The Front Porch Swing

[MistyMountain]

Crazy question--- I need to thin out my peaches on my peach trees. Can (or will, even) the chickens eat them? If so I will save them. If not, I will drop them and let the white deer have a snack.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Crazy question--- I need to thin out my peaches on my peach trees. Can (or will, even) the chickens eat them? If so I will save them. If not, I will drop them and let the white deer have a snack.

Our pasture goes around our family orchard. When we thin the fruit, we drop it on the ground for the birds. They prefer ripe fruit, but they'll still eat the immature fruit.

The only "question" is about the cyanide in the seeds/pits. But we have decided not to worry ourselves about that.

 

[Blooie]

I ended up in the hospital ER for 30 hrs because no room in intensive care. Had 6 pints of blood replaced. I had no idea why my poop was black. Just thought I was ill or something. Blood pressure 54/46. Yes, I ask why and the Drs. said it was all the Ibuprofen and stuff. My regular Dr prescribed this for 2 yrs 2x daily and never once told me to eat or it would affect me. Go figure.

Oh, MY! Then yep, you would certainly know!

Blooie~~your lattice looks very nice. You could plant morning glories, or gourds or some other vining plant to grow on the trellis. That would be lovely. You have a Katiebug, (good looking boots!) I have a Katiedid! I also, which I think I've mentioned before, have a Lillian, we call Lillybug! Looking at all the green in your pics and thinking it was, what, a couple of weeks ago, you had snow!! Like good ole Ohio weather!!
Marans are good layers, just not when I want them to be!!

The fox got 2 of my cuckoo marans,

so we had that going on, the weather has been going up and down here, plus they are in a different pen. I'm thinking all of these issues might be causing the delay. I have 20 hen, and only getting 6-9 eggs a day. Before the fox, were were getting 15-20 a day. We lost 7 this spring. So everyone has slowed down a bit. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon!

Thank you heartsizedfarm! I'm going to let it go the duration and see what happens. They still have 2-3 weeks left in the breeding pen. I only want about 6-8 eggs to hatch out! I hope they come thru for me. I actually have a broody, an araucana, but I'm not putting any eggs under her yet. When the time comes when I need a broody, I won't have one!

My Buckeye hen goes broody about every six weeks or so, but I'm wanting to put her in a pen with the buckeye rooster, but I only have room for 1 breeding pen at a time. DH suggested just buying more Buckeye chicks, which I might consider doing. The marans aren't so easy to find. At least around here.

You might be able to see the two grape plants that Ken put in there on the south side, by the short little fence. We have 4 other grapevines as well, but they aren't by the chicken run. They are my jelly grapes, deep purple and they make fantastic jelly. The new ones Ken just planted are table grapes, red seedless, and he decided to put them on the south side because that's where the others have done so well. My plan on the front side is to put a few flat baskets of flowers on it - maybe those little bags that they put things in. I don't want to block the front completely with vines and such, as pretty as that would be, because it's hard enough to watch and enjoy Chicken TV the way it is....LOL

 

[Oldmomma]

Tried to upload more pics today but its not letting me. Wedding over thought it was first day but it was last day and no one told me! Fil still in hospital so that is like a storm cloud hanging around. Reports of fighting last night but we came back around 1am and it was quiet and clear roads. Next few weeks will tell, im seeing a few foreigners posting that they might leave again. My thought is how do you leave and tell others sorry I cant take you with me deal with it? But this isnt the place for this discussion. I dont feel comfortable with this new guy trying to win hearts, last guy took 42 years to get rid of. Give them someone elected.
Otherwise eye is better most red is gone and my older chickens I have a question on....one has crowed, the second my kids say screaches like a raptor. Feathering no help and this was the redder of the two for combs and wattles. They are 20 weeks old. I put a nesting box in but they both sit on the rafters of the coop. Will try posting photos tomorrow. I showed them the chicken egg song they said nope, its a screech!

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Anybody on the Front Porch feel like a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie?

Love the bits of a garden that provide without needing tending!

 

[Blooie]

Anybody on the Front Porch feel like a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie?





Love the bits of a garden that provide without needing tending!

YUM....as soon as Little Diane gets here for her vacation (Wow, next weekend!!!) she's gonna help Gramma put up enough strawberry/rhubarb jam to keep us in good supply all year! She loves the stuff - I brought her back a jar last summer and she hoarded it - would only put enough on the tip of her knife to color her toast because she wanted to make it last.

Your rhubarb looks great! I'm pleased with ours as well, but the strawberries I think are going to disappoint. Oh, well...my recipe calls for frozen strawberries so what I don't grow I can at least buy, if I have to, I guess.! Hey, the Possum Creed!

