Michigan

[DaughterOfEve]

Gotta love duct tape.

 

[Olive Hill]

Go to TSC. Buy a manure fork. Problem solved.

 

[snowflake]

Nigerian dwarf goaties, and they are a small dairy breed. The breeder I am getting my doelings from especially focuses on milk production, both in quantity and nice, milkable teats. The milk is delicious, but definitely try fresh first. The store bought kind is awful, very 'goaty' tasting (if you know what a goat buck smells like, that is what store bought milk kinda tastes like, how they smell. Hard to describe!).

Goaties can't be kept alone, so if you eventually get milk goats, they should be kept in a pair at least. A solo goat is a very stressed out, noisy goat, since they are herd animals!

2 is OK? Let us know how you do, Never had live-stock so this is a retirement project, and Maple syrup

Hey guys, I put up a post here asking for thoughts on combining certain breeds, and I am not really getting much response. I would appreciate if any of you that have mixed flocks might have a moment to jump over at some point and let me know what you think, there or here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/636628/what-do-you-think-of-these-breeds-together#post_8550138

don't have time to go back to your post, will tonight, you want to get at least 3or4 of each breed if they are different in looks such as polish, feathers on head, BFCM feathers on feet. and slandered type, they mix OK together but tend to pick at something different so if there are a ## of different with the same look they seem to fair better

OH! Its going to be an open area in the spring, summer and fall... Their will be NO straw in the coop, except for one box to lay eggs in. Also, I am seriously considering pulling a Daron and sanding their winter enclosure for next year. Putting a hole in the floor of their coop and covering it with hardware cloth, and setting the water over that for when they are stuck in their coop from 6pm till 9 am... I don't know... will have to see. But I think the sand would be so much better... Maybe... Opinions?

But yeah... I am looking forward to no more food and water in the coop for the late spring, summer and early fall, and being able to take a hose to it and just rinse it out!

the MSU guys suggested getting your straw chopped so it is more absorbent.

I also stopped by meijers and found my green rose! No major transplant this time. Gonna put it in the ground as soon as it's safe! This is not the one i had last time but the one i fell in love with off the internet, the one that they "didn't carry".

congrats

Quote:

 

[uchytil]

So how much would that roughly yield? Of finished product that is.

About 40 gallons of sap equals one gallon of syrup.

 

[uchytil]

Where do you get your taps and buckets? How far up the tree? Does it matter which side you tap? Do you drill a new and different tap every year? What is the ideal time to tap - probably too late this year? Thanks for the info!

Taps can be had online, hardware store, sometimes TSC. You can use milk jugs with a little hole in them or get a plastic tap with some tubing and run it into a 5 gallon bucket with a lid (in case it rains). Up the tree about waist level. South is what I do to catch the sun as it warms the tree but in my experience East and West work. Yes drill above or below and off to the side from last years hole. Ideal time, lol! That the addiction. It's like gambling. One guy said not until after Valentines Day and then it's anyones guess. The rule of thumb is freezing nights and above 40 degree days.

 

[uchytil]

O.K. I am pretty sure I did this all wrong but here is what happened.

I stuck a tap in a maple tree in the yard. South side of tree, about 5 ft off the ground.
It started dripping. Drip, Drip, Drip. I hung a bucket on there. A covered bucket I got with the tap from a Nature Center.

When the bucket was full at the end of the day I put the sap (maybe 2 gallons?) on the stove in a big soup pot. I have an exhaust fan above my stove which I let run and I started to boil the sap really slowly - just so I could see steam evaporate.
Left it on for hours while I cleaned and studied.
Just a slow little boil giving off steam. Didn't leave the house, kept close eye on it

When I had about 1 cup of runny sap left in the pot, I was thinking of putting it in a jar for pancakes but it was still pretty runny so I let it cook a bit longer and BAM!!!

MAPLE SUGAR CANDY in my pot. That surprised me. So I let the kids eat it. It wasn't in the shape of a maple leaf, just looked like sugar but WOW! Tasted GREAT!

Next day I repeated the process but when there was about 1 cup left in the bottom of the pan, I turned the stove off and put that runny syrup in a jar in the fridge. We love that runny syrup!

Ha ha, I've done the same thing! You need a thermometer, I use a candy type. Anyway, when the boiling temperature reaches 7 degF above boiling point of water at sealevel you are done. To make it simple just stop the heat at 219 degF and strain the stuff into mason jars. If you put it in your fridge you'll might still be eating it next sap season (like me).

 

[uchytil]

So now I'm "Chillin' with my Peeps" so my posting has gotten out of hand I guess. Better go check the brooder temp....

 

[taprock]

Juise - I have a very mixed flock. 34 birds and 18 breeds. Silkie, Sizzle and Polish are the bottom of the pecking order, not sure if it has to do with the crests or not. I have a few breeds that I have only one. I didn't do it on purpose but in the future I would make sure I have at least a couple of each.

I thought it was going to be a warm week but we are back at 24 degrees and 20+ mph winds again. The forecast said up to 6 inches of snow?

I know it's still March but I would really like to be outside a little.

I used sand in a section in front of the door of my coop and have been very happy with it. The only problem being as it has gotten moister through the winter and tracking in snow it now freezes up and I have to break it up. When it is warmer I don't have to because the chickens love to play in it.

 

[Opa]

Still a little cold this morning but the coming forecast is nothing to complain about. I think today will be a good day to work on cleaning the coop. With this cold chicken coop cleaning has been way down on my list of priorities but I can avoid it no longer.

It also is probably warm enough to start getting the birds separated and back into their summer confines. I've got to decide which birds birds I'll be keeping and which will be heading for freezer camp. It's always difficult to decide but a beautiful bird that is no longer productive is no better than a non production ugly one.

 

[Olive Hill]

It's not supposed to get much above freezing today, but I see we're looking at temps close to 70 next week. I'll take it!