INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[atrueb00]

Mayo doesn't sink; it floats.

I make homemade mayo. I bet it's going to totally rock with fresh eggs!

/random

Too funny!!

 

[atrueb00]

Got my tracking # from BYC! Spoke to someone at the post office. She said my chicks will come directly from Louisville to our local PO about 6:30 and I can knock on the door in the lobby and someone will get them for me. Pretty excited!

If I hear back from the guinea guy I might have keets today or tomorrow, too. Depends on when he checks his email. I guess he's in no rush.

Today isn't just Cinco de Mayo for us every year...it's my son's birthday. Just decorated the kitchen for a big celebration tonight. Ay yi yi! He asked for Minecraft chickens on his cake and he is getting them!


Cockadoodle doo!

Love this cake!!!

 

[atrueb00]

To those with silkies: how high will a silkie jump/fly to roost at night?

Some of mine will roost on a post that is about 12" off the ground during the day, but at night they all sleep in a pile.

 

[barb s]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my incubating questions. I'm hoping that the eggs that are in the incubator will all be hatched (if any hatch) by next Monday or Tuesday that way the eggs that I have won't be but 7 or 8 days old. Thank you again for the replies.

 

[LonelyPageTurne]

Does anyone live around Indianapolis that breeds blue laced red wyandottes and/or silver laced wyandottes?

I got my stock to start but I probably won't have babies til next year. I suppose there's a chance for a batch later in the year. I'm also Gonna try breeding some sex link blrw, those might be ready by the summer. The pullets will look like blrw and the roos will be a blue laced yellow color.

 

[leslea]

I have baby pics and video! Anyone want to educate me as to what "color" my non-white silkie is? I know @bradselig will know but please, anyone, tell me:


There is definitely a pecking order already. Oprah & Gayle were so named. Oprah is the queen of the flock, already and she was prepared not to take any @#$% off of my son or me when we unboxed them. The bantam barred rocks are about 3/4 the size of the other bantam chicks. I was surprised they were so much smaller than the others, since they are all bantams.

Here's a better pic of Lynda's color:



My enjoyment of the streaming chick cams seems to have been a good thing, too. I did a video of my dogs after I let them out of their crate, with the chicks peeping away in the brooder. My dogs were oblivious. They have been listening to the chicks peep on the TV in the same room for months. I even called one of them over and petted him and he didn't perk up an ear or anything. Just, no big deal. Fingers crossed they remain unexcited about the chicks. I know they will show interest when they see us holding them, but so far so good. It is my plan to praise them when they pay no attention to the chicks and to separate them when they do, by sending them outside. I hope they will be trustworthy chicken dogs.

I pick up my guinea keets tonight!!!

ETA: video of chicks (house is too messy to post my dogs!)

 

[alliejean]

Really? Wonderful!!! What kind do you have and recommend?

Mine is a kitchenaid, but I dont think there is much between brands when it comes to immersion blendenders. I love it, they are also great for milk shakes, salad dressings, and in the fall when I make apple butter I just let the apples and spices cook in the crock pot overnight then blend it a little in the morning and it is perfect every time

 

[hoosiercheetah]

http://www.vanillaproductsusa.com/servlet/StoreFront

This where I get my vanilla beans. I've been buying from them for years. You want the grade b, aka extract grade beans:

http://www.vanillaproductsusa.com/servlet/the-241/"vanilla-beans"-"bourbon-vanilla/Detail

Their grade b are better than the grade a from a lot of other sellers. I usually buy 1 lb at a time, and that will make three 1/2 gal. batches.

Once you have the beans, the rest is easy. Buy a 1.75 liter plastic bottle of vodka. Dark Eyes is my favorite, its a good balance between being cheap, but not too skanky. Svedka is only slighty more money, and you get a swank glass bottle. Pour about a pint of vodka into a clean jar and set it aside. Feel free to sample it if that's your thing.

Chop the vanilla beans into one inch chunks. Some sources say to split the beans lengthwise, which is much more messy and time consuming and has no benefit I've been able to detect. You'll have to pry off the white plastic pouring cap from the vodka bottle, but don't destroy it, you'll want to put it back at the end. So put all the bean bits in the vodka, then top it up with the pint you poured off earlier. You'll end up with a cup or so left over. Make a pitcher of Bloody Marys and have a great day!

Date the cap with a sharpie. Shake it every couple of days. I think I let mine sit about six weeks before I use it, but I make it when the old batch is half gone, so sometimes its several months. You can't go too long, because it reaches a maximum saturation at some point. It stores indefinitely.

For a 1/2 gallon (that's the 1.75 L) bottle of vodka, I use 6 oz of vanilla beans. It makes a pretty stout extract, and you could probably go as low as five ounces, but I wouldn't go lower. For a 750 mL bottle of vodka, which is your standard 1/5 gallon size, use 2.5 to 3 oz. of beans. Anything else you can divide off the 1/2 gal. size - 3 oz beans for 1 quart booze, etc. All these are approximate, as long as you're within an ounce of beans per half gallon, the extract will be fine, and you can adjust to your liking as you go along.

One other note - don't try to sub other kinds of booze. Rum does not make good extract. Gin already is extract, of juniper berries and other sundry herbs and spices. Whiskey is right out. Vodka is best and pretty much the only thing that will give you a good result.

One other other note - you don't need to adjust quantities of vanilla in your recipes. The extract you make will be a bit stronger than what you buy in the store, however, baking experts the world over agree that the biggest sin of the modern cookbook library is that they universally and without exception call for too little vanilla.

That's about it!

Gently edited because I can. I'm about to make a batch, maybe this week. When I do I'll edit this again and add pictures. Yay, pictures!

 

[ChickCrazed]

I have baby pics and video! Anyone want to educate me as to what "color" my non-white silkie is? I know @bradselig will know but please, anyone, tell me:


There is definitely a pecking order already. Oprah & Gayle were so named. Oprah is the queen of the flock, already and she was prepared not to take any @#$% off of my son or me when we unboxed them. The bantam barred rocks are about 3/4 the size of the other bantam chicks. I was surprised they were so much smaller than the others, since they are all bantams.

Here's a better pic of Lynda's color:



My enjoyment of the streaming chick cams seems to have been a good thing, too. I did a video of my dogs after I let them out of their crate, with the chicks peeping away in the brooder. My dogs were oblivious. They have been listening to the chicks peep on the TV in the same room for months. I even called one of them over and petted him and he didn't perk up an ear or anything. Just, no big deal. Fingers crossed they remain unexcited about the chicks. I know they will show interest when they see us holding them, but so far so good. It is my plan to praise them when they pay no attention to the chicks and to separate them when they do, by sending them outside. I hope they will be trustworthy chicken dogs.

I pick up my guinea keets tonight!!!

ETA: video of chicks (house is too messy to post my dogs!)

Woohooo!! Congrats!!! They are super cute and I'm glad they survived the trip ok!!!

 

[racinchickins]

Does anyone on here have an incuview incubator? I ordered one to use as a hatcher because the entire top is clear. I love watching the chicks hatch.

Here is the link:
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/incuview-egg-incubator.html

Just wanted to know if anyone had any experience or reviews of it.