Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[fuzzybutt love]

No fuzz butts for me, except perhaps a d'uccle or two. Very sick and broken hearted. Blue roo was not able to fertilize any eggs, even my hope's. The only survivor of that line is her sis, but i do not want any other roo to do the deed, the other ee roo is flighty and agressive.

hope was the last egg laid for me by my cocoa. Cocoa made me stay right with her and put up a fuss if i tried to leave while she was laying it. Died later that day. I blew it. I had her daughter indoors to live for a bit, but let her with the others in the coop. Never should have had her out there. Was too important to me, not livestock at all.

 

[Amy PT]

Crazyforchix, welcome!

Fuzzy, I'm so sorry.

Lady, what a beautiful photo. I'm looking forward to reading the answers to your questions. We'll probably boil down just one gallon of sap for a meal's worth of syrup. My husband is allergic, so he's not as excited as I am about this project.
Seems like you're getting a good ratio. If you find you have more sap than you care to boil, the Blandford Nature Center is taking sap donations. They sell syrup as a fundraiser. There might be a Center closer to you with a similar program.

 

[Opa]

Once again our temperature has dropped and it is currently 14 degrees in Howell with a windchill of 2. The only good thing is that rather than losing our snow quickly it is leaving gradually. As high as the Red Cedar and the Grand rivers were on Friday this is a good thing. Had we lost all of our snow in just a couple of days the flooding would have been monumental.

While I am trying desperately to find the good in each and every day I must admit I am getting awfully tired of winter. Spring may technically arrived but Mother Nature has failed to follow the calendar mandates.

For those flocks brooding chicks right now remember day old chicks should be kept at 95 degrees and you gradually lower the temperature by 5 degrees per week until they are fully feathered. Brooder temperature should be measure at the same level as the chicks directly under the heat source. When setting up your brooder make sure that it is large enough that the chicks can move away from the heat source as necessary. I recommend using a red heat lamp as you will have less pecking with the colored light.

Observing your chicks behavior will tell you what the warmth requirements are. If they are huddled together it isn't warm enough. They should be quite active and moving around the entire brooding area. If they are all far from the center of the heat source and are lethargic the temperature is much too high.

 

[mindylee]

Im laying on the couch playin on my phone on this site and just heard a huge peep comin from the bator. Today is day 20 and my hubby was like... what was that! So come on baby peeps! All 40 of ya!

 

[1muttsfan]

Crazyforchix, welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread

Silly, your yarn is lovely.

Fuzzy, so sorry to hear about your little hen. One of the sad things about becoming attached to the animals in out care is that they never live as long as we wish they would. While she may have lived longer if kept in, most chickens are very social animals that love the company of other chickens. She got to live her life as most chickens would prefer, able to go outside on nice days, good food and plenty of water, and the companionship of others of her kind.

 

[uchytil]

I boiled down approximately 15 gallons of sap today and wound up with 3 1/2 quarts of finished syrup ETA: not that I'm complaining! I did what I've read, boiled it down, raised the temp to 219°. It's beautiful dark golden and so tasty, rich with the flavors of both maple and vanilla. But the math (40-1) doesn't work out. I've heard it said that MI syrup is thinner than VT syrup. Does this explain my quantities?

NO. Maple is Maple. There's no difference in sap other than, like any biological entity, you will have variations in sugar content, viscosity, bacterial matter, etc. I have relatives in Maine that sugar. No difference other than bragging rights. If you got 3 1/2 from 15?? I get 40:1 to 50:1 consistently. It is possible to freeze sap and remove water which creates a more concentrated sap and then ratios are nebulous. Or, like big sugar, use a reverse osmosis to get rid of water. 219degF is the correct temperature. I boil mine down until the sugar slides/rolls off a spoon when blown on. Then I check the temperature.

I think it's funny that someone said Michigan is thinner than Vermont! Sounds like my daughter that lives in Boston.

Happy sugaring!

 

[aart]

Hey syrupers...what's the diff in color/grade? I like the darker stuff, I find it more flavorful.

Is it time of flow(earlier or later in season), length of cooking/boiling/reduction particular trees?

 

[JackieandChicks]

Just heard this on NPR about maple syrup - very interesting!

http://www.npr.org/tags/153207493/maple-syrup

 

[Opa]

I have maintained for years that there are no bad days, only bad attitudes. There are many days that I don't like, but as long as I can do something then the day isn't bad. Often you have to make adaptations in order to get something done but isn't that what life really is. Looking at what befalls you and thing doing what ever is necessary to get through it.

I thought this picture pretty well sums up that attitude

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I ended up with 27 chicks in the brooder and 3 eggs left in the bator. A few Spitzhauben mixs, lots of BCM mixes, only a few buffs, one white, one maybe columbian, one BRxBCM, and a few EEs and OEs.