Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Phew, been a long week! I caught a stomach bug of some sort and I've been down for the count for three days now. Still feeling a touch icky today, but I'm hoping it passes by tomorrow because it's supposed to be warm and sunny, perfect for getting some netting hung and some birds rearranged.

I pulled the mint soap from the molds, but haven't cut it yet. The 'peaks' of the top pattern formed soda ash in a couple spots, whoops, but that's harmless other than looking a little ugly. All that means is that some of the lye reacted with the air instead of saponifying. Spraying 99% rubbing alcohol over it is supposed to prevent that, but I guess I didn't get the tops thoroughly enough with it. Oh, well!

I've been eyeballing a fancy wire soap cutter for a few days now and thinking hard about buying it... It certainly wouldn't be here in time to cut the mint soap (they're custom made to order, apparently, so it wouldn't arrive until close to the end of the month), but it sure would be fun to have for later batches. But it's pretty expensive, so so far I've only thought about buying it and nothing further. I am getting tons of eggs lately, though, so that means plenty to make soap with!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Glad you're feeling better.
I got a new puppy. I'm beat. I'd love to take advantage of warm weather, but I think a nap is in order!
I'm getting 3 eggs from 6 chickens.
Do you have to cut the soap within a certain time period?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Aw, congrats on the new puppy! Any pictures?


I'm getting anywhere from 6 to 15 eggs a day from (brief struggle to come up with the actual number...) 40 hens and 10 pullets. So I'm getting a lot of eggs, but a lot fewer that you relative to the number of birds!


I don't think there's a time limit on cutting soap. It remains relatively soft all its life so you could probably cut it as long after making it as you want, especially if you're using a knife or bench scraper. You do need to wait for it to solidify to an extent, though, and at least in my experience the amount of time between making and cutting really depends on what you're cutting it with. Wire cutters make cleaner cuts so you can probably go a little sooner than with a knife or bench scraper. With those, the soap sort of sticks to the blade as you're cutting if you cut too soon and then looks really sloppy when you pull it off.

The appearance doesn't really matter, of course, if you're only making soap for your own use, and it still should be usable even if the edge is sloppy!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

This is her with her big sisters. She's a mini aussiedoodle.

 

[Silkie Princess]

This is her with her big sisters. She's a mini aussiedoodle.
View attachment 3014430

Aaaa I think I died of cuteness!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

She's so small next to them! They're also looking pretty expectant, there, almost like there was a treat involved in this picture!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

She's so small next to them! They're also looking pretty expectant, there, almost like there was a treat involved in this picture!

cheese! She's a fast learner!
They called her Dixie and we haven't thought of a better name, so that's what we've been calling her.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, she definitely seems like a smart one! Dixie's a cute name!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Just wondering, but can a hen be broody if she's not mean? I have one that every evening she's in the nest box on eggs. She hasn't been roosting in weeks. She's fine otherwise. My nest box has two sections as it's a cupboard turned sideways. So, she can choose to go in one nest without eggs, but she prefers the one where they lay.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Whoops, sorry, it's harp day so I've been busy! The short answer to your question is yes, they can be broody and not aggressive toward you. I think it depends on your bird and her temperament, but it's really hard to be certain because there are a lot of reasons that a hen might be in the nest while not broody. Rowena, one of my silkied Red Cochin bantam girls, always tries to sleep in a nest box, for example, because she's a lazy butt and doesn't want to fly up to the roosts. Generally, she's perched on the edge of the nest or on the roost right outside of the nests rather than in a nest, though. A minor leg injury might cause the same effect, or if there's been a shift in the pecking order and someone has decided they don't want her on their roost for whatever reason.

If a hen is broody, she'll be down in the nest and on the eggs if there are any. Even if she's not growling or anything when you're near, she still might look like she's in a daze or staring into space rather than looking at you. She might clamp down slightly as you approach and lower her head a little to protect her eggs or fluff up her feathers a bit, even if she never pecks or growls at you. I've had birds who were broody that I pulled from the nest and put on the roost, and they then tried to pull my hands under their wings to brood.

A good sign that they might be a more mild broody (as long as you're sure she's not sick) is if you pull them from the nest and put them on the ground, and they just sit there for a few minutes, still dazed. That obviously is only the case if it's light out, as they tend to plant regardless of broody status when it's dark. After a few minutes, if she's broody, she should start to make a soft, low, repetitive cluck as she either walks away or attempts to get back to the nest. Or, you could hold another bird up to her nest of choice while she's in there and see if she shrieks at them instead. Some of my girls would never growl at me, but they can sure make some wicked dinosaur sounds if another hen gives their chosen nest a sideways glance!

Anyway, long story short, it is a possibility! Based on the timing (it being weeks with no definitive signs of broodiness), I'd say there's also a chance that she's not broody and something else is causing her to have changed her sleeping habits, but not seeing the bird for myself it's hard for me to gauge.