Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[K Spot]

Hey Ben if you push the straw down her end and put news paper in the other half it ll save you a lot of work. They are generally in such a rush to eat that they poop and eat at the same time. And it STINKS.

Oh Lordy does it stink!!

 

[vehve]

Felix, the box rests on timber blocks so the water trap won't work, plus the ants had nested in a crack in the lid. We have not seen any live ants for two days now but we still keep an eye out. 15 seconds...surely if you leap the gap you get the ride for free?

The ant's seem to like confined, insulated warm spaces. Couple Summers ago we redid the cottage roof, took down some old bitumen roofing and laid it in a pile. Three weeks later when we started to clear away stuff, the whole pile had become a huge ant-farm. You could use bricks in water if they re-emerge instead of the timber.

Lifting the ramp, which also keeps the ferry in place takes about 10 seconds. By 15 seconds the ferry is already a good 5 meters from the dock. My Peugeot did not come with the James Bond amphibious package, so I prefer not to risk it. And as you can see in the picture below, the dock offers little lift to a jump. Luckily it's usually just a 20 min wait, and the ferry is free anyway.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Ah I see. I pictured being on foot, walking alongside a jetty!

I was away for work all day and Alicia was home doing some jobs. Sal was on the nest all day as far as Alicia could see. She left just before 3 to pick the kids up from school, I got home just after 3 to find Sal wandering the yard in a bit of a tiz. All fluffed up making what I can only imagine as panicking mum sounds. I tried to coax her back to the box, she ate, drank and then went back down to the chicken run fence. The eggs were cooling off.

I rushed inside to set up the styrofoam 'bator up. I was trying to remain calm, knowing Oz has had eggs cool off from power outages and they held on. I don't know why I didn't think more clearly earlier. I just opened the gate and let Sal go back in, she found an empty nest and got comfortable. So I transferred the eggs from the box back to where she was sitting. All seems well to her again.

So, long story short, the moe went fantastic until she got off the nest for her little excursion, back to square one for now. At least the eggs are back under her. I have left eh other incubator going as a back up.

Phew

 

[vehve]

Ben, you're going to go bald with all this worrying! Are you "keeping all of your eggs in one basket", or did you stuff some in an incubator as well?

 

[vehve]

It has gotten so quiet here again, that I am now going to hijack the thread with another installment of "Cooking and Carpentry with Felix".

Today I'm making "Makaronilaatikko", a traditional Finnish homecooked meal. Translated, the name of the meal is roughly "Macaroni casserole". Up until the 1950's, this was traditionally considered a festive food, and originally it did not contain meat. Nowadays it's meaty version is one of the most common foods that people cook, and it is usually served with ketchup. Because of our enormous milk-consumption, Finns use quite a lot of minced meat in their cooking, a spent cow does not a good steak make, so usually they're just ground.

Makaronilaatikko

400g minced meat (I like to use beef-pork mince, about a 60%-40% mix).
400g macaroni
1 large onion (my preference is red onions)
7 dl milk
2-3 eggs
salt, pepper and ground paprika to taste (traditionally white pepper, but I always prefer black pepper)
(100g Koskenlaskija cheese, a melted/cream cheese made mainly from stored emmental. This is my personal addition, not a part of the traditional recipe)

Cook the macaroni, fry the chopped onion and minced meat, and season to taste. Whisk the egg and milk together with a fork, and mix everything together in a casserole. If you add the cheese, you can reduce the amount of milk a bit. Cook at 175 deg C for about 45 minutes. Serve with ketchup. I usually make a double batch and freeze most of it in individual servings.

If you're a hippie, you can substitute the meat for soy. Some people make this with chicken too.


Ben, you need to post more updates of your hatching, otherwise I will keep sharing my recipes. BBQ sauce is next.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Looks pretty similar to our mac-n-beef except I drown the top with cheddar cheese with some bread crumbs and paprika. I love my cheese!

I don't have too much to report with Sal doing most of the work. I am still getting the temps to stabilise in the styro-bator. I just grabbed the Hovabator as it was easiest to get to, but it takes the longest to adjust. We went out to catch up with friends for dinner, home made pizza's at their place. Cam home and the Hovabator needed temps increased further, but Sal was still in her favourite nest covering all the eggs, will see how she goes during the day tomorrow. Hopefully the fake plastic decoy egg in another nest keeps the nasty barred Rock entertained.

 

[vehve]

My measure for adding cheese to dishes is "Too much cheese". That's usually the right amount.

How about throwing the rockers in the rooster box? Or do you have some separate coop?

 

[joannefiddler]

I've been radio silent for quit a bit with finishing and recovering from tax season...but just had to show you pic of my broody, Lee, given that it's broody time for you too! 21 days will be Wednesday, so I'm pretty excited. She has rejected two eggs...found them smooshed and at the edge of the cage as far as possible from the nest. She rearranged the hay and moved the eggs to suit her liking. Absolutely amazing what they accomplish without thumbs and only a beak lol. She eats very very little. ..will nibble a bit of scrambled or hard boiled egg and that's about it. She is a gold laced Cochin and has 6 eggs remaining. Grrr having trouble uploading pic. Will do from my comp...hopefully!

 

[Bens-Hens]

My measure for adding cheese to dishes is "Too much cheese". That's usually the right amount.

How about throwing the rockers in the rooster box? Or do you have some separate coop?

If those Rocks don't start to deliver us some eggs soon then they might end up in the other box, you know the REALLY cold one! We have been out for a race this morning, but not long home and completed my jobs down the run and all seemed well.

Our concern with Sal being in the main run is she keeps choosing an elevated nest, the chicks won't be able to move out of it or get back into it when the time comes. We were hoping to rooster box would protect her and also give a ground level condo but seems she would rather be with the flock. Might try a swifty on her again later, if not then we might move her to a floor level next.

I've been radio silent for quit a bit with finishing and recovering from tax season...but just had to show you pic of my broody, Lee, given that it's broody time for you too! 21 days will be Wednesday, so I'm pretty excited. She has rejected two eggs...found them smooshed and at the edge of the cage as far as possible from the nest. She rearranged the hay and moved the eggs to suit her liking. Absolutely amazing what they accomplish without thumbs and only a beak lol. She eats very very little. ..will nibble a bit of scrambled or hard boiled egg and that's about it. She is a gold laced Cochin and has 6 eggs remaining. Grrr having trouble uploading pic. Will do from my comp...hopefully!

Wow, thats great news Joanne. Not long to go until you have your own/her own little fluffy butts running around! Please drop back in when they do arrive.

 

[scottcaddy]

Quote:

Scott