Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

Anyway, the rooster that Danz showed is a "Blue Copper Marans"-- that is not the same thing as a BLUE bird. Which is why no one calls it a Blue Marans. So it's really not the same thing, but it does have a blue underbody to it, so the color is in there, but not in the sense of a blue bird. A true blue bird will look dark grey. A blue bird can be so dark as to be confused with black, but the underfluff will always show you the truth of the genetic background. Blues have a very LIGHT grey underfluff. Black birds should have black feathers that go all the way down the feather shaft, and their underfluff will be dark.

This is a BLACK bird This is a BLUE bird (grey)

This is a Lavender bird. Another dilution of blue, but "Self Blue" and they breed true.

The underside is a laced blue, but yes, the grey is Blue. If you examine very closely, you could see mites. They will have white dandruff in the feather shafts and hand around the head/neck and around the vent. I always find them around the vent, I never see them around the head, even though I know they are there.


LOVE this. I'm so glad everyone is contributing I've tried clicking on the link and it will not open it up! I'm using Google Chrome, and so I figured that was the problem and so I opened up Explorer instead and tried to click on the link and it still would not work!?? WHY!?!?!? I would love to contribute!! So frustrating!!


Oh no-- it's not sounding good. I sure hope maybe it needs time, but surely it would have worked by now?? Josie gave great instructions. I do put food and water close-- but far enough that she has to GET UP to get to it. After a few days, I'd go ahead and candle them too to be sure they are developing and toss out yucky ones. Do it at night so you can see well with a flashlight. And wait until you can definitely see something-- like 10 days.


FUNNY! I bet he comes to you! hehehe



I saw a judge show kids how to remove spurs from their roosters. It was really easy!! He just held onto the spur and sort of warmed it up in his hand and gently rolled it back and forth in his fingers-- the twisting motion loosens it up. After a while of doing that, they just pop off. There is a little string of blood where the vein was-- but they don't bleed that much at all. The rooster didn't even seem to know his spur had been taken off. You can YouTube it, too.
I have seen it done with a hot potato but I don't think I could do it! I just file them blunt if they get pointy.
I've never seen fleas on my chickens, just mites. Sevin Dust is the BEST!!! A while back I did some serious reading into Sevin Dust because of the controversy on "natural" treatment. And BTW-- there is no natural treatment that will get rid of mites. DE will not do it either. But Sevin Dust was created for the poultry industry years ago-- like over 50 years ago... and it's so safe, they have done lots of studies on it and it has shown to have no effects on birds. They even use it on wild birds-- in their nests, etc for controlling mites that kill babies in martin houses, bird houses, etc. I have personally used it on wild baby birds when I had to remove them out of my tractor and it got all the mites off of them in like 3 minutes flat and the babies were fine!

Well darn, I don't know what happened to my multi posts but they were all messed up so I deleted the bad ones.

Hawkeye- Thank you for going through BBS, I still stink at trying to explain it. I understand the basics but trying to explain it in a normal language doesn't go well for me!

The cochin thread has had several good discussions about self blue and blue varieties of birds. I will post a couple lifted bits of info from that thread for anyone interested. It is my understanding that self blue and blue are unrelated and in the cochin world would never be bred together. I don't know in other breeds if this is true. I have heard orpington folks talk about using blue in their self blue (lavender) project birds and it has received some harsh criticism from other breeders so who knows. I think some of the confusion lies in that self blue is a fairly new color in some breeds such as orpingtons and cochins and so we use black to improve type. A black roo of good type is mated to self blue hens and the splits are taken back to the parents to bring a new generation of self blue birds with "hopefully" improved type. If you breed self blue to self blue to get more of the same you lose type in birds that have not been worked on for many generations.

