The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Mountain Momma]

here u go - Bee - ginger beer recipe

my grandma used to make it
Aussie favorite for a refreshing summer drink
will explode tops off bottles if filled too much

Ingredients

Serves: 20

• For the Ginger Beer Mother:
• 1/2 teaspoon dried yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• For the Sugar Syrup:
• 4 cups sugar
• 1.5 litres cold water
• 4.5 litres warm water
• 1/2 cup strained lemon juice

Preparation method

Prep: 4 days | Cook: 5 minutes
1.
For the ginger beer mother, place the yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar in a large jar and add the warm water and 1/2 teaspoon ginger. Mix well, cover the jar with a cloth and leave at room temperature for 8 days, mixing in 1/2 teaspoon each of sugar and ginger every day.
2.
For the sugar syrup, put the sugar and cold water in a large saucepan and heat, stirring, just until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the warm water and the lemon juice. Stand, if necessary, until just comfortably hand-warm.
3.
Strain the yeast mixture into the syrup, through a sieve lined with a double thickness of muslin, and stir well. Keep the sediment on the muslin for making further batches of ginger beer. Stir the syrup mixture well and pour into clean, sturdy bottles, preferably fitted with clip-on seals, or else with screwtops. Fill the bottles only to the base of the necks, and seal. Leave in a cool, safe place for about five days – in hot weather, the ginger beer will be ready in three or four days.
4.
To make further batches of ginger beer, return half the ginger beer mother left on the muslin to the jar (discard the rest) with 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger and sugar and 1 cup of water (no more yeast is added).
5.
Repeat the process as before, feeding the mother with 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger and sugar daily. After 8 days, mix with the sugar syrup and bottle as before.
Okay, we need a chickener recipe book. I'm thinking 75 pages, pretty chicken pics a few funny old stories and recipes for nustock, laundry soap ginger beer and FF and curtain rod greens. Maybe we could make enough money to visit each other! A few chicken and dumpling recipes, how to cook chicken talons what to do with that varmit you just caught in the trap....a catchy name.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, please, please don't turn this into a recipe thread.....

I know most of us are women but we don't have to be so...so...typical, do we?

 

[aussie pete]

Lisa ,u could start a separate thread for that ,use the GB recipe if u want just watch out the alcoholic one

 

[Mountain Momma]

Oh, please, please don't turn this into a recipe thread.....

I know most of us are women but we don't have to be so...so...typical, do we?

Oh no. I think this might be the first time in my life that i've been typical. Okay, well then I'll just do it anyway. I'm gonna name it
"Dont be typical" recipes for chickeners.

Please Instant personal message me with anything you think should be in it -if I use it I will get you a free copy when its done. This is the last I will mention such a thing but I am dead serious. Picture a sandy main street, dust devils all around, sun beaten eyes that dont blink.
(I especially need the varmit recipes and the chicken talons.) 75 pages is so not overwhelming on this particular forum! lol. Send'em!
L
edited to make sure you know I mean personal message me with your ok to include in the recipe book and and recipe or photo or both and brief description of results or history

 

[Beekissed]

Barred Rocks~or Plymouth Barred Rocks

, Java, Cochin, and perhaps Malay and Dorking. The first Plymouth Rock was barred and other varieties developed later. The Breed became popular very rapidly, and in fact, until World War II, no breed was ever kept and bred as extensively as the Barred Plymouth Rock. Its popularity came from its qualities as an outstanding farm chicken: hardiness, docility, broodiness, and excellent production of both eggs and meat. Most of the other varieties were developed from crosses containing some of the same ancestral background as the barred variety. Early in its development, the name Plymouth Rock implied a barred bird, but as more varieties were developed, it became the designation for the breed. The Barred Plymouth Rock was one of the foundation breeds for the broiler industry in the 1920's, and the White Rock continues to be used as the female side of the commercial broiler cross.

Characteristics: Plymouth Rocks are a good general farm chicken. They are docile; normally will show broodiness; possess a long, broad back; a moderately deep, full breast and a single comb of moderate size. Some strains are good layers while others are bred principally for meat. They usually make good mothers. Their feathers are fairly loosely held but not so long as to easily tangle. Generally, Plymouth Rocks are not extremely aggressive, and tame quite easily. Some males and hens are big and active enough to be quite a problem if they become aggressive. Breeders should be aware of the standard weights and not select small or narrow birds for the breeding pen. Common faults include shallow breast, high tails, narrow bodies and small size.

Breed representation pic: As you can see, the body style represented here isn't too far off from the BA dual purpose breed~maybe a half pound difference on the wts. You will find this same body style~or slight variations thereof~in most of the dual purpose breeds. You can see that this bird has a larger, deeper, wider body than the hatchery stock bird below. She has a longer back, her tail is set a little lower and has more depth. I think, if you could see her from the top, you would see very little tapering from the front to the back. Standard wt. 7.5 lbs.

