Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

Only seconds here. I am so far behind and was scanning. I planned to can last summer and never had a worthwhile garden. My new green beans I planted a few weeks ago are looking great with this new rain. I really really hope to have to dig out my canner for them.
You guys are missing a golden opportunity with the cucumbers. There is nothing and I mean nothing that the birds like better than cucumbers. They will literally jump in your lap to get more once they try them even if they aren't a "snuggly" chicken. If someone gave me a bunch of cucumbers I doubt I'd ever have an opportunity to make pickles. I grew tons of them last year and never ate a single one. I intended to make pickles. But I had very very happy birds. Mine were put in late so I haven't gotten any yet but there's a million blooms. I didn't plant all that many this year. I just failed to find the time.
I used to make pickles using the crocks and it took over 2 weeks of draining and putting hot water on them every night. They were really good though. Seems refrigerator pickles are never crisp. I still have my crocks and swear I will do it again some day.
My Dad wasn't doing well at all for his birthday. He didn't even hardly wake up to see us and looked awful. I honestly would not be surprised to loose him in a matter of days. He slept through most of his dinner and only managed to eat about 3 bits of food.
I am headed to town to deal with the city wide garage sale at my parents' old house today. I only brought a few things in but I sure don't want to take them home. One of them is a sectional couch. It's so heavy and takes a trailer and a couple men to move it.
At least we should generate some $$$ for my Dad's account from his things.

 

[sharol]

You want to share that? I had a great refrig pickle recipe a few years ago, but it got lost in the shuffle.

Sharol

I found a recipe for refrigerator pickles that are really good! Nice and simple and takes less than 24 hours with no canning!

 

[22qZoo]

Maybe you guys can help me figure this out. About half of my birds seem really thin to me, they are the younger ones( 6 mo.or so)and was wondering if its normal. They have food in front of them 24/7 infact they seem to waste a lot of it, they have about 900sq ft to roam around in during the day and then I let them out for a couple of hours at night to free range, I do give them some scraps from the house but nothing sugary only vegis or meat scraps and sometimes yogurt, I have been doing ff for about 2 weeks, I wormed them with ivermectin . The older girls ( 16 mos.)are better but even some of them seem a little thin.
This is bugging me cuz I'm kind of a foodie and like to cook, everything else around here I've managed to fatten- up pretty good. Thoughts?

 

[ashncarson]

You want to share that? I had a great refrig pickle recipe a few years ago, but it got lost in the shuffle.

Sharol

http://foodinjars.com/2013/06/a-very-large-bowl-of-pickles-for-a-potluck/

Here is the recipe! I used fresh oregano (a little bit) from my yard instead of cilantro just becuae I did not want to buy any, and also used a whole bunch of dill that I had in a package!

 

[22qZoo]

Oh, the younger ones are EE s , SLW's a Black SL and a Brahma .

 

[OkieQueenBee]

I hope all fellow Kansans faired better than we did last night. Another 2 1/2 inches of rain and wind, lots of it. We went out around 1:00 am to find the chicken coop had been blown over onto its roof. Chickens, guineas, and turkeys scattered everywhere, we gathered up what we could find and put them in the shop. DH has been working so hard to get them a proper house and yard, it is just devastating to see this happen. Found all but maybe a couple of keets this morning and 1 of the turkey poults has a broken leg. I had moved the duck and geese to their new pen last night, which they hated, but I think it saved them. Now off to check on our beehives.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I used to can a bunch when I was younger & had a bigger garden. One year I made gifts for family when we had gotten laid off, each household got 3 kinds of pickles & an assortment of jam. I thought it was a pretty nice gift, I'm not sure they thought it was though. I used to can all kinds of produce from the garden & had a cellar with big shelves I kept it all in. I just don't have the time or energy any more to do all that. I have a minimal garden this year, just tomatoes & a squash plant. It was the perfect spot for the plants because I had been dumping dirty shavings from the coop there for awhile & it has composted down as well as rabbit droppings. The rabbit droppings you don't even have to compost because it doesn't burn the plants at all. It's about the perfect fertilizer for anything. So my plants have thrived with all of that & all the rain we have had.

I had to make a trip to the Ark City Orschelyn's this evening & as I was walking through to get to the feed I passed a stock tank with guinea keets in it. I stopped & asked the sales girl how much they were. They had two colors in there. She said the pearls were $5.50 & the purples were $7.50, Wow that was sticker shock! I couldn't believe how much they wanted for those little things. I will just get mine from individuals at that price, ouch.

I would have loved a gift of homemade goodies

Maybe you guys can help me figure this out. About half of my birds seem really thin to me, they are the younger ones( 6 mo.or so)and was wondering if its normal. They have food in front of them 24/7 infact they seem to waste a lot of it, they have about 900sq ft to roam around in during the day and then I let them out for a couple of hours at night to free range, I do give them some scraps from the house but nothing sugary only vegis or meat scraps and sometimes yogurt, I have been doing ff for about 2 weeks, I wormed them with ivermectin . The older girls ( 16 mos.)are better but even some of them seem a little thin.
This is bugging me cuz I'm kind of a foodie and like to cook, everything else around here I've managed to fatten- up pretty good. Thoughts?

In the summer they tend to eat a lot less feed and just forage for grass and bugs. Mine still belly up to the feeder in the morning but pretty much ignore it the rest of the day. I would just keep an eye and if they are emptying the feeder and wanting more but not gaining weight then it is something else.

 

[22qZoo]

Danz- sorry about your dad , not fun .We went thru something similar with DH grandma a couple years ago , lucky for us the ants and uncles had done most of the "heavy lifting". Hope it goes well for you .