Self Blue is entire suface an even shade of light slatey blue with a similar undercolor. Disqualifications for red yellow orange or white in plumage. Defects would include laced feathers, dark blue feathers or varying shade of blue. This a short version of what self blue coloring is described as in the Standard for all breeds.

lavender and self blue are the same thing. lavender is the name of the gene, but the name of the variety of cochin is 'self blue'...
it's a recessive gene that requires both parents to carry, which causes a uniform dilution of black resulting in a solid light grey colored bird. yours are self blue/lavender. here in the US, the APA has stated that it will not recognize the name Lavender, since they already have the same color listed as Self Blue. In other countries the corresponding breed organizations refer to it as Lavender. so it would depend on your local poultry association/breed organization's choice of wording. in South Africa, it may well be referred to as Lavender. I don't know since i haven't researched that myself. (Lavender would be my choice of wording, because the word "blue" used in 2 different names can get confusing for some, but I'm only 1 person with an opinion.)

blue is a dominant gene that also dilutes black, but only requires only 1 parent to carry it. a single copy of the gene results in a dark grey bird with darker lacing. 2 copies of the gene results in a splash, which is a light grey/white bird with some darker markings here and there.


Here are links to cochins in both colors:
Blue pair-you can see the distinct lacing on the feathers
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...6i6bUJK0B4Xm2QWA8IHABA&ved=0CDYQ9QEwAg&dur=13

Self blue
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&...l=https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/222829/s



Lucie is doing well! She is driving me nuts these days. I have to be quite mean to make her behave herself on the leash, she has taken to dragging me around the yard which is not a good thing for either of us! Well I am wiped from today. My allergies have been acting up and it just adds to being tired and cranky!! I am off to hay horses and get some shut eye.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

Howdy All!

Mommahen, I didn't ask the neighbor if it was her guinea's leg, we've talked about them all summer as the numbers go down. She's given up on them. She has a covered horse trailer, her old guineas would free range and then roost in the horse trailer, this batch has been a wild far wandering bunch. I'm very curious what brought the bone here.

Danz,
What temp do you cook the milk chicken? Hope you are feeling much better! Your white Peafowl are beautiful!!


Hawkeye,
Your silkies are sure fluffy things! They look like something from a movie.

Supper was good, grilled deer back strap and goodies from our garden. I'm already missing my garden. Frozen is still yummy.

 

[Kansas Prairie]

I'm having trouble trying to get BYC to scroll back pages. I don't remember who was wanting chickens in the city.


Andy Schneider, better known as the Chicken Whisperer™

http://www.chickenwhisperer.net/ or THE CHICKEN WHISPERER on facebook.

I've read this guy can help & has helpful information if you are wanting to change zoning to allow city chickens.
I think he has several chicken loving followers who have also helped get chickens in other cities.

 

[HEChicken]

I buy bags of potatoes and head of cabbage to stretch our food budget. Good old Irish and Brittish cooking in my family background makes them a large part of our comfort foods, as well as beans and homemade tortillas from being transplanted yet again from the southwest. Tonight we had roasted cabbage with a little oil, salt, lime juice and worstershire sauce and Welsh rarebit ( butter, milk , flour gravy with sharp cheddar, worstershire, a dash of cayenne and a bottle of dark beer, on toast. I make a big batch and package it up for packing lunches and leftovers later in the week. Boiled potatoes with milk and a bit of cheese and bacon crumbles with Saltine crackers is good too, and very cost effective. Dillons has 5 lb bags of potatoes for 99cents this week. I have a homemade pantry recipe for saltines my kid like to make and cut out with cookie cutters for their school lunches and for home.

I don't use the flax seed every time. The kids really like their homemade snacks. Popcorn popped on the stove is also cheap and filling. It's easy to drizzle a bit of almond bark on it or make quick caramel from sugar and butter to make homemade popcorn balls or munchy sacks. My dad still loves a glass of milk and popcorn for dinner or milk and crackers, which is what his family ate often during the depression. I watch for sales on big bags of popcorn kernel bags too. Bread pudding with day old bread, homemade or from the day old bread store, with egg custard uses up eggs and works as a sweet breakfast items with dried fruits added or as a savory item as a stuffing with herbs. Cheap, fast, easy and home made goodness Scones and home made soft pretzles are easy to make too for meal items or snacks. My kids love them anyhow. We could easily be vegetarian, but we do love pasta cooked in broth with veggies too.. Dillons has several Kroger brand veggies for 50 cents a can this week too.

