Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

Wow, Danz that is a great trade - I'm really envious. I just picked up 16 hog panels yesterday from a local guy - made the deal via CL. I'm not planning on doing hogs until spring though, in the hopes that a little graze will offset the amount of feed it takes to feed them out.

 

[JosieChick]

I am stalling! You are on it, I told them we could really use help painting up here first!

I love the Tiger Balm idea - if we don't have any I'm sure we have something similar. Will definitely be doing that tonight!

Gotcha on the building - yes, hopefully you can stall them until you are there to supervise. Perhaps if you can keep them busy up at your old house getting it prepared for market they will forget about building down here...

Hahahaha! I have been on the phone half the day and got nothing done either! I spent forever on the phone trying to find out about our health insurance coverage for a nurse midwife, which apparently doesn't exist. I also found out from a friend that health insurance will cover a breast pump but they won't cover it until June 1 and I am due May 1. Ugh. What is the point in getting a breast pump if you can't get it until your insurance renews. Health insurance is ridiculous. Congrats on your hog, homegrown pork is the best. Glad Flo is blending in well. She has a warning noise that is a loud bloop bloop noise.

It seems I've been on the phone all day and got absolutely nothing done. I am not feeling good at all. I was running a fever last night and fighting a 3 day headache. The headache is still here and I feel like crap. I did get the birds fed but that was about the size of it.
I still haven't done anything with my olandsk babies and I have some poo to clean up now. I did manage to sell my washer today however, so that is a plus. We will take it out and deliver it to town tomorrow. I guess i should dry the load I did in there today!
I made the deal of the century. I am trading birds for a hog. Not only that, but I get the hog as soon as I can get a pen and shelter up for him and the birds will be traded to them next spring. Makes me very very happy. What a great barter that was. I am going to be fattening up my own pork. Woot! Nothing is better than fresh hog meat. Now if I can just afford the grain to feed it out!! Best thing about it is, these people have chickens. The hogs are in a pasture and the chickens go in and eat all the grain the hogs miss. So no danger of the hog thinking a chicken is dinner!!!
I had an old acquaintance contact me. I thought she had died in the Murrah building in OKC. She was on lone for the DEA when that happened and I heard all of her unit were all killed. As it was she had gone on an assignment with the Attorney general or she would have been there. She lost 9 coworkers but luckily she wasn't one of them. She was kind of a barracuda and a bit insensitive sometimes, but it was nice to touch back with the only other female police officer I worked with back in the old days.
Josie, Flo has totally blended. The only way I could tell her from the others initially was she was doing more talking than the others. She was doing a call and the others were doing their normal sweet talk they do when I feed them.

I need to get back up and finish my chores. The geese need more straw put down. I guess it is supposed to rain tonight and maybe even snow this weekend. Yuck to snow!

 

[chicken danz]

I am so not ready for cold weather. I have way too much to do. I hope it is very short lived. Yeah Flo was doing a bloop bloop sound. Not loud though, just noisier than the others. It's amazing, first the geese had a different sound and now a turkey. Is there something desperately wrong with us when we can recognize our own birds' voices over others of the same breeds???

I need to take pictures of my new Olandsk. I just got their mess cleaned up. They are amazingly healthy acting for shipped birds. I hope that lasts.
Heather, this is a good deal cause this pigs are already 60- 70 pounds. They've been on pasture but I don't have room to house one like that without building a lot of fence. So it will have to get used to a smaller area. I am trading guineas and buff orpington chicks for him. I love making deals.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Good Morning everyone!

I wanted to get some opinions on this idea I got from another local chicken raiser.

This individual uses wood fuel pellets broken down combined with DE/Clay (stall dry?) as her bedding. Any opinions on this? I know that pine shaves aren't cutting it in terms of ease of daily maintenance on the coop.

I use pine pellets in most of my nesting boxes, and wood fuel pellets in others. They work great for me. I haven't had any poop or anything on an egg in many months. Hens like them both. The wood pellets were cheaper and they don't smell like cedar so I think they're safe. I like pellets better than staw. If they get damp or wet they no longer have the pellet shape. I haven't used DE or Sweet PDZ with them, have heard others have. I haven't found a need to add anything to the pellets.