 

[HEChicken]

OK. I'm going to make a silly comment here so I apologize if it doesn't go over well with you like it did me. You can always use the fresh cucumbers, cut them into small discs and put them over your eyes and face. I don't eat them afterwards though. Lots of Asian people use them this way for facial treatment. Whatever is in the cucumber is supposedly good for the skin, especially in the hot summer days.

No offense taken! The number of cucumbers we have though, is WAY too many for that. I mean, she has really given us BUSHELS of the things. At a slice here and there over my eyes, I've got a lifetime supply so I had to find something to do with them that uses them more quickly

On another note though, I gave DH a little of the salsa that was left over after the canning jars were full and he is still talking about it this morning - he LOVES it!

I found a recipe for refrigerator pickles that are really good! Nice and simple and takes less than 24 hours with no canning!

Yes refrigerator pickles is what I made two years ago. They're still there in the fridge now...

You guys are missing a golden opportunity with the cucumbers. There is nothing and I mean nothing that the birds like better than cucumbers. They will literally jump in your lap to get more once they try them even if they aren't a "snuggly" chicken. If someone gave me a bunch of cucumbers I doubt I'd ever have an opportunity to make pickles. I grew tons of them last year and never ate a single one. I intended to make pickles. But I had very very happy birds.

Well I bet you DID have happy birds. Around here though, the people eat first and the birds ONLY get what the people won't eat. If I can find a way to turn the cucumbers into something that WE will eat, that has a far higher priority to me. The birds got the end pieces that I had to cut off and were very happy with those.

I hope all fellow Kansans faired better than we did last night. Another 2 1/2 inches of rain and wind, lots of it. We went out around 1:00 am to find the chicken coop had been blown over onto its roof. Chickens, guineas, and turkeys scattered everywhere, we gathered up what we could find and put them in the shop. DH has been working so hard to get them a proper house and yard, it is just devastating to see this happen. Found all but maybe a couple of keets this morning and 1 of the turkey poults has a broken leg. I had moved the duck and geese to their new pen last night, which they hated, but I think it saved them. Now off to check on our beehives.

I'm so sorry about the damage you suffered, and the lost and injured birds. We didn't get anything like that here. I did hear it thundering but we only got 3/4" of rain in this one.

DH and I went out first thing to work on rebuilding our compost system. We had to dismantle it when putting in the fencing for the sheep, and that was a good thing because we were never happy with the location there. It is now in a far more convenient location, and because it is behind our propane tank, it isn't even that visible, so I'm really happy to have completed that project.

 

[JosieChick]

What a great idea! I will have to try this. Our stock tank is always so filthy and I hate dumping and scrubbing it constantly. How much do you add?

This may sound strange but I like to put DE in the horses stock tank. It makes it kind of cloudy the first day but then after it settles it seems to keep the water clearer longer. The horses seem to like it too, makes it smell fresher. I even put it in my own smoothies .
My latest kick is coconut oil, might not be for everybody but the chickens and I like it. It's nice to find natural stuff that works .

Sorry to hear your dad isn't doing well.

My Dad wasn't doing well at all for his birthday. He didn't even hardly wake up to see us and looked awful. I honestly would not be surprised to loose him in a matter of days. He slept through most of his dinner and only managed to eat about 3 bits of food.
I am headed to town to deal with the city wide garage sale at my parents' old house today. I only brought a few things in but I sure don't want to take them home. One of them is a sectional couch. It's so heavy and takes a trailer and a couple men to move it.
At least we should generate some $$$ for my Dad's account from his things.

How thin are they? Chickens really shouldn't be "fat" unless you are going to butcher them. It is really hard on them to carry extra weight. If their keel is really sticking out you might be concerned but lean birds are healthy birds. What percentage of protein do you feed and have you dewormed them at all? There is a new dewormer out now that is specifically for chickens and approved for laying hens! I am getting some so I don't have to deal with chasing birds around to dose them. Its a pellet you mix with their feed. http://www.jefferspet.com/campaign_product.asp?camid=LIV&pn=16800

Maybe you guys can help me figure this out. About half of my birds seem really thin to me, they are the younger ones( 6 mo.or so)and was wondering if its normal. They have food in front of them 24/7 infact they seem to waste a lot of it, they have about 900sq ft to roam around in during the day and then I let them out for a couple of hours at night to free range, I do give them some scraps from the house but nothing sugary only vegis or meat scraps and sometimes yogurt, I have been doing ff for about 2 weeks, I wormed them with ivermectin . The older girls ( 16 mos.)are better but even some of them seem a little thin.
This is bugging me cuz I'm kind of a foodie and like to cook, everything else around here I've managed to fatten- up pretty good. Thoughts?

So I am terribly far behind. Tried to catch up on everyone but sorry I couldn't reply more! My mom and sister had a great visit and I am pretty lonely without them. Amelia is missing all the company too. She has been hard to get to sleep at night and kinda fussy during the day. I think she gets used to being held a lot while they are here and I can't hold her all day and the fussing to be held is overwhelming sometimes. I feel like I can't do enough for her. Will be very glad to get moved back near my family in a few years. It is hard to get out and take care of animals too when there is nobody to watch her and most days she is happy to come along in the carrier but not always. I am really going to thin the chickens back. I am going to sell a large handful of pullets, the seramas, the lavender orps, a bunch of cochin chicks and some of the goslings. I think that will really help. They are a lot of work and I feel like I can't take good care of them if I can barely get out there to feed and water.