Thanks Medawinks for the Crackers recipe and all the other great ideas. Also, the hints on grocery shopping! I am out of potatoes and always stock up on canned vegies when they go on sale so I think I'll head to the store for a spot of grocery shopping this morning. We love to make our own popcorn on the stove too - to me the microwaveable stuff just never tastes as good.

medawinks- wonderful stuff thank you so much. I do not know where a Dillions is maybe there is not one near me.

Interesting - I didn't realize how local Dillons is. It is a Kroger store that we have in Kansas but since Kroger is across the whole country, I bet it just goes by a different name where you are.

Grrr....this is how your post multi-ed Josie but what I was going to comment on was Lucie. Glad to hear she is doing well but sorry she is giving you fits. I can only imagine a pup of that size being asked to be sedate...

 

[COOP Group]

I'm having trouble trying to get BYC to scroll back pages. I don't remember who was wanting chickens in the city.


Andy Schneider, better known as the Chicken Whisperer™

http://www.chickenwhisperer.net/ or THE CHICKEN WHISPERER on facebook.

I've read this guy can help & has helpful information if you are wanting to change zoning to allow city chickens.
I think he has several chicken loving followers who have also helped get chickens in other cities.

Thanks Kansas Prairie! I'll have to look him up. I have met so many great people while going through this application process.

 

[chicken danz]

Howdy All!

Mommahen, I didn't ask the neighbor if it was her guinea's leg, we've talked about them all summer as the numbers go down. She's given up on them. She has a covered horse trailer, her old guineas would free range and then roost in the horse trailer, this batch has been a wild far wondering bunch. I'm very curious what brought the bone here.

Danz,
What temp do you cook the milk chicken? Hope you are feeling much better! Your white Peafowl are beautiful!!
350 Degrees. Sorry! I cook most dishes at 350 so I didn't even think about that.
Hawkeye,
Your silkies are sure fluffy things! They look like something from a movie.

Supper was good, grilled deer back strap and goodies from our garden. I'm already missing my garden. Frozen is still yummy.

The milk chicken sauce looks kind of like lumpy gravy when it is done. Like I said, it looks awful but the milk seems to make the chicken tender and the chicken flavors the sauce or gravy so it tastes heavenly.
Medawinks, have you determined whether your splash are roosters? I sure hope Andy gets some hens of his own out of all those birds.
Years ago I bought a steamer when they were popular. I rarely use canned veggies anymore at all. It really spoiled me. I love home canned veggies but most of the store bought stuff just can't rival the fresh taste of frozen. I don't care for frozen green beans at all though. I don't use the steamer much any more (compared to the fact I use to use it at every meal.) but I still love frozen veggies. If you can't get fresh it's the next best thing. Often our local store will have frozen veggies on sale and I stock up if I know about it. You can buy a ton more frozen veggies for the same money as canned ones.
Last year I also discovered "recipe starter" in the frozen veggie section. It is your basic onions, peppers, etc that you use to make a multitude of dishes. Onions have gotten pricy so when the garden isn't yielding I've found this to be a great beginning for dozens of dishes. I tend to either run out of fresh onion or they go bad before I use them. It's either feast or famine it seems. I stocked up when they had a mix and match on frozen veggies sale.
I've read here and there that DE becomes ineffective if it gets wet. But I don't understand how that can be true. It is used as a drying agent and let me tell you when you get it on your hands you understand why! Diatoms come from water, so how can they be ineffective if they get wet. My sense of reasoning just doesn't quite make sense of that fact. Anyway the drying effect also helps prevent mites on it's own because mites breed in wet conditions. I put DE in my hen house and my old garage where the chickens sleep several months ago when we had an outbreak of mites. Within two weeks every one was putting new feathers in. I really need to do it again. I can't tell some of the molting from mites.
I woke up this morning about 6:15. It was still dark out. Something told me to get up. Then I walked to the back door and heard the guineas going off. I stepped out the back door just in time to see an owl take off and one of my dogs barking and chasing it. He landed in a tree on the far side of the property. I got the gun and watched and he came back again and went to the uncovered chicken pen. As soon as I stepped out the back door he took off again and I never got a chance to even aim at him.
So the war is back on. I've been shutting the birds up at night other than that one pen. I guess I am going to work my rear off and enclose that today. It is supposed to be warmer out. I have a half dozen birds that sit on the front porch, which I really don't like. I may have to catch them after they roost and figure out a place to pen them for a few days. I hate to do that because I love having my birds free range.
I'm feeling kind of punk yet but I have got to get some pens moved and set up today. It's going to get cold and I am so far from being ready for it.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye - WONDERFULLY WRITTEN letter! You need to do that sort of thing professionally! Also, the pictures were adorable!!!

