Washingtonians

[justbugged]

I have been making chicken stock with the necks backs and bones left over from the meat birds. I also make a vegetable stock using the trimmings from broccoli and asparagus ends. Though I have a lot less vegetable scraps since the girls get almost all of the trimmings any more. i have never canned the stock though. I have just put it into containers in the freezer.

 

[Chickielady]

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My Lucille Buff Orp Pullet was 8 months old and went broody deep and hard after laying about 20 eggs, she did not even have a full red comb yet, just a pink 'pea comb' like a young pullet....Buffs go broody bad and they are ferocious mommies.
I have heard cochins do the same.
My Brahmas are the ultimate mommies.
The last one has set and hatched 21 Ameraucana chicks, shelters them and goes off like a fire siren if so much as a leaf moves outside...the chicks run, and she stands tall on her toes I swear she is almost 4 feet tall, and swells up to look as big as a goose !

How very funny. well when I got home, Hannah, was back inside in her "spot" trying to be broody. I will take her outside again tomorrow and break her. She doesn't even have eggs under her. Sheesh.

I heard a dunk in cold water (not over the head) works, just dunk and let her go.
I have not had the problem of too many broodies.

 

[Chickielady]

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Wow ! Cool !!!!

 

[Chickielady]

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I think that the people that I have read about are free ranging all day long. I have been letting the girls out into the back yard everyday this week, but they are only getting an hour or two at a time. They are getting very demanding about getting out creating a stampede when I open the gate. They are also demanding chicken crack. Obviously I am being conned and trained to do as they demand.

I do get my revenge when I chase them all back into the run with the garden hose.

The hardest part for me is having to stay right there with them. If I wander in to the house to do something, the nasty little dogs will take the opportunity to molest a chick or two. I had to leave the house this afternoon to pick up my car from the shop, and then I went and did some errands. DH came right home from dropping me off and he heard some noises from the yard so he went running, and found 3 dogs and a Silkie in a face off. As soon as the dogs saw DH they went slinking away, and the Silkie was delighted because she won the stand off. DH got even and tossed her back into the run. I must have missed getting Inky back into the run when I left.

Mine don't eat a lot of oystershell either, so it's not very expensive to have for them. But i figure that they are getting what they want of it. I do have some troubles with the shells on a few of the eggs. I am still not sure which hen is laying the shell-less or super thin shelled egg. I have been procrastinating about separating the girls one at a time so that I can be sure who is laying what.

I use cracked corn to get them back into the run. I throw the corn in, and they run in after it. The hose sounds like more fun.

Mine will not come back for cracked corn...but rolled oats is something I buy just for treats, for the rabbits too, and are cheap...and the girls will come running from way down the driveway for that...albeit I have to walk down where they are and cluck and call and leave a trail.
Still some are wise to my tricks and will not come unless I toss bread !

I do not leave them unattended, for the bobcat, racoons, and coyotes can be lurking right out of site under a bush.
Even while I sit there in the yard there can be a predator lurking...we have a mowed acre inside a jungle of hundreds of acres.

 

[Chickielady]

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[Chickielady]

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Busy girl !
I have so much Jam and Jelly and pickles that I did none this year.
Next thing you know, you will be qulting.
I adore quilting, but my machine is in storage and I cannot sew

and I have too much jam....apricots got eaten by hand this year.
My parents have tons of the best raspberries I have ever had, and pick every other day, so I want to make pancake syrup...and this time maybe try it with Splenda.
Low carbs.
I just got 2 flats of strawberries and cut and halved them and froze them for future use as ice cream in our ice cream maker, no weird ingredients or gluten that way...but wish I had some raw goat milk to make ice cream !!!
Soooooooooooo much easier on the digestive system ...and has all the cream in it. YUM!!!!
How old are your pullets that just started to lay ?
************** I am painting like a possessed woman, for the Fair.
I have few paintings under 2 years old so decided to do new...I will post shot as they come along...It is cool to see how they morph.

 

[Chickielady]

see the difference between the two ?
It is about 15 minutes difference.
I have taken photos every so often as I paint and then "played" them back and watch the transformation...it is water color and actually called 'glazing' as each layer of paint goes on...also, anyone with good photos of wildlife may PM me and if it is a good photo I may purchase it to paint.
Now it is cockyail (

) hour and my chooks are screaming mad that I have not let them out (the Cuckoos anyway) so I gotta go, they have me trained as well !

 

[LaSombra]

Quote:
Busy girl !
I have so much Jam and Jelly and pickles that I did none this year.
Next thing you know, you will be qulting.
I adore quilting, but my machine is in storage and I cannot sew

and I have too much jam....apricots got eaten by hand this year.
My parents have tons of the best raspberries I have ever had, and pick every other day, so I want to make pancake syrup...and this time maybe try it with Splenda.
Low carbs.
I just got 2 flats of strawberries and cut and halved them and froze them for future use as ice cream in our ice cream maker, no weird ingredients or gluten that way...but wish I had some raw goat milk to make ice cream !!!
Soooooooooooo much easier on the digestive system ...and has all the cream in it. YUM!!!!
How old are your pullets that just started to lay ?
************** I am painting like a possessed woman, for the Fair.
I have few paintings under 2 years old so decided to do new...I will post shot as they come along...It is cool to see how they morph.

hehe, I have quilted before, just a small quilt for my niece when she was a baby. However, I am thinking about making new quilts for my boys this fall when I have a little bit more time for that. We went to the quilt store a few weeks ago and they just loved all the different fabrics. They were planning their quilts already! I don't think I can handle anything more complicated than squares, but a homemade quilt is so comfy

I also knit and crochet during the cold months

I'm a crafty type person. I was a girl scout

oh, and I LOVE your paintings! I haven't tried painting before, but have always wanted to learn. Someday, I might take a class at Michaels. That's how I learned to decorate cakes!

 

[justbugged]

I love the watercolors Chickie. We have Roosevelt Elk herd that hang out in the pastures just south of our neighborhood. Are you entering them in the Grays Harbor County Fair? I have envy at your talent. I can't even draw a straight line. I think that is why the floral work for me. I figure that god made them and I know to put them together so that they look pretty good.

 

[NWChicks]

Beautiful painting Chickielady!

I'm a bit crafty too, my family says I have ADOS (Attention Deficit OOOH SHINY!!!) I think they may be right! I've dabbled in quilting, I sew, knit, crochet, mill my own flour and bake way too much, bake and decorate cakes, attempting to turn my brown thumb green, and I'm addicted to kitchen toys! I have two flour mills, two mixers, a Vitamix, and way too many other things to list! I can't help it! I love cooking and baking! It's as creative for me as all those other things. And when I'm not feeling particularly nurturing; I like pistol shooting and I do Taekwondo.

I love knitting Fair Isle hats and doing color work. This is one of my favorite hats. In fact, I was just thinking about picking up some wool and making another one.