Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

We put up one of the walls on the new coop 3 more walls and a roof to go..

Went out to refill waters this afternoon, and found one of the cats "nursing" on the puppy - Fern didn't mind one bit... weird, huh???

 

[chicken danz]

Prairie, who is going to clean your dog now if you sell the ducks?? I still think that video is a 10,000 winner!
Hechicken of course you can keep those pictures. I feel very complimented. I have to give DH credit for coming up with the idea to use the decking boards. I was going to use 2" X6" but deck boards are cheaper and actually better quality. Using treated 4 X 4s for the posts works well too so you can square things up better. We do set our in cement although there are different schools of thought on that.
DH said he told the duck story at work and people said, Why didn't you just kill it and fill the crack in. Apparently most people don't care about animals the way I do. I do hope it is a female. I could sex it and know for sure but maybe I don't want to. If it's a boy then I'd feel obligated to sell it for a meat duck.
I just repotted a bunch of rain lilies I've had for years. They haven't had a reason to bloom this year for sure. The chickens kept digging them out of the pots so I decided to put them all together in one pot. I'll probably be out there building a cage around it now to keep them out.
I am such a happy chicken mamma! I love sitting out back when it's cooler feeding those silly birds by hand. I am so thankful to have the life I do right now.

 

[chicken danz]

We put up one of the walls on the new coop 3 more walls and a roof to go..

Went out to refill waters this afternoon, and found one of the cats "nursing" on the puppy - Fern didn't mind one bit... weird, huh???

That's so funny

!!!

 

[cherwill]

Vaccinations are such a touchy subject. Doctors are adamant about the necessity and safety of all those childhood vaccinations, but I've heard far too many stories like the ones here. Like I said earlier, nothing is without side effects. Why can't we just be told the whole story and be allowed to make the decisions we think are best for ourselves and our families? There are times when the risk of the side effects might well be worth it, but shouldn't that be our choice to make? Shouldn't we be allowed to make choices knowing ALL the facts and possibilities? We aren't ignorant children and I resent being treated like one! When I found out how many people in the medical field don't get certain vaccinations (flu shots and that kind of thing), I was shocked.

Ahhh, food. One of the great loves of my life, and I look like it. I love everything about food -- growing it, reading about it, making menus, shopping for it (well, half the time I don't really love doing that!), making it and serving it. Experimenting with my herbs and changing recipes to see what else I can do with them. It makes me sad that I only cook actual meals a few times a week. I just don't cook for myself and DH is at work 3 days a week. I don't like freezer meals because I have a hard time remembering they're there, so I forget to use them. If it's something that doesn't have to be defrosted before using, I have a much better chance of actually using it. In winter I don't worry about it, but in the summer I try to stockpile a number of things in the freezer. When the mowing is crazy, the last thing I want to do when I come home is stand around in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning up. It's often already 6:30 or 7 by the time we're home. The Martha Stewart website has a way to search for things that are easily freezable. This year I stockpiled some Jamaican meat pies, Irish hand pies and a creamy pasta bake with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. I also try to make some soups and keep them handy in the fridge to be reheated quickly. Later in the summer, when it's so hot and dry that nothing is growing, the mowing slows way down. Then I like salad meals a lot. Now that we're getting enough eggs that we don't have to hoard them for our weekly brunch, we also have omelets and scrambled eggs with all kinds of things mixed in.

But, in any case, I love to use the whole foods freezer meals and bought a book recently on making most pantry staples from scratch, versus the chemical filled ones. I really want to try the home made mozzarella. I can't find the rennet or citric acid locally though. I may have to break down and order it and pay shipping.

