Consolidated Kansas

[michelleml]

Josie I will talk to dh and see if we can come out to help. Not sure how much help we will be sense we don't know much but if you tell us what to do I'm sure we can help with something. I'm sure we will learn a ton.

 

[HEChicken]

Tell your precious son that he made one chicken lady's day! What a great kid! He's the kind of person that makes the world a better place. That's one of those moments when you just want to burst with pride at who they are becoming!

Thank you - you know it!

here is a link to the processor I used last fall, his price is reasonable if you are thinking of buying or renting equipment
http://www.kcfoodcircle.org/growermembers/baumans-cedar-valley-farms/
i used him because my poodle cross has been guarding my chickens and I did not want her to smell the blood from 95 chickens, the squawk and smell would confuse her

Thanks ocap, however having just paid for the processing kit, I think I'll have to use it now, rather than pay someone else to do it

On the same subject, Josie, your post didn't multi, but I was going to add that I usually do it by myself. Mostly I am doing only 1-2 birds at a time so there aren't enough to justify putting together a work party. The first time, DH and I did it together, and since neither of us had done it before, we watched YouTube videos for hours to get a feel for what to do, what to expect etc. We built our own cone, got the bird in it, and then each of us took a step back to give the other room to do the cutting. Turns out the one thing we hadn't discussed was WHO was going to do it, and each had assumed it would be the other. So after a little wrangling back and forth, he agreed, but it was pretty traumatic as he didn't realize the strength needed to cut through the skin and the first few attempts didn't do much more than give the poor bird a paper cut. The surprising part for me, because he is not an overly emotional man, was how much it upset him to do it. I think he might have done the next couple too but ultimately one day he was gone on a business trip and I had a cockerel starting to crow and couldn't afford to antagonize the neighbors for several days waiting for him to get back. To my surprise, I found I was able to do it more easily than he did, so ever since then, I've been the one to do it. He is more than happy to help me pluck etc. when he is here. We processed all of the birds after the fox attack and that is the only time we did a large number (14) in one sitting. He learned to skin that night, which made the whole thing go a lot faster, as he skinned and then I eviscerated.

I am really hoping the cone, a really sharp knife, and the plucker, will make the task a little less unpleasant

I do like the idea of doing it as a group, and thought if I ever do a batch of meaties, I will see if there is anyone else interested in doing it with me.

I found this for FREE on craigslist yesterday sense we adopted our first cat last week i've wanted to get her something like it but they are expensive. I hope she likes it. I need to clean it up but can't bit free

That is an excellent find!

I think I have created a monster. My ten year old daughter.

I gave in last week and ordered some Silkie eggs on e-bay. I wanted to wait, but my daughter was driving me crazy. They are from 1234muki and her pictures look beautiful. Of course, during the shipping time, the temps dropped like crazy. Anyways I put them in our incubator and then she shoves a dozen more from our black sex link that has started laying, then yesterday our polish crested laid her first one, now that is in there too! Of course the timing is all off with that one, and these will be mixes.

Now the past few days, she is following me around the house showing me all these incubators that she wants to buy with her own money. By the end of last night she was pulling down instructions on how to build her own incubator, telling me she needs more coops, etc.......

That is adorable, that she is getting so involved! I envy you as I always wished my kids would be more interested so we could do it together. The funny thing is, I expected it would be my DD who would share the interest but she loses interest as soon as they are past the cute chick stage. Now I'm finding my DS, who I never thought would be interested, is starting to show a little so I will certainly be encouraging him.

Hawkeye, I know I had a post of yours multi'd too, but now its not showing up. I think it was to thank you for your kind words regarding my DS.

 

[JosieChick]

Oh Michelle! It is a super far away drive for you guys! I need to get those birds to you too if you still want them. I was thinking maybe I could talk DH into dinner in Lawrence and that would save you part of the trip.

Josie I will talk to dh and see if we can come out to help. Not sure how much help we will be sense we don't know much but if you tell us what to do I'm sure we can help with something. I'm sure we will learn a ton.

Thank you - you know it!

Thanks ocap, however having just paid for the processing kit, I think I'll have to use it now, rather than pay someone else to do it

On the same subject, Josie, your post didn't multi, but I was going to add that I usually do it by myself. Mostly I am doing only 1-2 birds at a time so there aren't enough to justify putting together a work party. The first time, DH and I did it together, and since neither of us had done it before, we watched YouTube videos for hours to get a feel for what to do, what to expect etc. We built our own cone, got the bird in it, and then each of us took a step back to give the other room to do the cutting. Turns out the one thing we hadn't discussed was WHO was going to do it, and each had assumed it would be the other. So after a little wrangling back and forth, he agreed, but it was pretty traumatic as he didn't realize the strength needed to cut through the skin and the first few attempts didn't do much more than give the poor bird a paper cut. The surprising part for me, because he is not an overly emotional man, was how much it upset him to do it. I think he might have done the next couple too but ultimately one day he was gone on a business trip and I had a cockerel starting to crow and couldn't afford to antagonize the neighbors for several days waiting for him to get back. To my surprise, I found I was able to do it more easily than he did, so ever since then, I've been the one to do it. He is more than happy to help me pluck etc. when he is here. We processed all of the birds after the fox attack and that is the only time we did a large number (14) in one sitting. He learned to skin that night, which made the whole thing go a lot faster, as he skinned and then I eviscerated.
I have a hard time with the cutting to bleed them out too. DH does it when we do our birds and has gotten pretty good. He cuts both sides so they bleed out really fast. A super sharp knife is a must. We had a knife that was not the first time and it was awful. We also started swinging the birds gently upside down this last time a few times before we put them in the cone which made them much less likely to kick back out or struggle once placed there.
I am really hoping the cone, a really sharp knife, and the plucker, will make the task a little less unpleasant

I do like the idea of doing it as a group, and thought if I ever do a batch of meaties, I will see if there is anyone else interested in doing it with me.
Yes, I totally agree! I would love to do that sometime. It would make it go so much quicker to have a group and then everyone gets good at their portion of the processing. I would love to have some meat birds, our bantam cockerels and the young LF roos are pretty lean eating!

Oh shoot - EquiFest is that weekend and I promised DD we could go together. Let me see if we can move anything around and do EquiFest on the Friday or Sunday so I will be free on the Saturday.
Oh don't change your plans! We will have another sometime too, no worries. We have so much work to do that I figured if we at least got a few people together we would make some headway. Equifest! Fun, fun. I haven't been for a few years but always loved going. Could never convince DH to go so I always went alone.
That is an excellent find!

That is adorable, that she is getting so involved! I envy you as I always wished my kids would be more interested so we could do it together. The funny thing is, I expected it would be my DD who would share the interest but she loses interest as soon as they are past the cute chick stage. Now I'm finding my DS, who I never thought would be interested, is starting to show a little so I will certainly be encouraging him.

Hawkeye, I know I had a post of yours multi'd too, but now its not showing up. I think it was to thank you for your kind words regarding my DS.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

This bowl is 15 inches in diameter. This amount of sprouts was from 3 quart jars. The sprouts were just packed in those jars and really fluffed up once out. The chickens loved it. We spread it around in different areas so that all of them could get some.






On the right in the back is a bucket of seeds -- the salad blend -- I bought them from www.sprouthouse.com. It's a 4 or 5 lb. bucket and I don't remember how much it cost. They are organic seeds and this mixture is clover, radish, broccoli, alfalfa. I only used 1/2 C of seed per quart canning jar. I cut 3 or 4 layers of cheescloth, laid it over the mouth of the jar and screwed on the rim over the top. Then, I soaked the seed overnight and drained it the next morning. Rinsed twice more that day and 3 times everyday thereafter. My seed took 4 days to sprout fully but it can take 2 to 6 days, depending on weather.

Wasn't it WichitaKidd who said "No pic, didn't happen."?