For all those that asked, they told me that it might be 7-10 days before I feel the full effects of the botox, so I"ll only get worried about it if I don't notice a change by the middle of next week.
Took today off to catch up on the sleep that missed while in the hospital. It's funny how you are supposed to be there to start feeling better, yet you can't get more than a couple hours of sleep at at time!

So I did go ahead and stick a small bowl of food and water in with Raine (The silkie). I stuck the water bowl in front of her and she gave a good long drink, so i'm assuming that she's not getting up and out at all. I do know that she'll go right back to sitting on the nest because DH picked her up and put her into the coop with the rest of the birds last night (doh!). I asked him about how she was doing and he said "bird about took off my hands when I put her up. I freaked. I'm like "You have to let her keep sitting on them if they are to hatch anything!" He said it was the first time he'd been able to grab her, so at least it hadn't been every night. It had only been about 20 minutes, so I went back out to the coop and let her out. She immediately ran back to the nest and started pushing all the eggs back under her. I swear I heard her purring while she was doing that. Do chickens purr??

Thanks for the idea about candleing them! I wouldn't have thought about that. If they are all duds and I do get some fertilized eggs, will she keep sitting if it's an extra 10ish days before they hatch? I was thinking that if the weather gets to bad by the time they are supposed to hatch that I might have to put them into a crate and bring it inside, or do you think mama will keep the babies warm enough? Is hatching in the middle of fall/winter common?

Thanks, I think sometimes I have a knack for writing. I sure hope your procedure will kick in and it'll go better. Funny about your DH putting your silkie up. It won't hurt that she was off the eggs that long, though. If they don't develop, it won't be because of that. And YES I know that purr you are talking about when they are so happy to get the eggs all arranged right and get themselves all sat back down on the nest. I don't know if that is a silkie thing or a chicken thing... I've only had broody silkies, so can't say if others do it, too. Don't candle them too soon and then be discouraged. Since it's your first time doing it-- wait until you think it's about Day 10 or there after and candle them to see if you can see a little bean with veins in them. I can usually see something at Day 3 on silkie eggs with my high powered mini flashlight. They are super easy to candle! But you have to know what you're looking for. My broody hatched in December or Jan I think of last year for her first time. She sat on the eggs until they were all hatched and baby was fine. It was COLD!! I left them out there together and mama kept baby warm. About silkies---- WATCH after the baby is hatched that it doesn't get stuck in the silkie under fluff! It can strangle the chicks or break their necks. Silkie under fluff gets really messed up from being broody. Just keep an eye on them. Once they are bigger, it won't happen. But when they are only first hatched to about 3 days old-- you can lose them that way. Mine got stuck and I had to cut her out. I only noticed because the chick was screaming. Now I've noticed lots of silkie people saying the same thing happens to them and they will loose babies that way.

Well, I brought "Spikey boots" home a little while ago. I feel so evil, cause if not for the "problems" we were having, there would have been no problems. I have to wait for my husband to get home, and then we will lay him to rest.

Thanks for all the thoughts, it is helping. I always thought I would just find him alseep somewhere, as he loved to sleep.


hawkeye the picture with the blacks looks like the cock bird has the pumpkin attached to him. Oh, and I am bringing 11 birds to Hutch too! Other than 1 silkie in junoirs, there were not silkies at Fayetteville.!

maidenwolf. where are you close too? Missouri rifle season for deer will be opening soon, are you where you can go huning? I have to talk to my son, but I could get a game tag, and see if it is legal to give the meat away. Have you ever made Hamburger soup. I make that,
1 lb burger
2 cans, or l bag frozen vegtables
l can diced tomatoes
water
brown the burger, at the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, simmer. Really good with corn bread and butter. I like it better than any canned soup.
So many posts, and I just don't know all who has been here today, my mind is numb.

