Washingtonians

[justbugged]

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OK PLEASE try this method. Bring the water to a boil. Use a spoon to set the eggs into the boiling water. BOIL for 17 minutes. At the end of 17 minutes pour the water off and add COLD WATER AND ICE. Let the eggs set in the cold water for a few minutes and peel. I do them this way all the time and it works great, even for eggs right out of the nest.

There is a thread on here, that is about cooking and peeling eggs, so that they are easy. For chicken eggs it is 14 minutes, but CR would be right for the duck eggs, and the cold water Ice bath right away. I have done the chicken eggs more than a few times and as far as I can tell it's fool proof. If I got it right the vinegar in the water has nothing to do with the eggs peeling. I think that some of the cooking threads talk about that too.

 

[cackleberrylinda]

Hi,
I'm in Arlington on 5+ acres with three sets of chickens. My originals which are 2 or 3 years old, 3 Barred Rocks ( my checkered chickens) 2 Rhodies (both named Ruby), 1 White Leghorn, 1 Brown Leghorn, 1 Lackenfelder and a rooster of dubious lineage...he came to a neighbor from Murray as the free exotic chick. I think he's an EE/araucana or a buttercup, whatever that is. These guys live in my little 8 x 12 cottage that has french doors and an oil radiator heater because it used to be the cats houses.

Then I have some birds living temporarily in the greenhouse. 2 EEs that are the typical tweedy looking birds, 3 white EEs, 1 austrolorpe, 1 Wellsummer (called Summerfelkers when I can't remember the real name as happens more often when you slip over the 60 mark), 1 cuckoo moran that looks like a BR and lays light brown eggs, 2 little silverish ameracauna banties, and 1 speckled sussex roo. I lost a wellsummer,cuckoo, sussex and brown leghorn this fall to predation. NOT cool at all.

In my third little yard I have too many Mille Fleurs. Anybody like to have a pair? They are funny, hyper and not cuddly little birds. But very pretty and amusing. I have 4 sets I would like to rehome. My banty yard is pretty small right now.

Two acres of my land are swimming under a beaver pond. Haven't actually seen the beavers but I find gnawned on tree stumps. I do so love the wildlife that lives around and in this permanent water feature.

I have 11 cats, 3 dogs and my 84 year old Mother living with me. Life is full here, that's for sure.

I have had chickens since my first ones were given to me in '75, except for a few years due to moving and such. Life just isn't clucky unless you have some birds in the yard.
Oh I forgot, I have 2 EEs that live in my shop. One is unable to walk and has a sister that watches over her devotedly. I need to release the little disabled girl from her body but just can't do it. Her sister Pooter, would not know what to do without her. She has stayed by her side and talks to her and coos and clucks over her.

I am happy I found this little "Where are you?" site here. And now it is late enough I am probably not making much sense and I need to get some snoozing in before too long.

 

[TifsBroodyBabes]

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My greenhouse is 6x8' I just went out and measured. I am not sure if I have already said what size it is. I know it has been a long time since I bought it. I used just a small inexpensive space heater, the kind that is normally used inside a house. I bought a temperature sensitive outlet that keeps the space between 36 to 42 degrees, if I remember right. It seemed to work the way I wanted it to. I had put blankets over the top on the greenhouse during last winters blast of cold. It was less than freezing for the best part of 2 weeks I think in December of 2009. The blankets were able to retain enough of the heat to keep all the pot of geraniums from freezing. I had no problems with overwintering the plants out in the GH. They continued to bloom for most of the winter and on into the spring. It didn't help that it was so slow this year to warm up.

I still need to pull the begonias in tomorrow before the temperatures really get cold. I don't know whether or not I will dig up dahlias or not. I have never had great success with digging them up. They have always rotted on me. For many years I have had them re-grow as long as I just leave them where they are planted. I do worry a bit about the dahlias that are in some of the larger pots just because they are more prone to freezing. I also will need to dig up the Canna bulbs tomorrow, and get them set for the winter. I left all of the summer bulbs stay where they were, so that they will have that first frost, so as long as I get them in tomorrow I think I will be okay with everything.

My neighbor never digs up her dahlias.She leaves them out there all year (I think she has forgotten about them,as she never goes to that side of the house).They are very pretty every year.I get to enjoy her flower beds along this side of her house I'm always in my kitch where the pretty view is!

 

[TifsBroodyBabes]

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Hello- I lived in Arlington for 12 yrs.I miss it but not the traffic on 172nd-thats a little too crazy for me.We moved from there to Everett not too long after they put that new Costco out there. I miss not having all the critters I used to have but I'm fine with the 6 chickens in my little backyard.

 

[justbugged]

Quote:
Welcome to the group, feel free to jump in. We have found that we will talk about almost (but not everything) anything here. The biggest challenge is keeping up on all the pages of posts in any given day.

 

[Rainwolf]

I'm told the vinegar helps softens the shell to make it easier to peel. But yes the cold water bath is a must!

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
How pretty. I don't know if I will ever use a buddy list...but I can add you.

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Okay, seriously cold coming up. I hope my girls can do it. They are in an insulated house with a heat lamp...but still....they are calling for -14 on Tuesday night. I think I will make them some oatmeal this morning to help warm them up. Maybe chop up a can of peaches in it.

adding a question:

Ya' know how they sell those suet bars for tweety birds? Is there some kind of good fat that I should give my chickens to help them through a hard winter? Are those Suet bars okay for chickens? Is there some other food or treat that I can give them to help them through the real cold? they have both layer and scratch readily available.

 

[Cackling Hen]

Oh my woke up and the snow is coming down and its sooooooooooo cold Keep warm everyone and our chickens too

 

[DuckLady]

IT is 17 here and snowing. Looks like we got about 4 inches overnight in a light steady snowfall.

The weather station sensor is in the duck garage, but the Weather Channel says it is 17, feels like 4, but the straw bale walls in the duck garage have the temp holding at 33 degrees, which is awesome!