I included the soaps, shampoo and face cream I made myself. The Castille bar soap on the right is also used to make my laundry soap and automatic dishwashing soap, with added ingredients of Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. The Castille soap is for the kids with allergies. It's a great winter soap because it is so mild and gentle -- it doesn't dry your skin like even my regular Dove soap did. The Daydream Believer soap is my original recipe and fragrance. I just made it and the shampoo today, so the jury (8 kids) is still out on this one. They are all fighting over bath time, though, because they love the smell. This soap is also used to make the shampoo. It smells so yummy. You can see how the shampoo separates. It does have to be shaken before use, but we've gotten used to shaking our shampoo. The facial cream is an overnight cream, my own recipe, made with cocoa butter, shea butter, tamanu oil, carrot seed oil, liquid silk (amino acids) olive oil, bag balm, castor oil and honey. It smells like chocolate. It has worked great for my hands, elbows, and face this winter. I also think it is the reason my fingernails have grown out since they don't crack easily anymore. I don't sell this stuff, I just enjoy making it for myself and the family and it is saving a substantial amount when you take into account how much we use of these kinds of products. (Anything to increase the chicken feed budget. Ha!) It's much better environmentally from the ingredients to less plastic bottles going to the landfill.





See how little seed you need. You could use less than 1/2 C for sure because mine was just packed in there.








I'm not crazy about these sprouters because they are much flimsier than they look and just awkward to handle. The lids have holes in them for rinsing the sprouts and the bottoms of the clear trays also have holes in them. The holes are large enough that the tiny seeds fall through. You cannot wash these in the dishwasher because the plastic will melt.

Boo! These are a nuisance. The jars are just so easy to set up and easy to rinse -- love them.

Sorry to those not interested for the off-topic stuff.

 

[michelleml]

This bowl is 15 inches in diameter. This amount of sprouts was from 3 quart jars. The sprouts were just packed in those jars and really fluffed up once out. The chickens loved it. We spread it around in different areas so that all of them could get some. On the right in the back is a bucket of seeds -- the salad blend -- I bought them from www.sprouthouse.com. It's a 4 or 5 lb. bucket and I don't remember how much it cost. They are organic seeds and this mixture is clover, radish, broccoli, alfalfa. I only used 1/2 C of seed per quart canning jar. I cut 3 or 4 layers of cheescloth, laid it over the mouth of the jar and screwed on the rim over the top. Then, I soaked the seed overnight and drained it the next morning. Rinsed twice more that day and 3 times everyday thereafter. My seed took 4 days to sprout fully but it can take 2 to 6 days, depending on weather. so you put seed in first then cover with cheesecloth and then soak over night?. Thanks for sharing going to try it. Wasn't it WichitaKidd who said "No pic, didn't happen."?

I included the soaps, shampoo and face cream I made myself. The Castille bar soap on the right is also. to make my laundry soap and automatic dishwashing soap, with added ingredients of Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. The Castille soap is for the kids with allergies. It's a great winter soap because it is so mild and gentle -- it doesn't dry your skin like even my regular Dove soap did. The Daydream Believer soap is my original recipe and fragrance. I just made it and the shampoo today, so the jury (8 kids) is still out on this one. They are all fighting over bath time, though, because they love the smell. This soap is also used to make the shampoo. It smells so yummy. You can see how the shampoo separates. It does have to be shaken before use, but we've gotten used to shaking our shampoo. The facial cream is an overnight cream, my own recipe, made with cocoa butter, shea butter, tamanu oil, carrot seed oil, liquid silk (amino acids) olive oil, bag balm, castor oil and honey. It smells like chocolate. It has worked great for my hands, elbows, and face this winter. I also think it is the reason my fingernails have grown out since they don't crack easily anymore. I don't sell this stuff, I just enjoy making it for myself and the family and it is saving a substantial amount when you take into account how much we use of these kinds of products. (Anything to increase the chicken feed budget. Ha!) It's much better environmentally from the ingredients to less plastic bottles going to the landfill. I need something for kiddos their skin drys out and gets itchy during winter See how little seed you need. You could use less than 1/2 C for sure because mine was just packed in there. I'm not crazy about these sprouters because they are much flimsier than they look and just awkward to handle. The lids have holes in them for rinsing the sprouts and the bottoms of the clear trays also have holes in them. The holes are large enough that the tiny seeds fall through. You cannot wash these in the dishwasher because the plastic will melt.

