NY chicken lover!!!!

[marquisella]

Quote: Thats basically what I did.Used the measurment of strawberries before I mashed them. But then, the recipe said to use 4 cups of mashed berries, and I had 5 cups if I included the juice. Oh well. It tastes good, I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it "jells" or not....Yeah, solids rise to the top,,no way around that I guess, unless you use the small jars.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: Thats basically what I did.Used the measurment of strawberries before I mashed them. But then, the recipe said to use 4 cups of mashed berries, and I had 5 cups if I included the juice. Oh well. It tastes good, I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it "jells" or not....Yeah, solids rise to the top,,no way around that I guess, unless you use the small jars.
It might not be so bad, the jars I thought were 2 cups are just 1.5 cups. so recalculating, I'm over the 8 cups by 6oz. not 3 cups. so maybe it will be ok...I now know why I like freezing....

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Horsekeeper--thank you so much for posting that link! My jam came out like syrup as well and now I know how I can fix it. Been a while since I made jam as well. Hopefully when I make blackberry jam I will have learned better.

The teeny tiny silkies are doing well. Came home to find them eating and drinking and the noisy one is less noisy. Dh put the older silkie chicks out today and they are having a ball. Everyone came to greet me as I drove in. Always nice to be needed!

Rancher--as a historian I am always interested in old papers and magazines. Cant wait to hear what is in those papers!

Time to put everyone to bed. Ta for now.

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

After a lot of thinking I have decided that I am going to concentrate on my Magpie ducks so I have a trio of Blue Runners that I am going to sell. Thought that I would offer them up here first before posting them else where. I really would prefer that they go together, but will think about splitting them if I have too. The drake is about 2yrs and the 2 girls are 19 weeks. I also have one to many Magpie drakes. I have one that I would like to sell, but not in a big hurry for him to go. I may wait till spring to sell him, but if any one is interested in him I will sell him sooner. If you are interested let me know. I am going to get some better pic tomorrow. The ones that I took turned out to dark.


Did get a decent pic of Peepers and her 2 little ones. Little Chipmunk (left) is getting very pretty IMO, but I'm thinking that it might be a little roo. It's comb and waddles are already getting bigger then Squirrel's. (right).

A better pic of Chipmunk!


Rosita's babies are doing good too. They are a week younger then the others..

Tuesday (brown) and Pudgy (blue).

 

[Lynzi777]

Wow! Those chicks are growing fast. Then again, they always grow faster when they're not yours.

Are the two mamas raising the babies in another area separate from the others?

 

[LuvMyChicks1491]

Wow! Those chicks are growing fast. Then again, they always grow faster when they're not yours.

Are the two mamas raising the babies in another area separate from the others?

I put them in their own little sections in the main run. (the ones with the plastic tall fence where I had the grass seed area and the silkies) They are seperate from each other and the rest of the flock for now. They started off in the same area, but that wasn't going to work. Peepers got a hold of Pudgy and pulled some skin off of her neck and back. I thought that I might lose her when I saw what had happened. So I split them up. I think that this week I'm going to let them out for some free time. I just have to make sure that I have the cat locked in the house. He doesn't bother the big kids, but he will sit on the rock wall next to the fence just watching them.

 

[rancher hicks]

OK, so I need help..not with chickens but with making strawberry jam.

I haven't made jam in 30 years so decided to give it a try.

I used the recipe that came with the certo pouch. It said " 4 pints strawberries, 1 pouch, 7 cups of sugar".

Ok, so I measured out exactly 4 pints of strawberries & mashed them up like they said to, but....then it said use 4 cups mashed strawberries. So whats the problem you ask?

Well, if I kept the juice, it made almost 5 cups of mashed strawberries. No where did it say to strain the berries, or keep the juice. And who would want to get rid of all that nice juice?

So I went ahead & used it all, and I think it will not thicken properly....I made strawberry syrup instead.

Tomorrow, I have 3 more quarts of berries to do.

Should I strain out the juice & just use the 4 cups of mashed berries? Somebody please ?

Or, after I made it, I looked on you tube & there was someone making "old fashion" jam without pectin. I could do that I suppose, but the cooking time is double. Any suggestions? I hate to lose all that beautiful strawberry juice...so maybe I should do the old fashion jam instead.