Rosie, I'm so very sorry about your Spikey Boots kitty cat. What a sad day. Oh and yeah, he backed up into that pumpkin and without messing up his pose that I had worked on, I took the pic anyway, but thought it was funny he has a pumpkin stem coming out his tail!

I am so far behind I am never going to be able to comment on everything. First and foremost Checoukan I feel for you! I am tearing up now as I think of loosing my cat in September. She was more like a child. It still breaks my heart. I so understand how hard this is. I have two more very very old cats and I pray they will just fall asleep someday and not wake up. I don't know if I cna handle having to have another one put down.
Quote:
I had a picture of my self blue d'uccle but lost it somewhere. Duh!

Your blue slates are gorgeous. And yes that is a great example of good blues!

Hawkeye, how did you get your Silkies to pose like that? Are they trained? In the splash ones (not that I really understand splash), the one on the left is the girl, right? I like the contrast in the color on her head. I don't know why I like that, but it strikes me as pretty. Now, are these blue or black?


For our 'survival recipe' for lunch today, we did canned beef/rice pilaf, it was sort of like dirty rice but it tasted good. I left it bland for the kids and I added salsa to mine to kick it up. The canned beef was a trade from a friend, she needed eggs so that worked. I've had it for a long time and I want to get it used up. You can can beef yourself, pressure canning methold only. The salsa was just fresh from a few of the green tomatoes that ripened in the house. The rice was purchased in a huge bag from Sam's. I did sweet potato fries, the kids love those but they take forever for me to cut up. We ran out of ketchup, so my 15 yo looked up a recipe and made some, it wasn't too bad. The little ones had milk, older ones didn't want it and they could have all the bread they could eat. Lunch was very VERY cheap. I try to save the store bought meat for dinner. I feel good about feeding everyone cheap, if I save money here I have more money for other things, like CHICKENS! Our dinner was a splurge, we used 2 lbs of ground beef and made goolash with corn, green beans, tomatoes and egg noodles. Of course we had bread too. The only part we bought was the ground beef egg noodles, this fed 9 and we have enough left overs for tomorrow's lunch which will feed 7 of us.

I went to check on my chicks in the brooder room. The red light has been removed and replaced with a green one. When I went out, they were still all the way on the right but they were huddled together like they didn't want me near them and they never act this way. These are my most social chicks that I've had so much fun with. I tried to entice them with their sweet potatoes and they wouldn't come to me at all. Is it because the boys had the radio blaring out in the barn. Would that scare them? I ended up putting their sweet potatoes in and when I backed away they started their ususal feeding frenzy. Later this evening, they seemed hyper. They were flying at each other like the roosters do, they were being very very active. Maybe the sweet potatoes gave them too much energy. It was absolutely beautiful outside today. Do you think it would be shocking to their bodies if I put them back in their outside pen during the afternoons so they can still have time to scratch in the dirt? Maybe they are bored in there, especially considering they had been enjoying being outside daily for a little while. They're 3 1/2-4 weeks old.

I have spent some time training them to pose! No joke. I wish I were kidding. My son does Showmanship, and part of it is caging your bird and then getting them to "pose" before you shut the door! So we spend time sitting a bird on a stool, and then with your hand flat-- raise their chest, and then tip their beak up and then push their rear in and up! Start all over if they move! So when I was taking the pictures, I set them down and "arranged" them. Then snapped the shot before they moved. But the great thing with silkies is that they are no ordinary chicken-- they will remain in a pose for a while. Sounds like you have dinner and lunches under control! Great ideas!! I've never seen a green brooder light! That's kind of neat! The Splash are a light blue base with black blobs of spots scattered on them. The girl with the great contrast is probably the best marked bird I have! I can NOT wait to see what chicks she will throw, and am hoping she passes that spotting on. For best results I will breed her to a Blue-- not another splash. The other birds that were dark are black.