Boo! These are a nuisance. The jars are just so easy to set up and easy to rinse -- love them. Sorry to those not interested for the off-topic stuff.

 

[SpooncreekJenn]

This bowl is 15 inches in diameter. This amount of sprouts was from 3 quart jars. The sprouts were just packed in those jars and really fluffed up once out. The chickens loved it. We spread it around in different areas so that all of them could get some.






On the right in the back is a bucket of seeds -- the salad blend -- I bought them from www.sprouthouse.com. It's a 4 or 5 lb. bucket and I don't remember how much it cost. They are organic seeds and this mixture is clover, radish, broccoli, alfalfa. I only used 1/2 C of seed per quart canning jar. I cut 3 or 4 layers of cheescloth, laid it over the mouth of the jar and screwed on the rim over the top. Then, I soaked the seed overnight and drained it the next morning. Rinsed twice more that day and 3 times everyday thereafter. My seed took 4 days to sprout fully but it can take 2 to 6 days, depending on weather.

Wasn't it WichitaKidd who said "No pic, didn't happen."?

I included the soaps, shampoo and face cream I made myself. The Castille bar soap on the right is also used to make my laundry soap and automatic dishwashing soap, with added ingredients of Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. The Castille soap is for the kids with allergies. It's a great winter soap because it is so mild and gentle -- it doesn't dry your skin like even my regular Dove soap did. The Daydream Believer soap is my original recipe and fragrance. I just made it and the shampoo today, so the jury (8 kids) is still out on this one. They are all fighting over bath time, though, because they love the smell. This soap is also used to make the shampoo. It smells so yummy. You can see how the shampoo separates. It does have to be shaken before use, but we've gotten used to shaking our shampoo. The facial cream is an overnight cream, my own recipe, made with cocoa butter, shea butter, tamanu oil, carrot seed oil, liquid silk (amino acids) olive oil, bag balm, castor oil and honey. It smells like chocolate. It has worked great for my hands, elbows, and face this winter. I also think it is the reason my fingernails have grown out since they don't crack easily anymore. I don't sell this stuff, I just enjoy making it for myself and the family and it is saving a substantial amount when you take into account how much we use of these kinds of products. (Anything to increase the chicken feed budget. Ha!) It's much better environmentally from the ingredients to less plastic bottles going to the landfill.





See how little seed you need. You could use less than 1/2 C for sure because mine was just packed in there.








I'm not crazy about these sprouters because they are much flimsier than they look and just awkward to handle. The lids have holes in them for rinsing the sprouts and the bottoms of the clear trays also have holes in them. The holes are large enough that the tiny seeds fall through. You cannot wash these in the dishwasher because the plastic will melt.

Boo! These are a nuisance. The jars are just so easy to set up and easy to rinse -- love them.

Sorry to those not interested for the off-topic stuff.

My chicks are gonna love the greens they miss the summer treats and me to ! Excellent on the shampoo and soaps I used to do alot
of that and you know we just get busy and lose ourselves so excited to try the sprouts. Thank you.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

michelleml, any Castille soap should be very helpful for your kids. It takes a couple weeks for your skin to respond to a new soap. After 2 weeks with my oldest daughter, she didn't need to use lotion everyday. She has very dry skin and the Castille soap is very kind to our skin.

SpooncreekJen, I'm glad I could help just a little. Chickens are a great aid to finding ourselves again -- there's just something about watching them do their thing that is so -- what's the word? Enjoyable, grounding, soothing? Something like that.

 

[JosieChick]

Two women with power tools is always a good time! Have a blast!

It was cold out today, I sure hope it's better tomorrow so I can get some things done. Sunflowerparrot & I still need to build our brooders & I want to finish putting up my last half wall of chicken wire in the coop so all of my walls are done. Then I just have pop doors to cut & roosts to put up, the roosts are the easy part. I would like to get some paint on the bare wood in there too just to make it easier to clean later on. We'll see what kind of days we have next week as to whether I can paint in there or not. It should be interesting with two women with power tools tomorrrow, wish us luck!

