The Old Folks Home

[chickensnewtome]

ok ladies got a question Ok so I have three Pekins right now: Laffy is my drake, Ying and Yang are my girls. Ying was abused and got a broke leg when she was little. We used to have two males (you get the hint). Well recently he has made my little runt, hurt, female his favorite. She does not interact with them she stands to the side. Yang and Laffy are constantly hanging out and Yang just submits and lets him have his fun then she gets to swim. He has quit harrassing my chickens but poor Ying can't swim. She also refuses to submit to him. Her neck is bald now and she is such a loner. I feel really bad but then again I know alot of this is normal. what should I do about Ying? Laffy and Yang only have something to do with her when Laffy wants a particular moment. They only way I can explain it is that Yang is his wife and Ying is his concubine. LOL

 

[Cynthia12]

Arielle, just catching up, I am so glad that your DH is ok! Was he sore for a while? Every thing work out with the state taking care of things?

Wisher, sorry you are having problems..me..not..a..turkey..person. :/ I wish I could have turkeys.

SCG..welcome back. Beautiful photos. I used to live in VA. I remember all of the green. Love that water mill. Beautiful. And, love love the soap, I can almost smell it! I love getting the home made soaps.

 

[Arielle]

ok ladies got a question Ok so I have three Pekins right now: Laffy is my drake, Ying and Yang are my girls. Ying was abused and got a broke leg when she was little. We used to have two males (you get the hint). Well recently he has made my little runt, hurt, female his favorite. She does not interact with them she stands to the side. Yang and Laffy are constantly hanging out and Yang just submits and lets him have his fun then she gets to swim. He has quit harrassing my chickens but poor Ying can't swim. She also refuses to submit to him. Her neck is bald now and she is such a loner. I feel really bad but then again I know alot of this is normal. what should I do about Ying? Laffy and Yang only have something to do with her when Laffy wants a particular moment. They only way I can explain it is that Yang is his wife and Ying is his concubine. LOL

For what little I know . . the water isn't the only place to interact. My dUcks like to look thru piles of leaf litter gobbling up yummies. Worms are always a favorite. Perhaps create another area that promotes beaks searching under leaves for hours on end. Wet moist leaves, or a slighly muddy ish place with leaves on top. Can she wade?? Mine often wade in the low lying areas in the woods with only an inch of water. Later the group will find a quiet spot to rest, together. ( Ihave muscovey)

 

[ozexpat]

They were hatchery stock. I agree that better bred birds might be less of a problem.

I don't understand the question about why the wax is red... it's what they had for cheese wax. The cheese was pulled out of the press, the cheese cloth was taken off, it was allowed to dry and form a rind and then we waxed it.

Yes, the first picture has stacked cut stone, and it isn't in the park. It was just along the side of the road.

We only have 3 more days of this insane heat before getting back down into the 70s.

Cheese Wax is especially made for coating cheeses. It helps prevent unwanted mold growth while retaining moisture in the aging cheese. This wax is pliable and will not become brittle as will pure paraffin wax.

Contains: A formulation of paraffin and microcrystalline wax, food grade coloring. The red distinguished it historically from all the other waxes you may have in your medieval homes

 

[chickensnewtome]

For what little I know . . the water isn't the only place to interact. My dicks like to look thru piles of leaf litter gobbling up yummies. Worms are always a favorite. Perhaps create another area that promotes beaks searching under leaves for hours on end. Wet moist leaves, or a slighly muddy ish place with leaves on top. Can she wade?? Mine often wade in the low lying areas in the woods with only an inch of water. Later the group will find a quiet spot to rest, together. ( Ihave muscovey)

Ok Arielle I just could not help pointing out this misspell!

I think if I give my Drake a little bit of a new area he will leave her alone. I have noticed that he tends to leave her alone when they are free ranging at night. Mine are Pekin's. I love Muscovey tho!

 

[LFchixranch]

My pekins are ready in about 12 weeks. The one I hatched for Cinco de Mayo is huge already, but she's a girl so she's staying.


I am back from West Virginia. I made a bunch of different cheeses, but I think I'll probably only make ricotta and mozzarella now that I'm home. I also learned to make hot process soap (yes, Arielle, you can use chicken fat but you need to use a soap calculator to figure out what else needs to be in your base), lotions, sugar scrubs and some other things. It was at Chickens In The Road (if anyone reads that blog). It was nice to see my family, too. My dad's wound still hasn't healed from his emergency surgery back around St Patrick's Day. I am not pleased about that. My sisters kids are adorable and my garden has exploded since I was gone. I just picked about 20 cukes, and there's probably 900,000 left in the garden (that may be a slight under-estimate).

I am glad to be back. BF did excellent keeping everyone alive and happy, he even got the goats a spool to play with but it's too hot to push that sucker up the hill to the goat house this week. The house is even clean and he cleaned the garage and my chicken chore area, too. He's such a good boy even if he is a yankee.