I don't use the flax seed every time. The kids really like their homemade snacks. Popcorn popped on the stove is also cheap and filling. It's easy to drizzle a bit of almond bark on it or make quick caramel from sugar and butter to make homemade popcorn balls or munchy sacks. My dad still loves a glass of milk and popcorn for dinner or milk and crackers, which is what his family ate often during the depression. I watch for sales on big bags of popcorn kernel bags too. Bread pudding with day old bread, homemade or from the day old bread store, with egg custard uses up eggs and works as a sweet breakfast items with dried fruits added or as a savory item as a stuffing with herbs. Cheap, fast, easy and home made goodness Scones and home made soft pretzles are easy to make too for meal items or snacks. My kids love them anyhow. We could easily be vegetarian, but we do love pasta cooked in broth with veggies too.. Dillons has several Kroger brand veggies for 50 cents a can this week too.
Love the new silkies, Hawkeye!! The show picks of silkies and rosecombs are really interesting! Win or lose, it looks like lots of fun!
I think I missed Lucy's update. How is it going? Please repeat
I am so amazed at how super friendly our Marans chicks and Sussex chic are. They all come running and want to be held. So sweet! The Marans I bought from Ivy is laying now and is also ver sweet and friendly.
Tweety, hoping you are able to eat comfortably now!
I hope the ordinance in Overland Park goes through. I am using my phone and will try the email link to send some support.
Oh, I absolutely loved the fancy coop!!! I also loved the idea of the refrigerator doors on the brooder! Very cool!
Must get kids tucked in and prayers said. Hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is a great recipe! I'm so tempted to make it! I have pinned so many foods recently on Pinterest that I want to try! LOL

Wow nice note about you. I totally love to cook from scratch. with a huge garden and tons of fruit trees I love just picking a few minutes before i cook. Oh man when it gets cold I love to pick some herbs and make chicken soup from scratch and then some fresh homemade bread. Since I cook for the people I work with, I dont get to cook at home much more. Takeing some time off and having some good friends over so i can cook some real food and enjoy some good country life.

Cooking can be an awful lot of fun when you have the time for it. I enjoy it. I really enjoy cooking for others, not so fun to just cook for myself. I really love grilling. I'm a grilling fool in the warmer months. Now that we have a propane starter on my charcoal grill, it's so much easier to get it started! (we got a new grill this year)


So glad Lucie is doing better, but she'll have to learn some manners so she won't knock you down.

I'm sure you can handle that.

Howdy All!

Mommahen, I didn't ask the neighbor if it was her guinea's leg, we've talked about them all summer as the numbers go down. She's given up on them. She has a covered horse trailer, her old guineas would free range and then roost in the horse trailer, this batch has been a wild far wondering bunch. I'm very curious what brought the bone here.

Danz,
What temp do you cook the milk chicken? Hope you are feeling much better! Your white Peafowl are beautiful!!


Hawkeye,
Your silkies are sure fluffy things! They look like something from a movie.

Supper was good, grilled deer back strap and goodies from our garden. I'm already missing my garden. Frozen is still yummy.

Love hearing about everyone's dinners-- love all the ideas! And thank you! I'm a big fan of silkies.

Okay, better get going!! My DH bought me an HOUR swedish massage for today. He wanted me to try that first before I see a chiropracter for my neck and back. I do think it's the muscles, but I think I will also really benefit from having my spine adjusted, too. So perhaps this will calm me down and it'll just be a lot of fun and then I'll schedule the chiropracter for my neck/back next week. I'm doing a lot better!! Just still not back to normal yet.

 

[mommahen10]

The cracker recipe looks great medawinks. I don't have millet or flax, I've never used millet so I don't know what it is. I will look for it next time we go to the store. I wonder if we could find a recipe for Wheatables, I love those. I have some oats, maybe I could do a variation. I bought the huge bag of popcorn at Sam's too so I always have popcorn. I like your idea to sweeten it up a little. How can the kids possibly refuse that? I'm going to look for a custard recipe today. Does anyone know if custard is like meringue and needs older eggs? We do soft pretzels every once in a while and they never last long. That sounds good too.

Josie, thanks for the info again, I'm still taking notes and trying to follow.

