The Old Folks Home

[mamadawn]

We had a wonderful day in the garden and I hope you do not mind me sharing some images .... I can hear the collective groan if I posted them on FB "Gees, more chicken photos!" and I thought you folks would understand We had a visitor: We only have a small 'garden' and the rest is lawn (it is still a work in progress): This patch of dirt belongs to the girls: Mother & Daughter: Dusty dug a hole next to the compost bin: and proceeded to have a bath: This pile of feathers is a combined Frizzle & Silkie bath: .. the result, one dirty Silkie: Thank you for looking!

Oh your garden and girls are beautiful- they look so healthy! I know what you mean about friends (and family) on FB. I just got my 4th pullet egg- this one from my Welsummer- BUT it was ex-large, dark and amazing!!! Proud mama )) no one on FB would get it... Thanks BYC fam for hearing the same stuff and smiling on the other end!

 

[Peep_Show]

Lovely honey, SCG. "Good bees, nice bees. Good bees, nice bees." I make a concerted effort not to spray until after all the blooming stops in the yard just because I like having the bees come in and do their job. AND the ones that have been visiting are the nice Italian ones and not and African hybrids (which seem to be a staple here in NM). I wish I knew who had the hive as I'd love to get some honey which probably has a goodly amount of pollen from my orchard. We're talking about putting in a couple of rows of lavender out back....maybe a hive would look nice out there, too. Your efforts are inspiring.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

You are lucky to still have bees in the area (and not africanized). I had not seen a bee, short of a bumble bee, on this property since I bought it - until I put a hive up, of course. The only other hives I've ever spotted in the area are the ones a commercial operation leaves every spring in a field a few miles from me for a few days prior to moving them to an orchard. My county doesn't even have a beekeeping club, I had to go a few counties over to find one that was active. I took their class, found it very informative, and I continue to pay dues to belong to the email listserv, which is as helpful as BYC is for chicken keepers.

I was pretty terrified of my bees in the beginning of course, and not sure I wanted to start beekeeping. I'd say at this point I'm more of a "bee-haver" than a "bee-keeper." But the bees no longer terrify me, in fact they are really sweet (maybe from all that honey).

 

[lularat]

SCG, I love honey and beekeeping amazes me. Would love to try it some day. I have a friend who took a course and just started beekeeping.

 

[Cynthia12]

SCG, we have neighbors that hives at another location..not at their home. They make the lip balm, and they make a bar to use as a lotion. They put different scents into the bars, and man, when I was hatching chicks, I used that bar a lot. Kept my hands a lot less chappy. Of course, they have the honey. When it crystallizes..we put some in the microwave, softens it right back up. Yumm

DiDi, thank you for the hug. And yes, I can just imagine the two of you together. You must have a blast!
Those photos are beautiful, as usual. I was wondering where that was. At first I thought Bridal..but there was too much green around them. Very pretty.

 

[apteryx]

Store bought or home spun?

I read an article that said honey was the most counterfeited food in the US. Most of the Honey sold in stores is artificially flavored high fructose corn syrup.

The best way to remove the crystals in real honey is to leave it in the jar and set it into a water bath to simmer. It does not take much time to fix it.

Back in New Zealand the big problem was honey being passed off as a certain type of honey, such as manuka, when it didn't meet the criteria. The criteria is based on the pollen type in the honey. If it isn't a high enough percentage of a specific species then it can't be called that variety. Manuka is one of the most commonly misrepresented as it is supposed to have numerous health benefits. I grew up with creamed clover honey. We were usually given 5-10 lbs of it each year by the bee keeper who had hives (15 - 20) on our farm.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

All hell's breaking loose about 4 miles from my house. Ferguson Missouri police killed a kid yesterday afternoon and now they're in full riot gear and a huge confrontation with citizens is taking place. There's a bit of looting and rioting going on. It could be worse. Lots of aldermen and clergy are asking for calm.

So far no one else has been killed. We just heard a shot. Don't know if it's related.

US justice department and St. Louis County police are investigating the original incident.

 

[ronott1]

All hell's breaking loose about 4 miles from my house. Ferguson Missouri police killed a kid yesterday afternoon and now they're in full riot gear and a huge confrontation with citizens is taking place. There's a bit of looting and rioting going on. It could be worse. Lots of aldermen and clergy are asking for calm.

So far no one else has been killed. We just heard a shot. Don't know if it's related.

US justice department and St. Louis County police are investigating the original incident.

Keep Safe!

 

[Lacy Blues]

Yogurt is not digestible by chickens but is very good for them.

I've heard this before but never had opportunity to ask about it.

Why do you say they cannot digest it?

 

[subhanalah]

I would not see those two as interchangeable, "It was one heck of an evening, unlike every other evening."

It was mostly "I put up the chickens of an evening"
Stuff like that. I haven't seen it in a couple of months.