My sister in law has a family recipe for ice box pickles

6 sliced unpeeled cucumbers
1 cup red onion (she uses sweet onion)
1 cup sliced bell peppers (Now My brother and I like hot food, so she added a few Jalapeno, cherry and Cow horn peppers instead of bell)

1 TBL spoon celery seed
1 TBL spoon salt
2 Cups White sugar
1 cup white vinegar

Now she does not boil the ingredients as listed below, she just pours the mixture over cold, but I found the directions below for another ice box pickle recipe. She made them Monday and has had to replenish the bowl daily with more cucumber and peppers

. It is a very good sweet and sour (hot) type of cucumber/pickle if you use some peppers with a tad of heat. And just for the record, my brother and I like HOT food

, we do Habanero and ghost pepper Hot wings so our tolerance for heat is somewhat on the high level. Be cautious as I do not know if your family can take the heat

.

Bring sugar vinegar salt and celery seed to a boil. Cool slightly and pour over cucumbers and onions. Store in a covered dish/jar in frig, will keep indefinitly.
to it and let it soak.

 

[dsqard]

Quote: Sorry to say I noticed that first too

I did think it was one of the more appropriate autocorrects I have seen though

 

[Cynthia12]

Sorry to say I noticed that first too

I did think it was one of the more appropriate autocorrects I have seen though

Ok, so I'll admit it...since a couple of others are..that I noticed it too..

 

[gryeyes]

Alice Silver Sebright, who is an outside chicken but she came inside to lay her eggs in an empty brooder THEN decided to go broody and hatched a single chick, has taken her chick outside three days in a row. She took it all over the yard... Then last night she simply went back to roost in the coop rafters. Her chick was left on the ground. This is the first chick Alice has ever hatched; she is nearly four years old.

Anyway, I tucked the poor chick into a nest box with another broody hen who is sharing a chick and a duckling with another Mama hen. She seemed surprised, but didn't peck it. I had hopes.

The chick was left behind in the litter box nest this morning and was listless. . I picked it up and set it down with the other chicks the hens were raising in the coop. But now I cant find it. Alice has come back into the house; I am guessing, of course, but she is acting like she expected to find the chick in the house. As if *I* was the selected babysitter. <I><*sigh*></I>

Kevin the Free Peacock has obviously decided he wants to live here. He even runs with the flock to see me. We "talk" to each other. He made the first alert call I have heard from him when the neighbor's cat was slinking along the outside of our back fence. The sound was a short bark, not the scream I have been afraid of hearing. I suppose he will eventually get to that point. The other night at dusk he flew from the roof of the house to a tall cedar across the yard, where he roosted at night about 20 feet up.

Nigel the CdM turkey poult is looking more and more like a Tom. He is somewhat fascinated by Kevin and has flown to the deck cover, over to the pergola, and up onto the roof of the porch after he witnessed Kevin doing it.

 

[ronott1]

Alice Silver Sebright, who is an outside chicken but she came inside to lay her eggs in an empty brooder THEN decided to go broody and hatched a single chick, has taken her chick outside three days in a row. She took it all over the yard... Then last night she simply went back to roost in the coop rafters. Her chick was left on the ground. This is the first chick Alice has ever hatched; she is nearly four years old.

Anyway, I tucked the poor chick into a nest box with another broody hen who is sharing a chick and a duckling with another Mama hen. She seemed surprised, but didn't peck it. I had hopes.

The chick was left behind in the litter box nest this morning and was listless. . I picked it up and set it down with the other chicks the hens were raising in the coop. But now I cant find it. Alice has come back into the house; I am guessing, of course, but she is acting like she expected to find the chick in the house. As if *I* was the selected babysitter. <I><*sigh*></I>

Kevin the Free Peacock has obviously decided he wants to live here. He even runs with the flock to see me. We "talk" to each other. He made the first alert call I have heard from him when the neighbor's cat was slinking along the outside of our back fence. The sound was a short bark, not the scream I have been afraid of hearing. I suppose he will eventually get to that point. The other night at dusk he flew from the roof of the house to a tall cedar across the yard, where he roosted at night about 20 feet up.

Nigel the CdM turkey poult is looking more and more like a Tom. He is somewhat fascinated by Kevin and has flown to the deck cover, over to the pergola, and up onto the roof of the porch after he witnessed Kevin doing it.

I hope you find the chick. Broodies a flaky sometimes. I had one this week act like she was going to take in the chicks I was trying to give her and she kept them warm all night. In the morning, as soon as I opened the Kennel door she frantically jumped out and ran for the nest box. The chicks were in the corner of the Brooder and fine so I moved them into the brooder with the others.

I was worried that The Broody would keep trying to hatch the golf balls but she jumped off of them the next day and has rejoined the flock.