Edited: I should add: The pellets don't keep poop out of the nexting boxes, the chickens are able to roost higher than the nexting boxes, that's what keeps the nesting boxes and eggs clean.

 

[michelleml]

Baby Silkie Pic!! There was another in there that just hatched, so it didn't come out from under her! Two more eggs left!



So cute

I also took a couple more pics of the flock while I was out there:



My Java - Butterfly



My two GLO's - Goldie and Lacey



what kind are Goldie and lacey
they are beautiful

My EE, Bunny and my other Java - Crow




My other EE, Rabbit and Amber, my non-broody silkie

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy, the only time I have ever noticed strong flavor, was on deer that did not have much to eat. But, you can correct that. Im not sure where you are out west, but you need to let the meat age for several days. That helps the natural process of tenderizing take place. All beef is aged. You said something about soaking the meat? I have never done that, in fact heard of it before!

Before you cook your roast go to wal-mart, or a larger store, and ask if they have any "BEEF BASE". I know wal-mart has it. Place your roast in your crock pot, that is what I use or roaster, at water, onion, salt, pepper, and mix like 2 tablespoons of base in the water, cover and cook, "SLOW" but not to long, the longer you cook the dryer and tougher the meat will be come.
The base will help tame the "Wild" taste. But everybody has different taste. You may require more base or less. Write down what you did, and if it is not what you like, you can look back and try again, with more or less. It is the only way to really remember what you did for sure. I did that when I was learning to cook. Saved meat for me back then cause I could look, and then try again differently.

We like to make sausage sticks from the ground meat. We use a sausage seasoning, mix and stuff in casing, man they are good for a quick snack.

Oh, the back strap, we slice that meat in to 3/4 inch pieces, and we cook that like you do a chicken fried steak. Oh, man really good, You have questions, just ask, plenty of us girls here to help out all we can.

I am in extreme northwest kansas, like within an hour's drive of both Nebraska and Colorado. I read on the internet and was told by my mother-in-law, who grew up in this area, to soak the meat in salt water. We've had it soaking for about 24 hours and were told to let it soak for 72 hours.

What is beef base and where do I go to ask about it? Is that something I'd look for in the deli or maybe in the same place I'd find beef bouillon?

I've never actually made chicken fried steak before. Would you mind telling me how you do it so I can try that on the back strap?

Thank you so much for your input!

Lizzy, those quail pics are amazing. I used to raise Coturnix and even though they were hatched by me and handled every day of their lives, they still weren't very tame. I can't believe you were able to pick these up to take the photos!

I am really sore today. The pulled muscles from Tuesday took a couple of days to really start to hurt but now I am hobbling around like an old woman. I rode again yesterday though, since I figured working the muscles would probably be better for them than letting them stiffen up.

I am sorry to hear that you are sore. I've been there, done that, and can sympathize with you though. I hope you get feeling better soon. Speaking of horses, I hope you don't mind if I share some good news that I'm really excited about... A week ago this past weekend, I brought my horses home finally. They had been living with my parents, and I was finally able to bring them to live in the pasture that surrounds my house. I brought my horse and the horse I bought from my mother, the one that was her "problem horse". Montana is the horse that I bought from my mother. He is a registered quarter horse but is part thoroughbred. The lady who owned him before my mother used him as a barrel horse and "ruined" him. By that, I mean that she sold him because she could no longer use him for barrels. He would buck and throw a fit. He would freak out when he even got close to an arena. Anyway, the lady then lied to my mother by saying that Montana didn't have a bucking problem. She only admitted otherwise after my mom (who has back problems) was bucked off. I rode him a couple of times before deciding to buy him. I had problems with him, but I saw A LOT of potential in him.

Since I brought the horses home, I have started playing with both of them using the Pat Parelli training method. Today is 1 1/2 weeks since I brought them home. He had been chewing on me, the rope, my carrot stick, and anything else he could get his lips on. I had been working him pretty hard on backing up because Pat Parelli says "backing cures biting." In previous sessions, I had had to go to stage 3 or 4 to get him to back up when asked by shaking my finger/wrist/elbow/shoulder. Today, the first time I asked, I only had to go to stage 1. I was so surprised my jaw about hit the floor! Today was one of those breakthrough days that just about makes me want to dance a jig!

