Minnesota!

Here is this week's Facebook post in which I personally learned a ton about Australops! Did you know a BA holds the egg laying record with 364 eggs in a 365 day trial period? and that was quite a while ago with no supplemental winter light! not sure where that was in terms of day lengths, but wow!

Happy holidays from the flock at Whistling Dixie Farms! It is our pleasure to introduce Glenna May for this week's #MeetAChickenMonday! Glena May is a Black Australorp hen. Black Australorps sport deep black feathers that have a unique blue/green sheen in the light. Australorps originate from Australia in the early 1900s and are considered the honorary 'National Chicken Breed of Australia'. We enjoy having Glenna May and her Australorp brood mates on the farm because they are cute, friendly, and get along with their fellow flock mates. Glenna May lays the light tan eggs you find in your cartons of Whistling Dixie eggs. We hope you have enjoyed meeting Glenna May and seeing these fun pictures of her all fluffed up with her winter feathers!


 
Nice, Klop Klop!


I had a surprise today, after a couple of weeks of two dark brown eggs, and 1 or 2 bantam/silkie eggs, there was a blue egg in the nest! So one of the ee's is laying again.

Amos, aka Ralphie's roo, well - I do think he has some blistering going on with the frost bit comb, poor baby. I'm glad we are having some warmer temps, he is going to have to just tough this winter out. Always hate that first winter when the roo's lose their tips and part of the combs. so far the wattles look good. (keeping my fingers crossed).

Goldie chowed down on mealworms, and the mealworms are chowing down on the potatoes in the roaster. so far no beetles! She also ate kale....seems ok, didn't want to come out of the kennel cage though. She is doing a lot of preening. Very talkative!
 
ok, the meatballs I made for the party last night weren't worth repeating. They seemed kind of mushy.

I need to come up with a xmas eve dinner that can wait for my dd and sil and dgd - no telling when they will get in. any suggestions?
 
I have not had any problems with frost bite yet. My Black Australorp cross Bubba has huge comb and wattles and I was surprised to see he had not gotten frost bite yet. I am gonna look again tomorrow when I do the deed on our Christmas turkey.
 
ok, the meatballs I made for the party last night weren't worth repeating.  They seemed kind of mushy.  

I need to come up with a xmas eve dinner that can wait for my dd and sil and dgd - no telling when they will get in.  any suggestions?


A hot chicken soup. Add the noodles when they arrive.
 
@lala You can always do a pasta dish, they are better when reheated. How about roasting a chicken?
I am going to do a pork roast this time when the kids are here. We have such an ample supply in the freezer of a variety of proteins, it gets hard to decide what we should make sometimes.
Today I made some Cream of Broccoli soup and Ham and Potato soup that will both have a small portion in the frig and freeze the rest. I love cooking soup and the smell it sends through the house. My kids won't eat soup. What in the blazes is wrong with them? I haven't a clue. I have always loved soup, always! I pulled some bones out and gave 3 of the pieces to the dogs and kept the biggest one with a good amount of meat and a huge chunk of bone with lots of marrow to cook into stock. With the kids home and husband as well over the holidays, we will be cooking more and I need to keep a variety of stock on hand for when we do.

I was so POed today. I went over to turn the lights on on the grow stand, and discovered a freaking mouse, or mice have been into my plants. They chewed one of the succulents clean, parts of others and dug out the dirt in a few. They also got into my seeds, which is my own fault for not closing them inside the bin I usually keep them in. They prefer seeds like sunflowers and melons and gourds. The little (&(*^*&^(&*s. I hope their little necks get broken in the trap I put out. The good thing is that some of those seeds they did get were getting pretty old. Still makes me angry and they make such a shi**y mess everywhere.

It was such a nice day to get out and get some work done but I couldn't get out all day. I did get the Buckeyes cleaned out and they seem much happier for it. Now that they are on the supplemental lights again, I should see some eggs soon from them. I hope. I get a few each day from a few of the other hens, which is nice to see again. I am impressed with how big some are laying too!

The boys in the bachelor pad were scrapping a little again today. Both the Cornish cocks in that pen are scabbed on their heads. For their breed they aren't very aggressive, so I think they are getting picked on by some of the bullies. At least a couple will be moving over to breeding pens hopefully this week, so there won't be as big of a crowd in there to cause trouble with each other. I am going to have to put wire on the inside for sure on the south "wall" of the hoop, either the cats are clawing the plastic or the birds are pecking at it and there will be holes if I don't do something. It shouldn't be a big deal, the hard part was getting the plastic attached in the wind.

I discovered today that chick feed is a clumping compound if used for cat litter. No, I didn't waste it like that, but my cats, who I let stay in the brooder house last night as a reprieve, used the chick feed for a litter box because I forgot to put the cover on it. I don't think I will be letting them stay in there again after seeing the mess they made. I need to just make them a cozy spot to snuggle into in the big chicken house to stay warm. it is on the list.

I am sure everyone will be extra busy this week. Stay safe, don't rush too much and forget to enjoy yourselves. I will pop in when I can, but if I don't catch you...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
 
What kind of meatballs??
lol, it was a recipe online for someone's family favorite. the sauce was fine, the meatballs (ground beef, saltines, garlic, egg, milk, onion) were just mushy. But you only baked them for 5 minutes til barely browned in a hot oven, and then crockpotted them.

Pasta is a good idea, Minniechickmama.

Scandiafowl, love chicken noodle soup, but....doesn't seem very festive for a xmas eve dinner!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom