The Old Folks Home

[Wickedchicken6]

Got the microwave out.

I'm a creature of habit...we started with a big Panasonic microwave when we got married. When our original microwave cached out about 2010, we replaced it with...you know what...another Panasonic microwave, although slightly smaller. When the power surge took out all the electrical appliances at this house in 2013...got the same microwave. This time I got the same microwave, same size...they're making them 100 watts less so I knew that. But when I unpacked it...the interior is about an inch narrower than the old one and the turning plate is that much smaller as well.

What the heck?

And this one doesn't have the handle...but I guess we can live without it. At least it was on sale. I am aware I can be hard to please...but why change the size of the interior. The walls are a bit taller. What good does that do me with a wider dish?

Ack...I'm done now.

At least we won't be microwaving out hands anymore. I just have to wipe out the interior and glass plate and plug it in. I always keep the microwave plates...so I am excited to have another heavy glass serving plate.

Our son's only comment was "it's black? Why is it black?" Well to match the black stove that replaced the stove that got zapped in the power surge, of course.

It's the office, not Buckingham palace...it doesn't matter if the fridge is white and the other appliances are black..lol.

Oh my gosh...guineas!!! You've got ME looking at keets!

I was just thinking about my own guineas today with trying to figure out what I'm doing. It's still a love/hate relationship but I've figured out this much; my female guineas are incredibly vocal...but fairly easy going with the hens. The male guineas are quieter but they are hella hard on everything, even the female guineas with their picking. And yet, I have a couple of pullets that were raised with the guineas who travel in the guineas posse and aren't bothered at all. It's just like school...if a chicken stands up to them...they leave her alone. If she runs away...they will always chase her.

I'm still trying to figure out if I have a bronze or a purple female. She's my favorite and she doesn't pick on anybody. I think my "white" males are opaline. And the keets I bought last fall have ended up being two females. I think they're opaline too. But they have red heads where mine have black. I wanted an out cross male to breed to mine. What's the odds on that?

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Quote:

You had me laughing SO hard when I read this!!!

And yet, I still want them. I plan to commandeer the barn over summer so I can keep them in there over winter.

Yep! That's what we need! A huge hip roofed barn full of guineas.

(I have not seen mine kill a snake. Or discourage rodents.)

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:

 

[Cynthia12]

Hmm, I remember liking the annoying little critters, that they must be. Like I said, Grandma had a large area back there.

Guess I can't have them here in our neighborhood, we have a lot of trees around here, dropping leaves in the fall.

 

[drumstick diva]

Do guineas come in a bantam size? I figure they would have softer voices. ????? We're going to the zoo soon - last time the male(I assume) guineas were making awful noises - to attract(?) females. And some peacocks were strolling with them and doing the same. When we left hours later, they all looked dismayed - apparently no females showed up. I don't blame them.

Next time they should try Barry White cds.

 

[perchie.girl]

Do guineas come in a bantam size? I figure they would have softer voices. ????? We're going to the zoo soon - last time the male(I assume) guineas were making awful noises - to attract(?) females. And some peacocks were strolling with them and doing the same. When we left hours later, they all looked dismayed - apparently no females showed up. I don't blame them.

Next time they should try Barry White cds.

Standard Guineas are compaired to Bantams in size....



The difference in guinea eggs vs chicken eggs is their egg is mostly yolk. and the egg is harder to crack.

Jumbo guineas lay eggs almost as large as a standard chicken.

For what its worth Guinea Hens are the noisy ones vs Guinea Cocks. The hens constantly call out Buck Wheat its the only way to tell the difference between male and female and be certain. They all Yell and alert the same and have the same reactions to percieved danger... only females have that Buck Wheat call.

deb

 

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG you forgot the part about them roosting in insanely high places and not coming down.


While you are at it, you should warn people about broody turkeys- oy vey! It would be a public service.

That turkey is still broody, too. She's been broody all through fall and winter, so far.

The toms I have are meaner than the guineas, for what it's worth. Come spring I think I want to find a way to turn them into sausage. And a year later the guineas are roosting in the coop at night with minimal guidance from me. Not sure if their desire will change come better weather, but it is "doable" to somewhat domesticate them. They're used to me in the chicken yard, but if new people come over while I'm unable to care for them, it sounds like a horror movie out there and they panic and freak out.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

That's all good stuff to know!! Unless I just lucked out...guineas "can" be dealt with ok. The first year we had the guineas we herded them into a large enclosed dog kennel every night in the metal shed (for their safety) because it's not a secure building. Once I was down to the pair I put the older metal kennel (wider bars) in the coop and kenneled them every night so they wouldn't harass the chickens in the morning. They eventually went in themselves if I wasn't there and they'd be laying in the cage with the door open. I just had the 5 males kenneled for a bit this winter to minimize the picking and because a gentleman wants to buy my males. So I want them crate trained for him.

As for the roosting in trees...nothing a good wing clipping can't fix.

That does leave them at a disadvantage though. I clipped the wings on all my females because they were roosting on top of the rafters and getting down on the side of the young chicks. Wing clipping =

Are jumbo guineas a larger bird?

I want guineas that look like the birds at the top, variegated in color. http://www.breezybirdfarms.com/guinea-fowl.php


I'm hoping to get turkey eggs.

SO exciting!!!!

 

[Peep_Show]

Ron --

re: making flour with a KitchenAid

Making your own flour sounds like the ultimate hands-on. This has me realizing all the things I could do... like make blue corn tortillas. Do you have the KGM metal mill or a Mockmill? Do you run it through twice?

Feeling inspired by your baking tales, I have an onion dill loaf in the bread machine right now.

 

[ronott1]

Ron --

re: making flour with a KitchenAid

Making your own flour sounds like the ultimate hands-on. This has me realizing all the things I could do... like make blue corn tortillas. Do you have the KGM metal mill or a Mockmill? Do you run it through twice?

Feeling inspired by your baking tales, I have an onion dill loaf in the bread machine right now.

I have the kg metal. I have ground popcorn to make corn bread. you choose a less fine setting for it.

If the flour is too coarse, I run it on high in my kitchenaid blender after milling. I did this for the sourdough orange ginger bread I made last week. I bout 5 pounds of Kamut grain from azure standard so that I could mill some Kamut flour.

The flour smells amazing when you mill it too along with bringing down the cost of the flour. Spelt and Kamut flour is quite pricey.

I picked up the flour mill from Amazon as an open box return.