Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

https://greenfirefarms.com/niederrheiner.html

Just thought I would share what I am currently drooling over!

They are beautiful. But as Ralphie said, "Watch the Fad chickens." People always come back to Heritage birds.

If I had known you were so good at cleaning a RV I could have give you a job cleaning mine . I promise we really did not have swine in there for a week .

Not bad by guy standards .

Jerry. I have a feeling that you have left your camper tidy! Janet no doubt gave strict instructions. (It's Janet right?)

The worst part is dragging out the vaccuum and then dragging it back in the house.

Not sure on the genetics of comb spurs . Never really remember having any . Taking a break as the zuke bread is in the oven .

Very domestic.... very domestic.
I think you and Ralphie need to teach man classes for women's work.

Jerry have you heard of creaming your cucumbers? My kids devour them. I'll set a bag of potato chips out next to the cukes and the cukes disappear before the chips do. delish.

I have not heard of Comb spurs.

MNChickMom: Congrats on the Benton Co. Fair win!
I'm off to read the SC Times article now...

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Good Morning Fellow Chickeners!

WOW - I survived! - That pretty much sums up my last week. Between my kids showing birds at the Benton County Fair, my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary Celebration and my regular job being at the fiscal year end.

We started the week off by getting the poultry barn ready for the fair, chaos at its finest as prior years it was done by the American Poultry Association, skip a year for Avian Flu and this year it was the responsibility of 4H families. Then was show time, daughter took home a blue ribbon with Ralphie's SS Cockerels in the Market pen. She did talk the judge into it. (That's my girl) Then she walks the birds from the show arena to their cages and I am confused because she came back saying, "Mom, I just did an interview with the St. Cloud Times, if you don't want me appear in the interview with Ralphie (her SS Cockerel) then you need to call this number."

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/l...county-fair-city-kids-guide-poultry/87958308/

Son showed a pair of Silver Laced Wyndottes and Daughter showed a pair of Buff Orps... unfortunately both sets were a little young and not in egg production yet so they earned red ribbons.

They did Showmanship and came in 3rd and 4th places so all in all I am a proud Mama.

We learned a ton of useful knowledge about breeding, showing and care for chickens. This was a great place to network for us first timers.

The Poultry Barn was only half full and really needed some more "exotic" birds. They were filled with broilers and production reds. Hopefully, we can stir some interest and get some more 4H'ers and Open Class birds.

I LOVED that video with those kiddos! Just LOVED it. I was going to ask Ralphie or you for photos of the SS roosters. But my goodness...how wonderful to see them on the video. Gorgeous Birds MNChickMom (& Ralphie).

The Video is worth the watch everybody!

 

[jerryse]

Jerry. I have a feeling that you have left your camper tidy! Janet no doubt gave strict instructions. (It's Janet right?)

The worst part is dragging out the vaccuum and then dragging it back in the house.
Very domestic.... very domestic.
I think you and Ralphie need to teach man classes for women's work.

Jerry have you heard of creaming your cucumbers? My kids devour them. I'll set a bag of potato chips out next to the cukes and the cukes disappear before the chips do. delish.

I have not heard of Comb spurs.

MNChickMom: Congrats on the Benton Co. Fair win!
I'm off to read the SC Times article now...

Yes it is Janet .My laundry is in the washer also . You guess very well on my cleaning . Janet did say before she left that the dishwasher was empty . Code for I better not find a messy kitchen when I get home . She is so thoughtful . I am beginning to think she has been training me since day one .

 

[jerryse]

BC you will have to share your creamy cucumber recipe . I looked online and way too many choices . We do cucumber , tomato , red onion , bell pepper and even summer squash in a Italian type dressing . Started with store bought then went to homemade and slowly tweaked to our taste . Less oil and such . Love it . I made 3 batches while at the lake . Lasts 2 days . I did just tomato and cucumber plus 1 batch with zuke in it . So we ate meat veggies plus a some peas , corn and brussel sprouts . Not bad fare for guys . Lunch meat sandwiches for lunch . Plus bacon and tomato sandwiches most days for breakfast . I will share the marinade recipe .

Janet's Marinade
1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar 1 TB salt
3/4 cup oregano
1 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp basil
add veggies and chill add more water if too strong . Sometimes tomatoes are watery sometimes not so much . You can keep adding veggies as it is used up . Until it gets weak . I usually use up the juice as I eat it . Some may like to dip the veggies with a slotted spoon leaving the juice behind .

 

[MinnesotaNice]

That's so stupid! If someone did that to me I would tell everyone not to buy from them!! I'm just going to sell my chicks as SRs

Hatcheries dig through their hatches to fulfill all their female orders first - then sell the rest as straight run. Well, so I've been told. I'm hardly a fan of that concept, but I suppose it keeps money in their pockets. I definitely agree nobody should ever sell an all male group of chicks as SR. That's just shady.

