Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Chaneys Ranch]

I'll work til dirt dies... or I do... I think

at this point, even if someone gets hired tomorrow, they won't start til the new year, as they have to complete "rural carrier academy" and "safety school" before they can start.

PB fudge is so good all by itself, but it's the first step in lots of great candies, like buckeyes... melt and temper some chocolate in a double boiler, and take those chilled PB balls and dip them in the chocolate, refrigerate again, til it hardens... or make caramel to dip them into... caramel is also way too super easy to make and so much tastier than the stuff in jars at the market...

1 cup sugar, melted, stirring vigorously ~ if you like it more dark, and stronger flavored, use brown sugar!
4 tbs butter, add when the last sugar crystals melt, use a deep pot, as it boils instantly with the butter and rises quickly in the pan, if you find it scorches the sugar, either use a heavier bottomed pot, or play with the temperature of the burner/height of the flame...
to make candy, that's it... once the butter is melted, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit before pouring it to a sheet pan to cool and cut.
to make sauce; as soon as the butter is melted, remove from heat, count to 3 and slowly add 1/2 cup of cream, half and half or milk... whatever you have on hand, or bc you prefer creamier or chewier... allow to cool for a few minutes, pour into a glass jar, keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks. drizzled on cakes or over ice cream is heavenly!

OOOhhh buckeyes! its that time of year! your recipe is easier i am going to try it. We have been doing them with the girls every christmas since we got married. i like the caramel recipe too

ugh i feel my hips getting wider already, LOL

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Well... had an interesting discovery...Red ran over to see why i was frantically digging at Betsy's feathers! Big G is behing him, demanding to know why she was griping so loudly! Guys i have an update, kinda suprised me. My chickens are only about 7 months old. I thought they didn't molt the first year? My best layer looked odd yesterday. I picked her up and heres what i saw....This is molting right? Her feathers are falling out of her neck! I was terrified, mites? OH MY GOSH, whats wrong with my babies?






Red also has "fuzzies" coming off of him....so another piece of the mystery puzzle of NON egg laying chickens!!! (Can you guess, i got my camera battery finally!!)

I have a SLW pullet that has also lost neck feathers. Looks very much like your girl's neck, and I just assumed it was a partial molt. If you are really concerned about mites/lice, check her vent area as that seems to be a vulnerable spot and it's easier to see the skin. Red and swollen skin around the vent is not a good sign. I've heard advice that it's best to check them at night, as some mites are only active then. Luckily, I've never had to deal with this.

The rooster's head almost looks like someone is picking on him, but it's hard to tell. Is he your subordinate roo?

Glad you got a camera battery. Love seeing pics!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

No, I don't believe its mites. I think you have a clumsy rooster. His beak is clipping the feathers on her neck, and toe nails are ruffing the back. They look very healthy otherwise. How many hens and roos do you have?

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

I have a SLW pullet that has also lost neck feathers. Looks very much like your girl's neck, and I just assumed it was a partial molt. If you are really concerned about mites/lice, check her vent area as that seems to be a vulnerable spot and it's easier to see the skin. Red and swollen skin around the vent is not a good sign. I've heard advice that it's best to check them at night, as some mites are only active then. Luckily, I've never had to deal with this.

The rooster's head almost looks like someone is picking on him, but it's hard to tell. Is he your subordinate roo?

Glad you got a camera battery. Love seeing pics!

Thanks... no just paranoid, these are my first layers. I brought Betsy and Red under a real bright light tonight, checked all over.. they look squeaky clean. Looked at all the other girls. Except for the BR and EE ( they came from a different farm) they're all molting, all 4 of my wyandottes, UGH. The close up head shot was the hen Betsy, but Reds got a weird comb. I don't think he is fully developed yet. His spurs are only knubs right now. If anyone is pecking him it has to be Spike, she is a total b***h. He is the alfa, except for the gander.. but they are buddies and don't quarrel. I have 2 guinea Roos but they won't cross anywhere near Red. They bully his little pearl guinea Quasey, and he tromps on them if they even look her way now. He is totally lovestruck over her

oh and one drake, but he is in his own little world with 3 ducks/hens.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

yes... sadly it will, my relief carrier transferred to another office a couple of months ago, and he's still not replaced. I'm tootin' my own horn here, but I am the best... I'm in very high demand as i know more than 80% of the routes in Schoharie County, as well as a few routes in Albany County, Schenectedy County, Greene County... I know Columbia and Rensselaer counties well too... I have keys, literally, to 14 different post offices, and key codes to 3 others. I can do a lot in a short period of time, and do it well and safely... and I'm willing to travel. gotta learn to say "no" once in a while tho'... I hate not getting to spend time with the gang. and with chicks coming in the first week of December... I'll manage. somehow.
it was so nice out today, and mild, in the 50's... my poor gang was stuck inside the enclosure all day (with a rotting log to peck and scratch at, a pumpkin split in 2, and a nice new pile of leaves to spread about)
peanut butter fudge is really super easy to make: Peanut Butter, and Confectioners Sugar (powdered sugar) at least 1:1, I like it a little drier, so I use 1/2 cup of PB, 3/4 cup CS, mix it together, and roll into balls, refridgerate! Voila!

