NY chicken lover!!!!

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
Where do you live itsy?

 

[featherz]

I've made kefir and yogurt from reconstituted dry milk, so you don't have to have raw to make it work. This is back when I had decent water - I don't trust my well water (sulphur/methane) so now I have to use liquid milk or just laze out and buy the ready-made stuff.

 

[vmdanielsen]

Quote:
Kefir is fantastic. I make 'yogurt/sour cream' with it and also soft cheese. I never buy cream cheese, yogurt or sour cream anymore. I substitute it into my cooking and it's much healthier too!
If anyone around here needs starter grains for water or milk kefir, let me know. The water kefir isn't as healthy as it needs sugar to grow on, but it does make for fantastic home made sparkling grape juice.

i have heard of water kefir but never made it. If I had enough honey, I would love to try mead.....maybe someday......

I make a red velvet cake with the kefir. It is the absolute best!!!!!!(not very red however because I use beets and no red dye)

 

[greymane]

Beautiful eggs, Meep!

 

[Nambroth]

I don't use raw milk-- I can't find anyone that will sell it to me (if anyone knows where one can get raw milk in WNY let me know). You can grow kefir in pasteurized milk just fine. Raw has its own set of benefits, of course, but if you can't get it (I can't) it's okay.

 

[itsy]

Quote:
Where do you live itsy?

Sullivan County.

 

[Henicillin]

I have a story that belongs squarely in the "you aren't going to BELIEVE this!" files. As of this afternoon, I have two White Leghorns. How did this come about? Well, let me tell you!

I checked my cell late this morning, and found that my husband had left me a voice mail. When I listened to the VM, I heard something about chickens. Naturally, I freaked out - WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CHICKENS?!? I called him back, and he told me one of the most random stories I've heard in ages. The auto body shop he works for had a parts delivery this morning. When the driver went into the back of his truck to get their parts, he let out a bloodcurdling shriek. The guys ran out of the shop just in time to see a hysterically squawking chicken burst out of the open truck door and proceed to run in circles in the parking lot while shrieking its head off. The driver followed it out with an egg in his hand. They managed to corral the poor chicken and put it into a handy cardboard box, and then tried to figure out how on Earth a chicken ended up in a parts delivery truck.

Well, it turns out that his previous delivery early in the morning was to a rural shop located on a farm, where the owner keeps a flock of free-ranging chickens. He had left the door to the back of the truck open while he brought their parts in. Either the chicken hopped in looking for a nice, dark place to lay her egg or some idiot caught her and put her in there for a bad prank (knowing how chickens roll, though, I suspect the former). Nobody detected her, so she went for a 50-mile ride, only to scare the pants off of the driver at Alan's shop.

Now, the driver had no intention of driving a hundred-mile round-trip to bring her back, and seemed to be inclined to dump her somewhere (GRRRR!!!). The guys refused to let that happen, so they had to figure out what to do with the poor girl. There are no other chicken-keepers at the shop... they know we keep chickens... everybody turned and looked at Alan. Thus, the voice mail that led to the conversation we were having.

As I wasn't exactly expecting to receive a Leghorn special delivery on an auto body parts truck, I don't have a quarantine pen set up in the garage, or indeed any ROOM for one at the moment thanks to everything from a project Mustang to a generator, a lawn tractor, a lawnmower, a snowblower, and various other detritus. I didn't want anything to happen to her, though, and he said that she looked good and put up a devil of a fight when they caught her, so I had him bring her to the house and shut her in the storage side of the coop/shed with food or water until I could get home and evaluate her. We found her roosting in the rafters, so he had to go up the 8-foot ladder (handily stored in that side of the coop) and get her down. She certainly seems to be in good shape - bright, clear eyes, no discharge, normal respirations, no parasites, good body condition, clean and healthy comb and wattles, and behaving normally (she tried to peck me at first as I examined her, and then just sort of settled against me when she realized I wasn't going to harm her). She also has a good appetite, and ate all the feed I offered her. She is currently isolated in my handy-dandy portable dog exercise pen in that side of the coop (covered to prevent flying out), which may be too close for true quarantine, but will have to do. Stupid? Possibly, possibly not - we shall find out.

I've read several posts on BYC about people finding chickens in their yards or at the side of the road. I'll bet there aren't too many truck chickens, though...

 

[happycountryhens]

Wow, great story. Hope you do well with her.

The image of the tough parts guy screaming about a chicken tho.....

 

[itsy]

What a crazy story!!!!!

I kind of feel bad, though. What if that farmer really loves that leghorn and now it's gone?

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

I've heard of chickens crossing the road but never taking a road trip!

I wonder if she just wanted to "spread her wings!"

Sorry, couldnt resist! Nice early christmas gift.