We just discovered a freezer meal recipe our whole family loves, and since we all loved Trish's blueberry pie recipe I thought it might be with sharing with you folks I made up several batches and froze it in various size containers, since like Danz, I also cook for my elderly dad. He hasn't been eating so well this summer with the heat, but he loves this too. Pleased kids and adults
Cheesy Kielbasa Bake
12 oz uncooked macaroni or bow tie pasta
2 lbs polish sausage thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium onions chopped
2 medium zucchini quartered and sliced
2 medium carrots, grated
I can chopped black olives
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 egg lightly beaten
1 carton cottage cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella
2 green onions chopped
Cook pasta according to package directions
Brown sausage in olive oil and drain.
Add onions, zucchini, carrots, olives and stir until tender
Add spaghetti sauce
Drain macaroni
Layer macaroni in each of 2 13x9 pans
Add 1/2 meat and sauce mixture
Mix egg and cottage cheese and layer over sauce mixture. Repeat layer of sauce mixture and top with shredded cheeses and chopped green onions.
Cover with foil and freeze one casserole
Bake remaining casserole at 350 for 30 minutes
To use frozen casserole, remove from freezer 24 hours in advance and place in refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.
I am trying to find recipes to use our eggs with and discovered my kids live scrambled eggs with all kinds of veggies and cheeses baked in muffin tins and frozen for use in breakfast sandwiches or even as a lunch item in a bento box.
Do any of you have some whole food ideas you like to use when time to cook is in limited supply? Especially ideas for the eggs I hope to be getting soon! my group of oldest pullets are 21 weeks. We are watching for eggs like crazy!!!

That recipe sounds delicious. What's the name of the book with recipes for pantry staples?

For our weekly brunch, we most often saute a variety of small-chopped vegetables, including some type of onion. Sometimes we chop bacon and saute it with the vegetables and sometimes we have it on the side. Then we add the eggs and either scramble them with the veggies or cook it like a Spanish tortilla. If we're scrambling, some kind of cheese goes on at the end. If we're doing a tortilla, we cook it until the whole thing is nearly set, add cheese, then either put it under the broiler to finish the top or put a lid on the pan and let it kind of steam with the burner on a fairly low heat. A really nice and simple omelet we haven't done in a long time is filled with chopped roasted tomatoes, a bit of cream cheese and dill.

Thanks for that recipe Medawinks!

One of my favorite recipes when I'm pushed for time is something we have come to call "Kibble" which is an inside joke because I don't care that much for food. Obviously I need it for sustenance and do get hunger pangs but I quite often am in the situation where I'm hungry but literally nothing sounds good and I've said I wished there were a kibble for humans so we didn't have to make decisions about what to eat. When we're hungry, we just pour a bowl of kibble like we would for the dogs. So when I discovered this recipe, and realized this is something I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, DH said "Well there you go then, there's your kibble" and the name sort of stuck.

What I like about it is it has just 4 ingredients:

1 cup brown rice
1 cup lentils
1 can diced tomatoes
14oz chicken stock

I usually mix up a double batch so just double all of that. A vegetarian can substitute water for the chicken stock. The only chicken stock I use is what I make from any birds I process myself so if I don't have any on hand I just use water.

Put all ingredients in a pan and simmer for 50 minutes. Serve and eat.

It sounds plain and simple but is actually very delicious. We usually squirt a little sauce of ANY kind from the fridge on top and mix it in. That gives it a little different flavor every time. I also prefer to use the diced tomatoes that come with the basil and oregano, rather than plain.

I also have some favorite dishes with eggs but will have to go look through them before I post....

It sounds easy and delicious. We both love lentils.

Here is a close-up of it:


So we're going to see how it does in the coop for litter & I may eventually try it in my pens too. I had been using straw in them, but I have to buy that & if this will work just as well I may switch to it, it's free, even better. It remains to be seen as to how well it absorbs moisture, whether it dries out like the pine shavings or just soaks it up & stays wet, the jury is out on that.

Danz, here is a pic of my young Salmon Faverolle Roo, he's about 3 months old now, tell me what you think of him, he's right in the middle of the photo next to the feeder, you can kind of see his feathered feet. I plan to use him for breeding. He has two pullets that are growing out in that pen too, but I didn't take pics of them this time.



Here is another view of him from the side:



Here is a pic of the chicks just hanging out in the dog house I gave them. They immediately started going in there as soon as I put it in the pen. They just hang out in there & sleep, it's funny to see a whole dog house full of chickens.



And here is a pic of my big Black Copper Marans roo Rusty, he is getting really big now. I love all the colors on him!


He has big old feathered feet that you can't see very well in this pic. The chickens are all picking at the cat food I had given the kittens this morning & they left a little bit. I have to shut the baby kittens in the crate to feed them or all of the chickens, bigger cats, & dogs will eat their food before they have a chance.

Pretty, pretty roos!

Hi all. Have been a bit under the weather and trying to survive all the manic activity that accompanies packing as much fun in the little time left before school starts.

I hope you're feeling better.

Hi all,
It's been a while since I have been on here -- about 900 messages I have missed. Hope all are doing well in spite of the heat and drought. We had a bull go missing and then a neighbors CRP pasture catch on fire (which caught our pasture on fire too!) a couple of days before we headed to Guatemala for 2 weeks. I was beginning to believe we were not going to make it to the airport without another disaster. But we finally got out of here and the grands took care of my flock while we were gone and all was well when we finally got back home. Nice to have a little better temps now!

I wanted to let you all know I am selling my Ancona ducks -- have 2 pairs. Also selling a black Cornish banty, 3-4 easter eggers, and a Light Brahma rooster. All my guineas are doing well and that is what I really wanted to start with so reducing my others. I will have them at the Premier Farm swap the end of the month unless I sell them before hand.

Wow, I'm sorry for the run of bad luck there. I'm glad it's over!

 

[HEChicken]

I am so thankful to have the life I do right now.

What a wonderful sentiment to express. I so often feel that way and feel very fortunate because way too many people are never really happy with what they have, always looking around and focusing on what they don't have instead of what they do. To be able to appreciate what you do have and feel satisfied with it, is really a gift, I think.

...When I found out how many people in the medical field don't get certain vaccinations (flu shots and that kind of thing), I was shocked.

I didn't know that! I've only had one flu shot and it was a peer pressure kind of thing because they were doing them where I worked at the time and everyone else was getting one and swore by them. It may just be coincidence but I was sicker that year than I have ever been in my life. Back to back colds, bronchitis and so on and I was completely miserable. Every time one cold started to subside, I'd feel the next coming on. I coughed and sneezed and hacked and swore I would never again have a flu shot.

What's the name of the book with recipes for pantry staples?

Oh yes, thanks for asking - when I read that, I had meant to ask the same question and forgot. I do like to prepare stuff from scratch as much as possible. For some things, like pancakes, it barely takes any longer than using the mix. Last week I was invited to a birthday party and we all agreed to bring something. I made brownies from scratch and had so many people comment on how moist and delicious they were. It took a little longer than emptying a packet into the bowl but not that long and I do think it was worth the effort.

 

[Trish44]

prairie, I'm glad you got to leave on your trip & nothing else went wrong! We've had some times like that & it makes you wonder if it's worth leaving or not doesn't it. Have you tried listing your ducks & chickens on the Kansas Poultry Swap on Facebook? We have a lot of trading going on there all the time.

Sunflowerparrot, that's so funny about Fern & that silly kitten, they sure do have some kind of connection, just buddies it seems like. Well I went out this evening & decided to unload the whole truck load of that cattail stuff. I first put a layer in my main coop & yes Sunflowerparrot finer would be better, so if you can get your boyfriend to go out there & mow that stuff some more it will be even better & easier to deal with too. There still are quite a lot of big stalks in there that make it harder to move around & get it to pack down when you're using it. You will see what I mean when you try to use it in your new coop. Anyway, I got the main coop done & still had a lot left so I decided to start putting it in the pens. I first went out & put it down in the turkey pen & those turkeys are just hilarious to watch. If you put anything in their pen that is new they have to go look at it & you would think you put an alien in there. I just stand & laugh at them it's so funny to see. They finally did decide it was all OK & they settled down & actually seemed to like it for bedding after it was all in there. Then I put it in the grow-out pen & the chicks in there also seemed to like it. I still had a little left so I put some in the Ameraucana pen too, so now I know about how much I need to do the coop & all of the biggest pens. I didn't put any in with the little guinea keets, I thought it might be too big & overwhelm them since they're still little yet. I also didn't put any in with the little peafowl. So now the experiment begins, I'm anxious to see how the stuff works out! That's exciting that you got a wall done today for the new coop.

By the time I got the truck all unloaded & the feeding & watering all done it was getting dark & I was tired, so I didn't go out yet to look for things to make my peafowl pen out of. I will do that in the morning after chores. I had brought up one livestock panel, so if I can find something for the bottom to hook it to I could experiment & see if I think I can handle making that pen. I think I may have a few big fencing staples left, so I could use those. I did see where the pieces of railroad ties are at, but getting them out of there isn't going to be fun. I'm thinking Danz that the railroad ties may be better because they're heavier than 4x4 posts to hook the bottom to to hold it down. I can always get metal plates to hook them together if I need to, but that may not even be necessary if the panels are hooked together. I'll just have to see how it goes when I start dragging it all out. I have to go out to the horse shed tomorrow & throw some of those panels over the fence to get them closer to where I need them. I had to drag the last one up because they're so long & awkward to deal with.