This bowl is 15 inches in diameter. This amount of sprouts was from 3 quart jars. The sprouts were just packed in those jars and really fluffed up once out. The chickens loved it. We spread it around in different areas so that all of them could get some.
Yummy!!! I need to start doing this, maybe once we are moved. It would be really nice for my little tiny bantams that won't get to free range. Ohhhh!!! Homemade soap! You are so crafty and ambitious! I need some of your soap. My dad gave me a bar of lavender soap for Christmas and I just used the last sliver of the bar and I miss it so much! My skin has been sooo itchy now that I am back to store bought soap....






On the right in the back is a bucket of seeds -- the salad blend -- I bought them from www.sprouthouse.com. It's a 4 or 5 lb. bucket and I don't remember how much it cost. They are organic seeds and this mixture is clover, radish, broccoli, alfalfa. I only used 1/2 C of seed per quart canning jar. I cut 3 or 4 layers of cheescloth, laid it over the mouth of the jar and screwed on the rim over the top. Then, I soaked the seed overnight and drained it the next morning. Rinsed twice more that day and 3 times everyday thereafter. My seed took 4 days to sprout fully but it can take 2 to 6 days, depending on weather.

Wasn't it WichitaKidd who said "No pic, didn't happen."?

I included the soaps, shampoo and face cream I made myself. The Castille bar soap on the right is also used to make my laundry soap and automatic dishwashing soap, with added ingredients of Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. The Castille soap is for the kids with allergies. It's a great winter soap because it is so mild and gentle -- it doesn't dry your skin like even my regular Dove soap did. The Daydream Believer soap is my original recipe and fragrance. I just made it and the shampoo today, so the jury (8 kids) is still out on this one. They are all fighting over bath time, though, because they love the smell. This soap is also used to make the shampoo. It smells so yummy. You can see how the shampoo separates. It does have to be shaken before use, but we've gotten used to shaking our shampoo. The facial cream is an overnight cream, my own recipe, made with cocoa butter, shea butter, tamanu oil, carrot seed oil, liquid silk (amino acids) olive oil, bag balm, castor oil and honey. It smells like chocolate. It has worked great for my hands, elbows, and face this winter. I also think it is the reason my fingernails have grown out since they don't crack easily anymore. I don't sell this stuff, I just enjoy making it for myself and the family and it is saving a substantial amount when you take into account how much we use of these kinds of products. (Anything to increase the chicken feed budget. Ha!) It's much better environmentally from the ingredients to less plastic bottles going to the landfill.





See how little seed you need. You could use less than 1/2 C for sure because mine was just packed in there.








I'm not crazy about these sprouters because they are much flimsier than they look and just awkward to handle. The lids have holes in them for rinsing the sprouts and the bottoms of the clear trays also have holes in them. The holes are large enough that the tiny seeds fall through. You cannot wash these in the dishwasher because the plastic will melt.

Boo! These are a nuisance. The jars are just so easy to set up and easy to rinse -- love them.

Sorry to those not interested for the off-topic stuff.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

JosieChick, it really does feel so much better, doesn't it? I was hooked after the first batch! We had the sprouts in our salad for supper also - they were so good!

Trish44, you guys be safe and have a great time! Hope the weather cooperates too.

 

[sharol]

I used to sprout alfalfa seeds in the late 70's for salad. I used the quart jar/cheese cloth method, too. I hadn't thought of making them for the girls.

This bowl is 15 inches in diameter. This amount of sprouts was from 3 quart jars. The sprouts were just packed in those jars and really fluffed up once out. The chickens loved it. We spread it around in different areas so that all of them could get some.

On the right in the back is a bucket of seeds -- the salad blend -- I bought them from www.sprouthouse.com. It's a 4 or 5 lb. bucket and I don't remember how much it cost. They are organic seeds and this mixture is clover, radish, broccoli, alfalfa. I only used 1/2 C of seed per quart canning jar. I cut 3 or 4 layers of cheescloth, laid it over the mouth of the jar and screwed on the rim over the top. Then, I soaked the seed overnight and drained it the next morning. Rinsed twice more that day and 3 times everyday thereafter. My seed took 4 days to sprout fully but it can take 2 to 6 days, depending on weather.