 

[Blooie]

Tried to upload more pics today but its not letting me. Wedding over thought it was first day but it was last day and no one told me! Fil still in hospital so that is like a storm cloud hanging around. Reports of fighting last night but we came back around 1am and it was quiet and clear roads. Next few weeks will tell, im seeing a few foreigners posting that they might leave again. My thought is how do you leave and tell others sorry I cant take you with me deal with it? But this isnt the place for this discussion. I dont feel comfortable with this new guy trying to win hearts, last guy took 42 years to get rid of. Give them someone elected.
Otherwise eye is better most red is gone and my older chickens I have a question on....one has crowed, the second my kids say screaches like a raptor. Feathering no help and this was the redder of the two for combs and wattles. They are 20 weeks old. I put a nesting box in but they both sit on the rafters of the coop. Will try posting photos tomorrow. I showed them the chicken egg song they said nope, its a screech!

You be sure that whatever else you do, you stay safe!! The Porch needs you! Glad your eye is better. I woke up to roosters crowing this morning - at 5 am!! I was so irritated! Half awake and half asleep I mumbled something about inconsiderate neighbors and their stupid roosters - then I realized they were MINE.....two out of the known three crowing already and they aren't big enough for freezer camp yet.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

YUM....as soon as Little Diane gets here for her vacation (Wow, next weekend!!!) she's gonna help Gramma put up enough strawberry/rhubarb jam to keep us in good supply all year!  She loves the stuff - I brought her back a jar last summer and she hoarded it - would only put enough on the tip of her knife to color her toast because she wanted to make it last.

Your rhubarb looks great!  I'm pleased with ours as well, but the strawberries I think are going to disappoint.  Oh, well...my recipe calls for frozen strawberries so what I don't grow I can at least buy, if I have to, I guess.!  Hey, the Possum Creed!

I have a great recipe for strawberry rhubarb freezer jam that uses the no-sugar pectin so you only have to use as much sugar as you like. I don't like a lot of sugar because I prefer to taste the fruit and I like it tart. The recipe also works for blueberry rhubarb jam. Yum!!!

 

[Blooie]

Oh, you guys! I can't stop laughing.....I've got tears running down my leg from laughing, and my eyes are watering too! Ken is so mad at me right now he just got in the pickup to "run down to Tam's for a minute and have a conversation with someone who won't make fun of him." I can't help it....

Yesterday's conversations about when to expect eggs must have gotten to him. I told him what you all said, and said that it's too early yet. I said, "Even if, by some slim chance, we did get an egg it would probably not be fit to eat." I told him that sometimes when they first start laying it's not unusual to get soft shelled eggs, deformed eggs, small eggs - even eggs with no discernible identity as eggs, such as no shells and little structure to what is there. "Be patient." I told him. "We have a little time yet before we need to prep the nests and such and first eggs aren't always real good." I went about my business. That was last night.

So just a few minutes ago I came in to fix us some lunch. I'd already fed and watered the chickens, put them out in the run, and closed the pop door so I could clean the poop board and open the coop people door for a little bit. There I am, standing at the sink, when in he runs...yelling, "You ain't gonna believe this!" I turned and he had something wrapped in one of his shop towels. "Look at this, honey...this is either a first egg or it's the biggest chicken t**d I've ever seen!"

"Um, Ken, that is the biggest chicken t**d you've ever seen." Then I couldn't help it...I busted out laughing. The look on his face went from "WOW, isn't this cool?" to "Oh, crap" in 2.2 seconds! And then he just stood there with this honking thing in his hand staring at it like it would just disappear and he could eat his baloney sammich like nothing had even happened. Oh, it was so priceless! And then, and THEN, he started frantically looking around MY kitchen like he was magically gonna find someplace to put this "first egg". No. Way. Buster. Not on a bet is that thing going to be anywhere near my kitchen. There was this sad sigh, and then he said, 'Okay, I'll take it out and put it in the bucket." As he faded out around the corner he looked like a little boy who was just told his discovered dinosaur bone actually belonged to a dead cow. I heard him mutter, "Stupid chickens."

Oh, I'm dying here..........and I gotta stop before he gets back.

 

[Tomtommom]

Our pasture goes around our family orchard. When we thin the fruit, we drop it on the ground for the birds. They prefer ripe fruit, but they'll still eat the immature fruit.

The only "question" is about the cyanide in the seeds/pits. But we have decided not to worry ourselves about that.

..... Now you got me worrying.

I thinned my peaches a week.. maybe two weeks ago. Gave the little ones to the chickens. I lost a 9 week old cockerel last weekend... when I found him he had bright yellow diarrhea so bad, he dehydrated and died within hours. Now I wonder if the peaches did him in. He was a particularly piggy bird, just like his 'brother'... they'd tackled fullgrown hens and steal food from their beaks!