The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[zinia8]

Wow zinia! Yours looks way grosser than mine (compliment )!
How did you do yours?
I basically just left UPACV in an open jar mixed with a little apple juice... maybe mines hungry for more sugar. I didn't add much juice to the mix.
The method was on another website, no recipe just mix UPACV with apple juice in a jar, place it in a cupboard covered with a coffee filter so it can breathe. Check it out when your bored, show your friends, embarrass your DH by showing his friends...
Apparently once the mother forms you can take it out and place it in apple juice to make your own vinegar. Figured it would be cheaper, healthier and way more fun than buying more vinegar.

mine started out as apple cider that turned to vinegar that I bought for $2.00 a gallon over a year ago.Plain Jane label on the jug just said apple cider vinegar. I stuck the gallon in the cupboard(still sealed in its plastic jug) and promptly forgot about it. While reading on BYC about upacv my brain went "oh yeah you have a jug of acv stuck in the cupboard" Didn't know if it was pasturized or not so I put it in a glass jar with a coffee filter and left it in the dark for about a month. Must of been unpasturized.
You can buy really cheap regular acv and innoculate with the mother and then you just keep doing it over and over again

 

[Sally8]

8 1/2 mo. old Blue Laced Red Wyandotte pullet laid her 1st egg Dec. 31st, she laid 5 eggs in the last 6 days!

1st egg was real pointy, each next one gets rounder & slightly bigger

Pretty hen!

 

[Mumsy]

Wondering if anyone else has attempted to form their own "mother" in order to keep making UPACV.
I have my little experiment on the go and am wondering if it's working right. I read some info that indicated that the mother should form
on top in a thin layer that thickens over time. Mine just got cloudy, then the cloudiness kinda grouped up into lumps suspended mid jar
and are ever growing.
If anyone has ever tried this I would love to know your results. Not too keen on poisoning the chickens!

I've been doing it for a couple months. No chickens have been harmed or other wise poisoned by my home made UP-ACV. One jug has a big thick cloudy lump suspended in it. I use that jug to treat and start new jugs of vinegar.

 

[Shan30]

I've been doing it for a couple months. No chickens have been harmed or other wise poisoned by my home made UP-ACV. One jug has a big thick cloudy lump suspended in it. I use that jug to treat and start new jugs of vinegar.

I use this method too, just thought it would be fun to actually make vinegar!

All the pic's showed this great layered gelatinous mass. Since mines just a cloudy lump so far I just wanted to be sure I hadn't somehow screwed it up. I'm learning not to be such a worrier. I swear when we finally have kids I'll probably end up making then bubble wrap suits.

Thanks, I won't worry about the chooks. Might let them have it for a few weeks before I start using it for myself tho

 

[galefrances]

Quote:

I personally feel it is a great idea Mumsy..thanks


and welcome back to the thread Gale Frances

Well, it looks like I need to use the food dye. This should be fun, my hens will have a fit as they're not used to being handled. I'll have to enlist the help of my DH and sneek into the coop at night. Okay, thanks so much and I'll let you all know how it turns out.

 

[Sally8]

Wondering if anyone else has attempted to form their own "mother" in order to keep making UPACV.
I have my little experiment on the go and am wondering if it's working right. I read some info that indicated that the mother should form
on top in a thin layer that thickens over time. Mine just got cloudy, then the cloudiness kinda grouped up into lumps suspended mid jar
and are ever growing.
If anyone has ever tried this I would love to know your results. Not too keen on poisoning the chickens!
:/

I stuffed as many apple peelings, cores, pieces as we ate apples for a few days into a gallon jar, covered it with water and about 3/4 c of sugar (I cheated and put in about 1/2 c of ACV with mother) and left on my counter for a couple weeks, stirring now and again. Then strained out the apples (not too fine of strain, I left tiny particles). And covered with a coffee filter and rubber band and it's in the bathroom closet in the dark. It formed a thick plug but I just stir it in. To start another, I take the plug and put it in another jar (I haven't used the apples again) and start over. Mine isn't as dark as the store bought but tastes the same. Easy peasy!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Pretty hen!

She is gorgeous, and the eggs are pretty too.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I am so confused - does that include other websites...or just forums & blogs ...if it includes wedsites, then there is hardly a thread on here that isn't in violation...and what about Facebook & other Social media? I'm not being sarcastic.

Here are rules for the site and links to where they can be found:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/terms-of-service

You CAN have links to blogs, etc.
Do's (Second to last bullet item)
Link back to BackYardChickens from your site and/or blog, especially if you put a link to another site in your forum signature (see rules on similar sites below)

Don'ts
Do not promote other websites that are "similar" to BackYardChickens, especially similar forums. Sometimes it may be appropriate to link to another site that has specific information relative to a question, but moderators have to right to remove links and posts at their discretion.

 

[Mumsy]

Quotes didn't come up but this is for you galefrances.

Remember this too about the food coloring when you just have 'red, yellow, green, and blue and you have a dozen hens. You can make orange using red and yellow. Purple using green blue and red. Ect.
If your hens aren't used to being handled this is a good opportunity to check them for mites or lice or other conditions. You have them up ended anyway. Give them a good exam.
From what I've read, a few drops inside the vent will be excreted with poo the first hour but enough will remain to leave faint streaks on eggs for at least three days. I've read yellow food coloring is very hard to see on the egg so mixing it with another color is suggested.
Surprisingly, I found quite a lot of information online using food coloring for egg marking.

 

[Mumsy]

Sorry. Double post