Opa's place -Where an old rooster visits with friends

[Opa]

Laura, I don't envy your moving situation. I thought briefly about moving to southwest Missouri a few years ago but with the real estate collapse it just wouldn't have been a prudent thing to do. Also when I look at all of the things that I have managed to accumulate in the thirty plus years I've been in this house the prospect of packing everything up goes well beyond daunting.

I think the best solution as to disposition of all of my "treasures" is for me to do nothing, stay here until I die, and let David deal with it.

 

[NotAFarm]

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That's what kids are for........right?!

 

[Opa]

I've got Welsummer eggs from a breeder in New York. He has the same line as mine. We both are happy with our birds but thought that by swapping some eggs we could reinforce what we consider to be the good qualitiesw this particular line of Welsummers has. I wanted to put some eggs in the incubator and the rest split between two broody hens. I set up nest boxes, built a leanto to place the boxes under and fenced a separate area for them. Evidently they weren't very impressed with set up. One hen kept escaping so I placed her back with the rainbow flock. The second, a puffed up orpington I locked in the nest box. When I checked her this morning she was standing up and evidently must have stood all night as the eggs were cold. So now all the eggs are in the incubator and so much for my triple split hatching plan.
I do have a speckled sussex setting on some of my Welsummer eggs and I placed 9 Deleware eggs under a BLRW and she is staying on the nest and fights when you get near but she has eaten 3 of the eggs.

 

[vanalpaca]

Opa, I wish you luck on those eggs! Steve sounds like he has nice birds. I have an order in with him and we are now into a fall shipment. So we can compare notes since I have your chickies, too!

My broody and laying hens (4) are rehomed. Had someone that 'NEEDED' them and moved them out.

The new 'bator looks like the really good temp range is just on the middle shelf and all the hen eggs are there. Pullet eggs are on the top and bottom shelves. We will see what hatches.

Have 2 old metal trays 2x4 foot x 3 inches from my parrot breeding cages I left behind in California. I am going to build a wood sided brooder box with a screened bottom and use those trays under to help with cleanup.

My little chirper seems to have gotten the hang of things. Maybe he was just a little cooler in the bigger brooder box or lost in the crowd. Love having them upstairs with me but they will have to go back down to the big brooder.

These chickens grow so fast! By the time they are 5 days old, it's time to expand their allotted area.

Baby alpaca seems to be doing well also. Just don't like being able to sneak up on him from behind and CATCH him so easily. Samson is just a medium brown armful of fluffy.

On the Wellie chicks I got in, 3-4 didn't have much chipmunky definition at all and I banded them differently and marked the color down. Also wrote down other observations when banding, like dark v's, indefinite v's. Possible hen, etc.

That blonde roo that turned out to be Ideal hatchery to breeder to me eggs grew up to be RED and went at chickenstock.

I also got a hen from that same batch that is solid brown with no shafting or partridge color!! I did keep a roo/pullet that may be from the same batch as my avatar Cassidy. She's a sorry hen with that leg stuck out to the side, but she seems to be coloring in really well. She's in with the next batch of younger birds and the 2 pullets from my first Wellie hatch.

The roo/pullet is in isolation with the 2 bantam silkies leftover from Chickenstock. Will check their dog kennel today and examine their litter to see if anything is up with them. They appear in good shape. It's been 5 days.

Maybe I can get the pit greenhouse finished inside and throw all the growout chicks in there! It has a brick floor and I covered that with my vermicompost and put a bucket worth of wood ashes in one area for dusting. Need to haul out spare cages and extra doors to the house first. Don't want them covered in chicken doo!

Sounds like a busy day for me. Then there is always hand mowing to do since the rider is down and I don't know how to fix it! I had to water the garden yesterday and it needs weeding bad. Somehow completely missed out on the pea harvest!

Cheers all and have fun with the chickens it's a beautiful day.

 

[mamagardener]

Hello everyone hope all are doing well. Haven't been on very much lately...during the summer it just seems life gets so busy. I am now done with working at the school and am in the process of getting my home daycare license. Who would have thought there was so much work to it. It is all the work of having a small business, with all the work of making it kid safe and friendly. I am looking forward to getting going. My 2 year old really needs something like this because he is so busy and this will work wonders for him. He just gets into everything because he is so bored.
Looking for a name for my child care, any ideas?

Has anyone ever eaten pigeon eggs? I just dropped off some chicken eggs to a friend who raises pigeons. She gave me some pigeon eggs, and I was just wondering if anyone else had any experience with them, and how to cook and eat them.

 

[Opa]

MamaG, probably the best way to eat pigeon eggs would be hard boiled. Place eggs in pan, cover with water, add 1 tsp white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, bring to boil reduce to simmer for 3 minutes, drain, place in ice water to cool. Refrigerate 24 hours, eat seasoned with sea salt and pepper.

 

[mamagardener]

thanks Opa, do they taste close to chicken eggs, or do they taste gamey? Of course my family is not in a rush to try them, so I will have to be the guinea pig.

 

[Opa]

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The yolk to white ratio is higher than with chicken eggs and the yolk taste will be slightly stronger. Not to dissimilar from quail eggs. Tell your family that they are considered to be delicacy.

Hope has been babysitting her grandson who turned two in February. One method she has been using to wear him out is to let him play in the water. Rather than deal with a wet soggy diaper she has let him go nude. However, she has decided that there is too much risk of getting delicate parts sunburnt so she decided today to make him a bathing suit. She took a pair of my underwear and with little altering with the serger in short order she had created a baby sized swimsuit. Kind of a toss up as to which would look the funniest, a baby or an old man wearing a speedo.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Quote:
The yolk to white ratio is higher than with chicken eggs and the yolk taste will be slightly stronger. Not to dissimilar from quail eggs. Tell your family that they are considered to be delicacy.

Hope has been babysitting her grandson who turned two in February. One method she has been using to wear him out is to let him play in the water. Rather than deal with a wet soggy diaper she has let him go nude. However, she has decided that there is too much risk of getting delicate parts sunburnt so she decided today to make him a bathing suit. She took a pair of my underwear and with little altering with the serger in short order she had created a baby sized swimsuit. Kind of a toss up as to which would look the funniest, a baby or an old man wearing a speedo.

Now I have that picture stuck in my mind!

Opa, they make a water diaper....called water babies I think, they do not get soggy but they do the job of a regular diaper. You don't want to give your grandson a complex......no speedos!

 

[mamagardener]

We ended up scrambling them with some cheese to mask any difference in flavor from the children. It sure takes a lot of those little eggs to feed 3 children. The kids said it did not taste any different than chicken eggs, but that may have been the cheese. I did hard boil a few and we will try them tomorrow. Now the kids want to get pigeons, so after I do some research that's probably our next project after getting my daycare running.
I am getting so excited about being my own boss. We have a house in the backyard that my sister was renting from us. When my Mom passed she went to live in my Mom's house. We really didn't know what to do, because we need the money, but we really didn't want to rent to anyone and share the yard with strangers. Well, we decided to turn it into a daycare, that way I can stay home and not have to worry about what to do with my 2 year old while I am working. This is great, my sister in law is going to work with me...it just takes time to get licensed.
Harlan, I bet you will be so glad come November when you don't have to bundle up just to go outside. Sometimes I am so tempted to go down south and get rid of all this cold. I hope you get all settled real soon.
Still haven't come up with a name though.