I've never seen a BR with the rose comb featured here and can find no other info on the net that shows this.



Breeder quality BR hens...notice the fine barring you see here. Distinctly different than the hatchery bird and even the pic above. This bar pattern almost hurts to look at..but shows the increased quality of the feathering and patterns of birds bred more carefully than hatchery. These youngsters look lanky and leggy but they will fill out.




Standard hatchery representation(2 views) of the breed.

I, personally, don't class the hatchery stock of the BR breed in the dual purpose category. I don't find them heavy enough nor do they have the typical body style of a dual purpose breed. I find them a little more slender and more along the lines of a leghorn or RIR in that regard. They lay large pale cream/tan eggs that are long in shape. I don't really know what the hatcheries did to them but I'm willing to bet they crossed in some layer breed genetics along the way. I find their feather quality poor. They lay very well but not for long and tend to start to burn out in the second or third year and develop reproductive problems...odd shaped eggs, thin shells, sporadic lay, etc. They can go broody but it's pretty rare if from the hatchery.

Both birds I have of this breed right now have the exact same build and quality of laying. You'll notice that tail head sets a little higher than the breeder birds or the standard pic and they also have too much taper, or narrowing at the tail. They are not as tall, as wide or as long as the breeder bird/standard bird. You can also see that the leg color is completely off from the breed standard and the breeder stock's color~what did they cross in there?






I find the breed's disposition to be friendly, sometimes a little sweet and curious, great foragers, hardy except the laying burnout issues, they molt pretty hard and can take a while to recover. Excellent laying for awhile. If I were to think about getting this bird again, it would have to be breeder stock but I doubt I will be adding them to my dream team next time.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Thanks, Bee, for the BR overview!

Here is one of mine (hatchery stock) when she was about 6 mo old.

"Muddy" feathering
Feather pad above tail
Higher tail.
I think these photos make the tail look more narrow than it is.


The feather pad makes her look like her back is shorter. (What's with the feather padding above the tail anyway?)




6 Mo. olds (or 5.5...somewhere in that neighborhood)


I need to take a photo now, 3 mos later for comparison.

 

[Sally8]

Ginger Beer, very interesting recipe. I will have to try it. Back when we had roundworms, I researched everything I could and here on BYC there is a worm and parasite thread. Ginger was one of many things listed (along with cayenne, cloves, garlic, ACV, etc) and can be used as a preventative. Thanks to Dawg, BYC, we got right rid of them. (Thanks again.)

A while back Bee had mentioned that her dog, Jake was being plagued with fleas and mentioned options and solutions. We have had a horrible summer with fleas and ticks. We've tried everything, toxic and non toxic. The fleas are gone but left him with constant scratching and an oily coat. Took him to the vet a 2nd time and was told he had MRSA. Guess what? He didn't. I started with half and half of water and ACV. I spray-soaked his fur everywhere nightly, eventually going almost full strength. In just a few days, no scratching, no red skin, no oily fur. However, I did have to say to hubby at night, "wanna pickle" on my way to the fridge. I pulled hs records from the vet and transferred them. Not the first time they misdiagnosed my animals trying for an illness that keeps me coming back at $64.25 a visit.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

Barred Rocks~or Plymouth Barred Rocks

I find the breed's disposition to be friendly, sometimes a little sweet and curious, great foragers, hardy except the laying burnout issues, they molt pretty hard and can take a while to recover. Excellent laying for awhile. If I were to think about getting this bird again, it would have to be breeder stock but I doubt I will be adding them to my dream team next time.

Ahhh . . . what I've been waiting for - your take on the different breeds. I'd been considering the barred rocks but am now apprehensive. You've mentioned something that I've been wondering about and that's the quality of birds coming from hatcheries. Looks like breeder stock is the way to go, at least for this breed.

Will anxiously await your take on other breeds and thanks!

P.S. Flipped on the TV and a Science Channel program about Dinosaur's is on. Guess what they're comparing them to?? SILKIES! Made me giggle and I thought about you.

 

[aoxa]

No problems on this thread I feel safe
yes I will continue to contribute on here ,thanks Bee,Pullet surprise& Aoxa for yer support - just got a shock -now I know how Al feels when he tries to help .

maybe I'll just stick to this & the OT's thread till I grow a thicker skin lol

I couldn't believe they said that Pete. Craziness!

I've had someone tell me that the leaves in DL result in bad moldy leaves, and the birds who eat it will get sick.

 

[stonykill]

geez.... 6 pages since I last checked yesterday. 2 things...just say NO to silkies and no recipes on this thread! Good god there is enough wasted space on this thread with the same 1/2 page pictures being quoted over and over for 10 pages.

I'm pretty sure BYC has a section for recipes. There is enough wasted space on this thread!