I find that the Certo liquid does not come out right for me. I prefer the powder. Did you check for "set"? The time you cook the jam varies so you can't go by the times they give. The time can vary depending on sea level elevation. Just like with cake baking.

The amount of berries you need can vary as well. That's why the four "pints" came out to more than the four "cups". They can only guess at how far four pints will go. Some recipes call for pounds of berries.

I would not strain out the juice but keep adding and mashing berries til you get the four cups and eat the left over berries.

I also would not mash all the berries if you want chunky jam like I do. I would simply mash them lightly leaving some nealy whole.

I have other recipes if you'd like them. All for strawberry jam but made differently .

 

[Tough Old Bird]

Luv those chick pics, LuvMyChicks! They are just so cute as to be off the chart! Peepers is very pretty. And I agree, the one you're calling Chipmunk has such lovely markings.

Marq - hope your jam sets up overnight. If not, it'll still taste great, I'm sure. Mmmm. Homemade jam...

My Molly is still wicked broody. I kept her locked out of the nest boxes all day, but when I opened up the coop to her again this evening, she went right into one. I have to go out after dark and put her back on the roost. It's the only way she'll stay. This battle is getting tiresome. Ursa broke so much quicker.

Is it normal for a broody to stop laying eggs? Molly hasn't laid an egg in at least a week.


Thanks everyone and have a great weekend. Heat's on the way, I hear, right thru Wednesday. Ugh....


TOB

PS: My older dog is NOT appreciating the firework's kabooms this evening!

 

[rancher hicks]

Luv those chick pics, LuvMyChicks! They are just so cute as to be off the chart! Peepers is very pretty. And I agree, the one you're calling Chipmunk has such lovely markings.

Marq - hope your jam sets up overnight. If not, it'll still taste great, I'm sure. Mmmm. Homemade jam...

My Molly is still wicked broody. I kept her locked out of the nest boxes all day, but when I opened up the coop to her again this evening, she went right into one. I have to go out after dark and put her back on the roost. It's the only way she'll stay. This battle is getting tiresome. Ursa broke so much quicker.

Is it normal for a broody to stop laying eggs? Molly hasn't laid an egg in at least a week.


Thanks everyone and have a great weekend. Heat's on the way, I hear, right thru Wednesday. Ugh....


TOB

PS: My older dog is NOT appreciating the firework's kabooms this evening!

Yes it's normal for a broody to stop laying, which is why it's been bred out of commercial breeds.

Both the hens I had lost their chicks. I don't know why but I suspect the other birds were not good having chicks in the coop. My dels have no problem even the roosters. The marans acts like she still has chicks and comes at me pretty fierce. The EE is no back in the nest box brooding nothing. I don't know what to do. I've no place to separate her out and even if she hatched I'd need a place to put her. I do have the broody coop with the blue EE and her 6 chicks. I might be able to put her there if she hatches again.

The other two Marans hens may be done since one of them is laying again. I guess I could move the chicks they have and put them back in the coop, then move the EE into the pool to brood.

I have mentioned the "Farm and Home " newspapers I found in Hooches today? Lots of cool information.

 

[Cass]

OK, so I need help..not with chickens but with making strawberry jam.

I haven't made jam in 30 years so decided to give it a try.

I used the recipe that came with the certo pouch. It said " 4 pints strawberries, 1 pouch, 7 cups of sugar".

Ok, so I measured out exactly 4 pints of strawberries & mashed them up like they said to, but....then it said use 4 cups mashed strawberries. So whats the problem you ask?

Well, if I kept the juice, it made almost 5 cups of mashed strawberries. No where did it say to strain the berries, or keep the juice. And who would want to get rid of all that nice juice?

So I went ahead & used it all, and I think it will not thicken properly....I made strawberry syrup instead.

Tomorrow, I have 3 more quarts of berries to do.

Should I strain out the juice & just use the 4 cups of mashed berries? Somebody please ?

Or, after I made it, I looked on you tube & there was someone making "old fashion" jam without pectin. I could do that I suppose, but the cooking time is double. Any suggestions? I hate to lose all that beautiful strawberry juice...so maybe I should do the old fashion jam instead.

Or just add more pectin so it jells