***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[mjgigax]

UGH I am going to be insane, I talked to a nice gentleman at a local auction 3 weeks ago. He swore he raised RIR and Barred Rock and he had 4 dozen hatching eggs of each. Soooo we bid on them, got them cheap enough so got 2 dozen of each. He just went on and on how his birds are all kept seperate and he marks the eggs as he pulls them from the pens, yada, yada, yada. Well 3 weeks later my hatch has started. I had no choice but to open the hatcher this morning this little guy was running loose in the bottom. Guess he somehow got out of the tray he hatched in. So opened it quickly and the only egg hatched is a RIR. Well I am no expert but I am going out on a limb here and saying this isn't no RIR, he is blue and has feather legs and feathers on 2 toes on each foot. He is cute and I have no idea what he is (taking guesses if anyone knows) but he isn't the RIR I thought I was going to get. I sure hope this one is a fluke and I get my RIR and BR or I will be giving up till fall.

I think Jack got some of the same eggs a few hatches ago, labeled Buff Orps. and RIR and Barred Rocks but few looked like the said breeds. He gave me one of the Blue chicks to raise and it looks like a Marans/Ameraucana cross with it's developing pea comb- Olive Egger? I am watching it grow and if it is a pullet I may keep it for colored eggs.

 

[mjgigax]

Oh wow our sand plums are just now getting ripe enought to pick, we hope to make that a project for Friday! I never thought about canning the juice to make jelly later I usually stress over getting it made before we go to the fireworks stand. I can't wait to see if our dewberries are ready to pick yet.

What are dewberries? Berries are Nirvana to me.

 

[Oakieridge]

What are dewberries? Berries are Nirvana to me.

Dewberries look like blackberries and taste just like them to me. They are ripe a bit earlier than blackberries. Only reason I knew what we have growing by our garden is dewberries is because the people we bought our home from told us that is what they planted. We also had black raspberries but they died in the drought last summer even with me watering like crazy. I pick and freeze them and then after fireworks we make a ton of blackberry jam and jelly.

 

[Oakieridge]

You can make the juice and freeze it too. It just has to be used quicker. Canning the juice means not only not having to make all that jelly at one time, but also means the jelly is fresher. We can't go thru that much jelly in a year. So stretching out the timebetween batches means nicer jelly. And you can make the jelly in the winter when heating up the kitchen isn't so bad.
Cute cochin chick

Hmmm I might freeze ours then, with 6 kids we go through LOTS of PBJ around here, lol. We are completely out of the sand plum jelly we put up 2 years ago. I have strawberries in the freezer I got on sale I need to put up in jelly as well. I guess I know what I am doing when July 4th is over. I would love to make some jelly in the winter though so maybe we will try to can some of the juice. Do you need a pressure cooker to do that or can you do the hot water bath? Hubby will be assembling my wood cook stove in our classroom this fall. It will mainly be for heat in that room but I told him I am not opposed to learning to cook on it at times in the winter. Now no way in the summer, lol.

Oh and do you think this little chick will stay blue? I am guessing full size cochin since he is regular size chick. I am going to have to try to make it to the Harrah auction to talk to the man I got them from. He seems nice enough but maybe I could just buy chicks from him next time, lol.

 

[Tony O]

UGH I am going to be insane, I talked to a nice gentleman at a local auction 3 weeks ago. He swore he raised RIR and Barred Rock and he had 4 dozen hatching eggs of each. Soooo we bid on them, got them cheap enough so got 2 dozen of each. He just went on and on how his birds are all kept seperate and he marks the eggs as he pulls them from the pens, yada, yada, yada. Well 3 weeks later my hatch has started. I had no choice but to open the hatcher this morning this little guy was running loose in the bottom. Guess he somehow got out of the tray he hatched in. So opened it quickly and the only egg hatched is a RIR. Well I am no expert but I am going out on a limb here and saying this isn't no RIR, he is blue and has feather legs and feathers on 2 toes on each foot. He is cute and I have no idea what he is (taking guesses if anyone knows) but he isn't the RIR I thought I was going to get. I sure hope this one is a fluke and I get my RIR and BR or I will be giving up till fall.

I'm thinking "Blue Cochin Rose Comb".

I'd trade that for a RIR anytime.

 

[MacGuyver]

Going back to read posts with coffee but wanted to post my brag:
Yesterday morning Roger and I went to our 160 in Prague and picked sand plums again. This time we also went to the west side where we hadn't picked last time.
This is today's juice and there are 2.5 gallons of plums laying in trays to finish ripening to make more juice. But what was interesting is a mutant sport plum...it was actually a nice bright yellow plum that when ripe had just a hint of gold. Made a pretty colored juice and this thicket was so clean (no worms or bugs) that I was able to run them thru the ricer for a jel-jam. They had a slightly different flavor than the usual red sand plum. When plums are ripe, we pick and make juice so I can make jelly over several years. This is a good year for plums. I still have 5 quarts from 3 years ago to make up first.

Oh those are so pretty!

 

[Oakieridge]

I'm thinking "Blue Cochin Rose Comb".

I'd trade that for a RIR anytime.

LOL well I have wanted some full size cochins but it didn't fit in our breeding plans this next year. But it looks like I might have to wait until hubby's next trip out of town and build a hoop house for LF Cochins now, haha. Guess I will find out when I get home and see what hatches while I am at work.

 

[MacGuyver]

UGH I am going to be insane, I talked to a nice gentleman at a local auction 3 weeks ago. He swore he raised RIR and Barred Rock and he had 4 dozen hatching eggs of each. Soooo we bid on them, got them cheap enough so got 2 dozen of each. He just went on and on how his birds are all kept seperate and he marks the eggs as he pulls them from the pens, yada, yada, yada. Well 3 weeks later my hatch has started. I had no choice but to open the hatcher this morning this little guy was running loose in the bottom. Guess he somehow got out of the tray he hatched in. So opened it quickly and the only egg hatched is a RIR. Well I am no expert but I am going out on a limb here and saying this isn't no RIR, he is blue and has feather legs and feathers on 2 toes on each foot. He is cute and I have no idea what he is (taking guesses if anyone knows) but he isn't the RIR I thought I was going to get. I sure hope this one is a fluke and I get my RIR and BR or I will be giving up till fall.

Whatever he is, he sure is cute. If it turns out to be a blue frizzle cochin and you don't want it. . . I can, um, probably find a place for it.

 

[MacGuyver]

ok, the tape is off, he was getting some sore spots, but... he is walking a litte easy on that leg, but the hip and elbow are staying where they should!!

Hurrah! My guinea did the same thing. Walked around gingerly for a couple days after I took off the tape, and then BOOM! off and running.

 

[MacGuyver]

I'm thinking "Blue Cochin Rose Comb".

I'd trade that for a RIR anytime.

Heh! Everybody's just lining up to drool over that chickie doo.