perfect. We got another 100 gram egg from one of the ducks (at least I am pretty sure a duck- I do not think my goose would lay yet). That's 2 100 gram eggs in 3 days. If there are 2 yolks in there then I know for sure it is a duck. One yolk...I might begin to question my goose's laying in the Spring as her first season.

I will follow this with a pic of todays eggs. So you can see the gigantic egg.

 

[zooweemama]

todays eggs. see the 4 buff's eggs. the rest are my duck eggs. the top left is my gigantic one. it is so large that it wont close in the egg carton.

the french black copper marans cockerel i am going to try to keep - Gary. He is really gorgeous.

 

[ronott1]

Quote:
Well, you know me! We had them fried for breakfast- Very tasty but the whites are a bit more "Solid". I just finished Chocolate pie filling and it called for two yolks. It is very tasty.

Thank you!

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Well, you know me! We had them fried for breakfast- Very tasty but the whites are a bit more "Solid". I just finished Chocolate pie filling and it called for two yolks. It is very tasty.

Thank you!

yummy

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I am going to split my flock in two tomorrow night.
My Crele Rooster and his 5 Crele hens in 1 run and coop.
The 2 White Emp's 3 Partridge Pene's 2 icelandic's and 1 blue ameraucana in the other small 20x40 chicken yard with the main coop. I am fortifying there run with T posts and that nasty stucco wire on top spaced apart with fishing line and reflective tape between.
So hoping to get a Protective rooster or two to go with them.

4 weeks till move then I will be going Run and Coop crazy as I will need runs for
Crele , black and partridge Penedesenca plus the white Empordanesa. ( I should be getting a replacement rooster in January )

Plus 1 for the layer flock with the just for fun chickens....
Ahhh so glad to get this Hawk thing behind me.

 

[tls_ranch]

I am going to split my flock in two tomorrow night.
My Crele Rooster and his 5 Crele hens in 1 run and coop.
The 2 White Emp's 3 Partridge Pene's 2 icelandic's and 1 blue ameraucana in the other small 20x40 chicken yard with the main coop. I am fortifying there run with T posts and that nasty stucco wire on top spaced apart with fishing line and reflective tape between.
So hoping to get a Protective rooster or two to go with them.

4 weeks till move then I will be going Run and Coop crazy as I will need runs for
Crele , black and partridge Penedesenca plus the white Empordanesa. ( I should be getting a replacement rooster in January )

Plus 1 for the layer flock with the just for fun chickens....
Ahhh so glad to get this Hawk thing behind me.

Just a hawk story to share. I was standing outside today and had chickens scattered all around me. All of a sudden, the whole flock started screeching alarm calls and scrambling either for the coop or near by bushes. A coopers hawk swooped low over my head about 8ft off the ground and then swooped even lower over a group of hens hiding under a manzanita bush. Didn't loose any chickens, but the chickens knew the hawk was coming long before I even saw it. I hope this hawk doesn't start liking chicken like your hawk does.

Trisha