On the quail pictures... Like I said before, the quail aren't truly wild, but they are also not exactly tame. The only reason I was able to catch these birds was because they put themselves in my duck pen, and I was able to corner them. Then, I held them for a few minutes, and when I opened my hands, they didn't fly away immediately. They waited maybe 15-30 seconds. That little bit of time is when my husband took the pictures I posted. The quail were back again today and this time they brought a friend, a rooster pheasant. The pheasant was on the outside of the pen, on the side. He was trying to walk THROUGH

the side of the run and just couldn't figure out why the other birds were getting to eat and why he couldn't get to the food. Silly bird!

 

[Kansas Prairie]

I'm behind on reading posts, have been busy attending events for the college daughter, and my son's birthday. Hope to catch up soon.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, that is a great barter on the hog. I want to get one so bad & grow it out like I did years ago, but don't have a place for it right now. First I want to get the goat kids in the spring & then after I get that all set up maybe we can talk about the hog. My DH would go for the hog more than the goats probably, you can eat it & he likes pork. I can't wait to see pics of the new chicks.

Josie, I'm with HEChicken, I would tell the in-laws that you really need the help with getting the house ready to sell & keep them busy with that while you get someone started building on the buildings at the new place. Then by the time you get moved down there it will be too late for them to mess anything up.

HEChicken, I'm envious about the hog panels, I wish I could find deals like that. I really could use some of those for making a pen for my goats. I have to have something in place before I get them. I want to just make a small pen up closer to the house so the dogs can watch over them at night & then stake them out to graze during the day.

I'm just pooped out again tonight, I got the rabbit cages all cleaned out again & then had to tackle cleaning my extra chicken & rabbit stuff out of the wood shed so my DH can load the wood racks tomorrow. I need to find a storage cabinet for my garage to put all my extra supplies in, but haven't found one yet, so I just had to pile it all in behind the rabbit cages for now.

I had the turkeys out for quite a few hours today just free-ranging & when it was time to go out & feed all the birds I started calling them saying turkeys, turkeys, turkeys. You know they came to me & followed me to their pen & into the pen. I was just amazed at that & it was so funny. I just get such a kick out of those birds, I don't know what I did before I got them. I sure would miss them if they weren't here I know that.

 

[checoukan]

I am in extreme northwest kansas, like within an hour's drive of both Nebraska and Colorado. I read on the internet and was told by my mother-in-law, who grew up in this area, to soak the meat in salt water. We've had it soaking for about 24 hours and were told to let it soak for 72 hours.

What is beef base and where do I go to ask about it? Is that something I'd look for in the deli or maybe in the same place I'd find beef bouillon?

I've never actually made chicken fried steak before. Would you mind telling me how you do it so I can try that on the back strap?

lizzy~~ you can find the beef base usually around the bouillon cubes. Could be in the spice area also. I would just ask someone in the department. Next time I go, I will look to see what isle its in.

Backstrap: is round and long like your arm, cut the backstrap about 1/2 thick. Lay aside.

depending on how much meat you are going to cook may need a little more mixture to use with the meat.

1 egg
milk
Break egg in to bowl, pour like 4 tablespoons of milk in with egg. use fork, and mix the egg and milk.

Say 1 cup of flour.

sliced backstrap.

Non stick skillet
oil of your choice, say 1/2 cup.

Get your skillet and heat your oil, on medium heat, do not get the oil very hot.

Take your sliced backstrap, dip and marinate in the egg mixture, then place in flour and coat the meat. Take the breaded meat and place in the heated oil.

Let the breading brown slightly, I use a fork, and move the meat around to make sure it does not stick. Keep your temp on a med to med low setting, don't want the breading to cook to fast and burn slow is so much better. When the breading gets to a medium brown turn the meat over, and do the same thing. The thicker cut of meat the longer it takes to cook. So be sure if the meat is kinda thick to check with a knife, cut the meat to make sure it is done.

You can do the same thing with tenderised pieces of meat. Lots of markets call them patio steaks. Just do the above with the milk, egg and breading, and you have a chicken fry steak.

 

[tweetysvoice]

MichellemI, Goldie and Lacey are my Golden Laced Orpingtons, yeah, really creative on the names, right? HAHA!