Well, keeping busy is good, but I hope you get to spend time with your little EE's. (And share lots of pics.) Best thing is you will know immediately when they arrive. I heard a few sad stories this summer about chicks that didn't make it through the shipping here in Nor Cal. Combination of high temps and some uncaring postal workers. I'm glad your coworkers enjoyed Nub Tooth, but honestly, the thought really creeps me out. (I just shivered!) There is reason I never watch horror movies.

The recipes sound yummy, but I will have to fight my eldest for the peanut butter. He is a fiend for it. Never heard of buckeyes, maybe a "back east" recipe, but can't think of much of anything that isn't improved by dipping in chocolate!

It's late your time, and hopefully you are getting much needed rest, so now that it's Wed for you I can officially wish you a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Hope you have a wonderful day and here's wishing you happy chickens and at least some blue eggs!

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

No, I don't believe its mites. I think you have a clumsy rooster. His beak is clipping the feathers on her neck, and toe nails are ruffing the back. They look very healthy otherwise. How many hens and roos do you have?

Hehe yes Red is a huge clutz and just learning, and Betsy is the favorite.. she is constantly squatting in fornt of him. 1 roo, 5 hens. all are 7 months. Her back looks fine, but she is dropping feathers everywhere, the inside of the coop looks like a chicken exploded

i noticed Spike. and Grace has the same neck thing going on. So its just the wyandottes.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Quote: X2

 

[okallthis4eggs]

Happy Birthday Cheeka.......

 

[cheeka]

thanks for the awesome b-day wishes! my phone started ringing before 6 am, which is unusual... my first thought was... oh no... what office is calling begging for help today... I'm gonna say "NO"! but it was my Dad... my folks live in Denver, so it wasn't even 4 am yet... he get up really early, reads or plays on his computer for a couple of hours, then goes back to bed around 6, then gets up at 7:30ish with my Mom... he's almost 81, bless him.

it's supposed to be a beautiful day, mid 50's, sunny, dry.... I know I have to do some chores, like laundry... but the plan is to spend the entire afternoon outside with all the feathered and furry, playing "catch me" with the dog (she doesn't fetch) There is nothing funnier than when she gets so pumped up that she runs with her hiney tucked! I'm gonna blow through seeds and treats for everyone today, the birds forage so well, but the grass can't be very nutritious at this time of year, and there are hardly any bugs... they do dig deep and find what they can, and suck up earthworms like "sketti" I'm gonna pepper the yard with goodies for them to find, and keep little bits of cookie in my pocket for Ruby, and kitty treats in the other pocket for my babes... I was reading on another thread about "bad" dogs... IMO, there is no such thing (at the start) as a "bad" dog, just BAD Owners. I had to laugh at the comments about fat, spoiled, small dogs who bark incessantly... not mine! she's fit, funny, wiggly, smart, well behaved... all my animals are (okay... they are all a bit spoiled...). they all run around this earth with their tails held high! we are quite the scene in the yard for folks who drive by. Happy, beautiful, healthy chickens, foraging and flapping, cats that hang with them, mewing happily and rubbing their scent on whatever will hold still long enough, and the Pug... the sweet little hunny bunny... they are a perfect reflection of me... I may be overworked and tired, but essentially, I am happy folk. and I love them. love them all. they know it and they show it!
rambling again... I do that a lot these days...

...

I'm so psyched for the coming of the chickies! I certainly have increased my odds of a blue egg layer by getting 15... and while I thought I would cull out the "ordinary"... I probably won't. the extra 2 that I rehomed in early summer, feathered out as adults into the most lovely birds. and if I don't, I have enough hens for all the boys, and I don't have to start over again and again... I can still add Marans and other tinted or speckled egg layers... it's easy enough to expand. you gotta know... I'm gonna hijack my fav threads with pictures!!!! lots of pictures!!!

 

[animallover505]

Yeah, happy Birthday! I believe have one chicken that always lays double yolkers. She doesn't lay every day, but I get at least one a week now