I'm going to look him up too Kansas Prairie, just to.

Danz, how are you feeling today?

HEChicken, I don't have Dillon's or Kroger here. I wonder what other names they may have. The 2 closest towns we go to; one has only Walmart, the other has Walmart, G&W Foods, and Save A Lot. G&W is just a small grocery store, like when you see an IGA in a small town. Save A Lot is similar to Aldi's but it's not big either. We try to get to a Sam's once per month, but I've about got it narrowed down to buying so little that I'm not even sure that my membership is be cost effective anymore. I found an Amish store in Garnett, it's almost an hour from me but I've been getting my flour there, they had spices too. Meat we are just piecing it together here and there, and we worked our backsides off in the garden this summer so I'm still good on veggies.

I'm sure everyone read maidenwolf's post yesterday about her terribe predicament right now. I found it heart breaking and I wrote and deleted and wrote and deleted some more. It's such a sensitive subject, I want to help, yet I can't just make it all go away. I took what I wrote the last time and I almost posted it and decided not to at the last minute and I sent her a PM instead and asked for permission to post it. She said yes, but I think I can get the same result by just making a request. Can we all do some brainstorming for some ideas to supplement income, saving money on groceries or bills, way to cut bills or save on the electric bill. I think there were tons of ideas already posted for where to go for emergency assistance, but if anyone has any new ones that's great too. Her area, there isn't much there. I have been there. If you don't have money for transportation then you are really limited to just what is right there even if there is help 30 miles away. We talked about survival mode. I call survival mode like when I buy a little package of toilet paper to get us through until payday even though I know that the big package is so much cheaper. If a person is stuck in survival mode for a long period of time the basics become depleted and you are stuck selling yourself short over and over and the hole gets deeper. So, what I'm asking is just for good ideas. If we all try to come up with ideas then sometimes one idea sparks another we may have missed. Like Hawkeye, with her insurance claim, if someone hadn't mentioned the carseats it may have been totally overlooked and that's important. Think: recipes with very few ingredients, supplementing income even if it's a little, saving energy to keep that electric bill down. Any way you can contribute to the idea pool, that is appreciated. Even though this was sparked to help maidenwolf, there are others reading who may see it and think Oh, I can do that. We never know how we can affect or help another.

Recipes, breads have very few ingredients, I use flour, sugar, oil, water, potato flakes. Crackers I'm going to try that recipe medawinks posted. I'm thankful too for new ideas. For supplementing income over the years I've babysat, baked, sewed, ironed, sold on eBay, scrapped metal. I know another lady near me who bakes and sells at the Farmer's Market twice per week to supplement her family's income.

Thanks everyone!!!

 

[mommahen10]

checoukan, how are you holding up today?

Danz, nothing like a darned predator to motivate you. I but your heart is racing and you are ready to go. I do hope that you got rid of that bug. Try not to work too hard.

Hawkeye, yay! I picked out the good bird just because she's pretty. Really, they're all beautiful. I'm amazed at how much chickens can learn. The green light isn't a brooder light, it was free in a box of junk, it's just a flood light and it produces heat too although not as much as the red one did. These chicks do have a lot of feathers so they probably didn't need as much heat. I'm curious to see how they behave today. I plan to put them back into their outside pen at least for the afternoon. I may check the weather and see if they can stay there. It's that darned wind that makes it seem so cold. I don't want them working hard to stay warm, yet they really like being in the dirt.

 

[mommahen10]

Hawkeye, I had been wondering how you are feeling. I think the chiropractor would be a good idea. Can you imagine how your bones would move in an impact like that? Then your muscles are strained and swelling and it makes things stay in the wrong place. It seems logical that the massage would loosen everything up then it'll be easier for the chiropractor to move everything back into place.

Danz, the way you talked about the DE drying things out makes me scared to go near it. My skin has taken a beating for sure. I read that the DE is actually tiny little pieces that are very sharp and that they stic k to the insect and then they cut and scratch the surface of the insect everytime they move making them dry out. Did you see a microscopic pic? They reminded me of tiny fossils, or kinda like broken pieces of Chex cereal. I've never seen it in real life. Is it chalky?