Well we managed to get the cow treated for hardware diseasethe other day but we must have been to late... She was laying dead in the corral this morning... Depressing...


R.I.P Daisy...

https://greenfirefarms.com/niederrheiner.html

Just thought I would share what I am currently drooling over!

Hey duck people, as I was cleaning my dogs kiddy pool I thought how cool it would be to have two cute little ducks swimming in it
Is there a breed of duck that I could get that I could keep for the summer and it would fly away in the fall?
For next year!

I suppose just your domestic mallard. If you feed them well and have them well socialized to humans, they'll stick around until late Fall.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

@jerryse this is from my German Grandma, Gertie. When Cukes are done in the garden...then Cabbage gets transitioned into the same recipe in the fall/winter. Which is an excellent side with Roast Beef, mashed potatoes and gravy By the way.

Peel and slice cucumbers fairly thin (just thicker than a nickel) Less seedy=better, of course. slice thin slivers of onion to taste (one medium to small onion per 3-4 cukes) Salt well. Let the Cucumbers wilt in their own juices to make a light brine. (about an hour) Then in a small bowl. Mix 3/4 pint of heavy whipping cream with a TBSP of white vinegar. Thicken up the cream by stirring it well. Pour the thickened cream over the cucumbers. Shake on some pepper to taste. Heavily if you're a good German.

This is Also delicious with Roast beef dinner. But also corn on the cob too and other garden goodies this time of year.

 

[MNChickMom]

You have stirred some interest in the Benton County Fair. Judy and I plan to show some next year. It was kind of sad to see the chicken barn so empty. I do think they could improve the lighting in there though..







I just checked the parent stock and the older offspring of the SS and found no comb spurs. I took a pocketful of leg bands with me planning to give anyone a comb spur a leg band good for admission to the camp bus. I did not use one. I only have 6 siblings old enough to check and the 3 parents. I will be checking the rest when I move them.



Jerry, is it possible for my rooster and at least one hen to have a recessive gene for the comb spur while not showing the trait themselves? They are such good looking birds, I was devastated to hear about the comb spurs. How young can I see a spur on a chick?

My daughter showed the 2 SS in question for both 4H and open class. She was Disqualified in Open Class due to the comb with side sprigs. (One on each of the birds.) As fate would have it we actually purchased 3 SS from Ralphie on this occasion and 3 turned out to be cockerels. So we re-homed one cockerel to my father-in-law who lives next door to us. So immediately after the fair, I went to check out his SS cockerel, and sure enough he does NOT have a side sprig.

I really would like to know the genetics of comb sprigs, as the judge was very adament about not breeding them for show. According to the judge if the rooster has a sprig and you use him for breeding 50% of your year one roosters will have sprig and 100% of your year 2 roosters will have sprig. I am intrigued by this and I would love for anyone to shed some light on this genetics issue. These birds are such beautiful birds and I don't want to send them to the freezer, and I want to help Ralphie out as well.


Edited: I accidentally used the word spur instead of Side Sprig.

 

[lvie]

Good Afternoon CHickeners! Good reading, good receipes, some not-so-good news.

Sorry about Daisy Holms. It is difficult to loose an animal.

And what is with those sports Ralphie? I am sure you will work it out and they will become a very successful adventure.

What is a spur on the comb? I have no idea but will check my SS as soon as I find out.

I think I found an excellent home for Tom and I wasn't even looking. Someone at church rushed over to me to tell about his 14 RIR pullets that have begun to lay. I asked him if he wanted a rooster. He answered that he would LOVE to have a rooster but that it had to crow loudly. Boy! do I have the rooster for him! I talked to his wife today and he can't wait to get his rooster. Kind of cool. Tom will look so handsome with RIR and since there are 14 I believe they will keep him busy and they should be none-the-worse for wear.

Then I am anticipating my two RIR and the one BR molting and getting their feathers back. It will be fun to see what they look like. I also have two ISA's that are pretty bared back but, as horrible as this will sound, I D C about them so very much. One of them is so darn mean to any chicken around her I hate to incorporate her into the main flock. But she lays eggs so I do not want to get rid of her yet. On the other hand I should get rid of those two ISA's while they are laying eggs because I am such a chicken of culling them AND all of my other pullets are beginning to lay so I have plenty of eggs and would not miss those two. Maybe they can go bye-bye with Tom. That would be cool.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

This is so random.....

Does anybody on here have Peacocks?

 

[Minniechickmama]

Sounds like a good idea!


GFF is selling pullets for $19.00 a piece right now!! I am thinking of getting some good quality Bantam Cochins for another project. Three breeds is good enough for me lol!


I have been thinking about a hatchery name for my NPIP papers and thought back to a year ago when I loved the name "Whiskey Creek Cochins". What do u all think? I absolutely love my cute Cochin bantams and was thinking i should get some good quality Black bantams!

I can give you a couple of good breeder's names for those. I love the name!!!