KarenS, I meant to say earlier that I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well. I hope you're feeling better now. Maybe you will get a little rest when the kids are mostly all back in school.

HEChicken, I like to make things from scratch too, I have for years. I'm getting a little lazier in my old age, but I do still prefer to make things rather than use mixes. At least you know what you're putting in things that way instead of all of those things listed on the box that you can't even pronounce.

 

[tweetysvoice]

I guess I've been lucky, none of my kids, nor my granddaughter, have had any problems with vaccinations. I have to get the flu shot, as well as the hepatitis vaccination and whooping cough vaccination, at work or I can't work there. I find it hard to believe that so many in the medical community doesn't get it since it's a required part of employment at our hospital. We also have to be TB tested every 6 months as well.

I finally have my second duck laying!!! So all four chickens and both ducks are laying eggs! Now it's time for the silkies to grow up and join the crowd. LOL
My DH got a video of someone doing the egg song today. He's trying to get it to load to You-tube, but it's not working as well as he'd like.

Here it is!

 

[tweetysvoice]

@ Tweety,
Yes was almost a two hour wait. Then the jack wagon running the MRI asks me where and what part of my wirst hurts, so I told t him. and he grabs my hand a yanks it into this box like thing. OMG........ IF IT DIDN'T HURT SO BAD THAT LITTLE HALF SIZED MAN WOULD HAVE STOPPED BREATHING RIGHT THERE!
No apology or nothing. Now i don't care if he was having a bad day or not that was BS!
Ifit would have been my choice OPRMC is where I would have gone. yep would have cost me sixy bucks in gas , but would have been worth it.

Just was catching up on posts and sorry that I didn't reply to this right away. I can tell you that this is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE! I am on the service excellence committee and good friends with our patient advocate. She'd love to hear you tell this story so she can set things right and make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone again. I'm appalled that someone at our hospital would treat you they way that they did! Even though it's not my place, I apologize sincerely for that! If you want to speak with her, please PM me your "real" name and I"ll be sure to have her give you a call so you can air your grievances to someone that has the authority to do something about it!

 

[prairie]

Danz -- I know my dogs will miss the ducks but I don't want to go through winter having to make sure they have enough water. They are so pretty! I have put them on the Poultry Swap page but will prob just end up taking them to the Premier swap.

Can't remember who posted the Kibble recipe but it sounds wonderful -- I usually make a big pot of lentils and put small containers in the freezer but mine contains:
lentils
diced tomatores
onions
pineapple
cumin
and sometimes a banana mashed in.
The recipe was from a Mexican cookbook and I love the recipe.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Sunflowerparrot, that's so funny about Fern & that silly kitten, they sure do have some kind of connection, just buddies it seems like. Well I went out this evening & decided to unload the whole truck load of that cattail stuff. I first put a layer in my main coop & yes Sunflowerparrot finer would be better, so if you can get your boyfriend to go out there & mow that stuff some more it will be even better & easier to deal with too. There still are quite a lot of big stalks in there that make it harder to move around & get it to pack down when you're using it. You will see what I mean when you try to use it in your new coop. Anyway, I got the main coop done & still had a lot left so I decided to start putting it in the pens. I first went out & put it down in the turkey pen & those turkeys are just hilarious to watch. If you put anything in their pen that is new they have to go look at it & you would think you put an alien in there. I just stand & laugh at them it's so funny to see. They finally did decide it was all OK & they settled down & actually seemed to like it for bedding after it was all in there. Then I put it in the grow-out pen & the chicks in there also seemed to like it. I still had a little left so I put some in the Ameraucana pen too, so now I know about how much I need to do the coop & all of the biggest pens. I didn't put any in with the little guinea keets, I thought it might be too big & overwhelm them since they're still little yet. I also didn't put any in with the little peafowl. So now the experiment begins, I'm anxious to see how the stuff works out! That's exciting that you got a wall done today for the new coop.

I told Stephen yesterday that if he gets bored and just wants to be out on his tractor, that he can mow over the north cattail field Please do keep us updated on the results of this stuff - and if anyone else is interested in this stuff, let me know I charge a dozen eggs for a truck load

Trish - I'd like to bring Ramona out sometime... let me know what evening/time works for you. This week is going to be really nice with lower temps.. she'd enjoy seeing all your animals, cats, and dogs.