calling any one from missouri

[msy8ix]

hi jasmine welcome to byc sent picture of two of our new babies that just hatched a few days ago they are out of our first chicks we raised last fall , we also have 3 new baby turkeys they all follow us around everywhere the wife has named all if our girls and boys lol they are great to have around enjoy yours !!!

 

[yopollo]

what a cute ball of fuzz!

 

[littlechickies]

I need hatching /broody help. My silkie went broody the first time and it was difficult to break her so when my bantum when broody I gave her an egg. It now seems the egg is not going to hatch, and the broody hen keeps stealing other eggs. Do I allow her to steal another egg or two and let her sit or do I try to break her of the broodieness. I have not been through this before and not sure how to handle it. The silkie would just sit but this hen will go out and allow the other hens to sit on her clutch and then when they lay their egg and leave then she will return and sit. So I am not concerned she is not eating and drinking but would like her to start laying again.
Any help would be great, thanks\

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you want her to start laying again, break her immediately. If you don't, give her marked fertile eggs and remove volunteers. If you let her sit, it will be at least 6 weeks before she lays again.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

OzarkCountryGirl it is nice to meet you and it sounds like you have a very lovely place as well! I have not tried kale.
But it does sound like something that would be nice to have for both the family and chickens.
My daughter who is 5 will not eat anything green (well besides pickles, she is a pickle feened

)
So we do make lots of green smoothies. I wonder if I tried the kale chips if she would like that. She always tries new things but very rarely eats it with joy. LOL.
I have been contemplating our gardening seasons, I may have to set up a hoop house over our raised bed to extend some of our produce into the winter. What do
you put on your kale chips? or do you have a favorite recipe? I may have to surf around and see what I can find but would like to know how you make yours if your
lil' ones can not get enough of them. Well I am going to go spend some time with the chickens I hope you and every one here at BYC has a great holiday and fun weekend!

Thanks! That's funny about your daughter.

Mine loves most anything pickled...especially okra, and has since she's been old enough to eat solid foods.
For kale chips, I just coat with olive oil and season with a bit of either sea salt or Himalayan. Although sometimes I use all-purpose seasoning salt. Most recently I tried ranch seasonings, but was surprised they liked the plain sea salt better.

I checked on the Silkie earlier as I heard her chicks throwing a fit and found her in one of the raised garden bed dust bathing, while her chicks, too tiny to jump up into the box, were yelling for her.
Thankfully she was in a box that hadn't been planted yet, so no harm no foul (fowl?), but I got her out of it anyway and sent her back to her babies.

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

I am a bit jealous I have always wanted to learn how to grow that way but for some reason all my plants look edible and not flowery and pretty.

I'm not sure why but never thought to grow kale all winter along with my lettuce, cauliflower, brussel spouts, cabbage, and broccoli. I didn't even
think about it! Have you ever roughly chopped kale and added it to a soup? Oh man it's good! Instead of cabbage leaves wrap some meat mix
in a kale leaf to pop in the oven for dinner you won't regret it

yummy. Hubby and I love the kale chips and we add kale to large leaves of lettuce
for our bread since I have gluten issues and we just don't care for bread anymore.
I did tell hubby I would have to put a cover crop down in half the raised bed area for the chickens and guineas (won't have guineas till next month).
Kale would actually be an excellent choice, I'd like to be able to pull a couple handfuls of grown food for them during the winter.

I'm in Northern MO zone 5 and I have to say I love my hoop houses I use in the winter. I kept winter crops for three years but this past year I didn't. Let me tell you the down sides were noticeably dramatic! About mid February hubby mentioned the vegetables were lacking and I wasn't cooking like in years past. That's when I told him those hoops with plastic actually worked all winter growing that lovely food! The only reason I didn't plant this past year was because we were working on the new house and I hoped we would have moved during the winter but to many problems. Don't think you can't grow in the winter in zone 5 because you can. If you plant a winter crop where it does most of its growing by late November your outside greenhouse/hoop house is just like a refrigerator with food that does not go bad. We do not heat the hoops at all it costs nothing to run, the sun is the only warmth and light we use. Just remember you can't grow peppers and tomatoes it has to be cold crops. Off to buy lots of kale seeds~~

have a great day!

There are some ornamental peppers with gorgeous purple variegated leaves and bright flowers and even brighter fruit, flowering kale (very edible) of all colours, and we can't forget okra with it's lovely hibiscus-type blooms in various shades of whites, pinks and yellows that just keep blooming the more you pick them. And that's just for starters. Then there are countless medicinal/culinary herbs such as borage, chives, bee balms, hyssops, echinaceas...things that are not only beautiful, but beneficial to us and in many cases, poultry as well.

I'm with you on the veg leaf wraps! I didn't think I'd ever survive a day without bread, much less make it a lifestyle, but it's been ages since I had a typical sandwich and I don't miss it in the least (and I feel worlds better). Although the kids still like their grilled cheese, so I get organic gluten-free bread for them. I'm in Zone 5 as well, yet the entire surrounding area is in Zone 6. I love my hoop houses and grow all sorts of cool weather plants all year round. I love being able to go out in the middle of winter and pick tender spinach for a salad, or fresh Brussels sprouts for dinner (for those who hate Brussels sprouts, try home grown...it may just change your mind!). And come summer I just open them up and let the chickens go in and stir things up - they love it! Although eventually I want a traditional greenhouse heated via the outdoor wood furnace/boiler. But I'm thinking the greenhouse might even be able to pull double duty for those winter hatches....

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

picture of two of our new babies that just hatched a few days ago they are out of our first chicks we raised last fall , we also have 3 new baby turkeys they all follow us around everywhere the wife has named all if our girls and boys lol they are great to have around enjoy yours !!!

Congratulations...they are cuties! I would love to see pics of your little turkey poults, too. I've got Narragansett turkey eggs sitting on the table right now. I just picked them up from the post office this morning and they will go into the incubators tomorrow. And then hopefully I'll have little turkeys of my own by the end of next month.

 

[msy8ix]

Hey where did you get the Narragansett eggs I have always wanted some., they are so pretty., and good luck with the turkey eggs., they are hard to get hatched., this "the wife.", my husband had texted you about our birds and yes we will have to send you pictures...

 

[OzarkCountryGirl]

From the Moseley's in Arkansas (super nice folks to deal with). I've seen some of their birds featured in Exhibition Poultry Magazine and they are really quality birds, so I'm hoping I get a decent hatch.

 

[yopollo]

Thanks! That's funny about your daughter.

Mine loves most anything pickled...especially okra, and has since she's been old enough to eat solid foods.
For kale chips, I just coat with olive oil and season with a bit of either sea salt or Himalayan. Although sometimes I use all-purpose seasoning salt. Most recently I tried ranch seasonings, but was surprised they liked the plain sea salt better.

I checked on the Silkie earlier as I heard her chicks throwing a fit and found her in one of the raised garden bed dust bathing, while her chicks, too tiny to jump up into the box, were yelling for her.
Thankfully she was in a box that hadn't been planted yet, so no harm no foul (fowl?), but I got her out of it anyway and sent her back to her babies.

LOL no pun intended Ranch does sound yummy! But I will try the regular salted first. That is too cute. Im glad she didn't tear anything up but she really must have needed a mommy break and a relaxing bath. Thanks for helping me with seasoning kale I am exceed to give it a go. Hope you have a fabulous weekend!