Food For Thought

I've been trying to find a cheaper way to feed my chickens over the years and have started looking into growing my own.  I've dug around on the internet and just couldn't seem to find the best way for our situation-until now! I have heard about fodder in the past, but didn't know if it would be a source of complete nutrition for my girls or not. 

I don't feel comfortable going completely free-range at the moment.  I do let them out from time to time, but with our schedule, there are days when I leave in the morning and don't get home till after dark.  Living as far out as we do, there are plenty of predators around that would love to have half a dozen chickens for a tasty dinner. 

Case in point with our ducks.  We started with 9 and are now down to 2.  Something has picked them off one by one.  I'm afraid we'll have no ducks soon.  They don't like to stay up around the house anymore since the stray dog that showed up tried to retrieve one.  (He has since found a better home.) 

Feed prices are the main reason I am trying this new system.  I'm still going to buy commercial feed, but I don't wan to depend on it for their main source of food.  I'm in the R&D phase of this right now, so we'll see how it goes.  It helps a lot that I have a solid source of my starter.  I am using wheat for my fodder.  I know lots of people use barley, but we grow wheat in our area and it is very easy to get.  I have a 5 gallon bucket in my kitchen at the moment that I am going to use-that is if I can keep my daughter out of it long enough!  She loves to dig in it like a sandbox. 

I'm only trying one tray at the moment.  I took an old coffee can and filled it about half way with water. I put just a tiny splash of bleach into the water.  This will help kill any bacteria or fungus that might be on the wheat.  I placed 4 cups of wheat into the water and stirred with a wooden spoon to distribute the chlorinated water around.  I let that sit for just a couple minutes then drained it.  I then filled it back up with water and stirred again.  This sat on the kitchen counter for about 9 hours.  Once it had soaked, I spread a layer of paper towels in the bottom of a seed starting tray.  This is to keep the roots from attaching to the tray.  (Not sure if this is really necessary, but we did it.  Remember, this is my R&D phase!)

I've been keeping the wheat damp and it is starting to get little green sprouts!  The first morning, there were little white spots starting to show up at the tips of each kernel.  The second day there were a few more.  By the third morning, there were lots of little green-looking tips.  This should take about 6-9 days to complete a full tray, depending on how big we want the sprouts to be. 

This is what the sprouts look after 5 days. 

 

 

I think I'll let them go another 2-3 more days and feed my girls on Saturday or Sunday. 

 

There will no doubt be changes to our process, but it shouldn't need a major overhaul.  We are going to cut back to only 2 cups of wheat for the next tray.  Four just seemed to be too much once we spread it all out. 

 

Once we have a system up and running, I'll post some more on this new venture!

Chicken ER

This weekend we let our chickens out to roam around the farm.  It was chilly and very windy, so they didn't venture too far out.  Most of them came out the front door of the coop, pecked around a little and then would head back in.  Saturday I let out the younger group and they seemed to enjoy it.  Sunday came and I let out the older pen.  Most of them would run out the door happy to be outside enjoying the sunshine, then once they felt the wind, the turned around and ran back inside. 

As I was outside talking to my old girls on Sunday, I noticed there were drops of blood on the floor.  I became concerned when I walked further into the coop and found even more blood on the floor.  It wasn't so much to become concerned that a predator had entered the coop, but it was enough to make me start looking over each one and try to determine the cause.  I found one chicken in the storage area with a little blood on her back like she got picked on, but it wasn't more that a couple little spots.  It wasn't gushing to the point of making drops on the floor.  I let her hang out there so she could stay away from the others and avoid more pecking.  I went back to the others that were still inside and noticed one hen's feet were very bloody.  I picked her up and noticed one of her toenails was broken and bleeding a lot.  I picked her up and immediately removed her from the coop.  I took her to the garage to get her and myself out of the wind.  I had my son bring me several tissues to help stop the bleeding.  It took a good half hour to get it to stop, or so I thought.  It started bleeding again, so I took her inside to wash her feet off and keep trying.  About an hour after I first noticed the injury, we finally got the bleeding to stop. 

After she was cleaned up and bleeding stopped, we took a couple drops of fingetnail polish and put it onto the nail to help seal up the injury.  I put her into a nesting box with clean litter and she happily sat there for the rest of the evening.  I think she enjoyed the extra pampering and the privacy of the nesting box.  I'm hoping the rest of the hens leave her alone for a day or two. 

She must have caught her toe in something in the coop.  I guess it's time to do some much needed spring cleaning in the coop again. 

Counting My Blessings

Yesterday was a day that all parents of teenage drivers fear.  Your child runs into the house scared to death and yells "I just crashed my car!" 

My 15 year old son had just left for practice at 5:35 a.m.  It's only 18 degrees outside and dark.  He didn't even make it a mile down the road and something broke on his car and sent him spinning into the ditch.  I wasn't there, so I don't know 100 % what happened, but from what he tells us, the car started to drift toward the ditch and when he tried to bring it back to the center of the road, it over-corrected and spun into the ditch.  He wasn't on his phone, because he discovered it was dead when he tried to call us to tell us what happened. 

He ran almost a mile back to the house, in the dark, in the cold and probably shaking like a leaf-not from the cold, but from pure fear that it happened.  Once he burst through the door, we thought he was mad about something, until my husband took a better look at him.  He was cold, shaking and not able to explain what happened.  Had he been any closer to our house, his car would have ended up in a three to four foot deep ditch.  The outcome could have been terrible.

I am so glad we have taught him that seatbelts should always be worn and to keep the phones put away.  He has been an avid seatbelt wearer since he was very little, so that has followed through to his own driving habits. 

All day I was in a very somber mood, trying not to think too much about it.  It's amazing how one little "wreck" can cause you to look at life and run through possible outcomes.  I hope that is the worst wreck he has in his driving future.  If it is, then he will be lucky.  I've know other kids that weren't that lucky and I'm sure their parents wanted a different outcome too.  I found myself thanking God yesterday several times for keeping my son safe and watching over him.

I think it also made my son a little more tolerant of his dad and myself.  We never heard gripping or complaining last night.  He did what he was asked and actually was pleasant to be around.  Not that I wanted something like that to make it happen, but since it did, I think it opened his eyes and made him appreciate what he has. 

New Year, New Ideas!

A new year is upon us and all the new ideas keep rolling in from all sorts of places.  I will be the first to admit that I am a Pinterest addict.  And due to that addiction, I have lots of projects that I'm just dying to get started on.  Unfortunately, time and money seem to keep me from embarking on that journey.  I will keep pinning, and one day, when I have more of both of the above resources, I will tackle that ever-growing list. 

One of the things that I did get accomplished recently wasn't on one of my boards (at least I don't think it was), is a set of "curtains" for my hen's nesting boxes.  I've had a terrible time keeping pine shavings in their nesting boxes for a number of years.  They get into the nesting boxes and like to camp out, scratching and fluffing the litter all over.  They also have a bad habit of eating the eggs in the nesting boxes if they are left there all day.  I am not home all day since I work, so by the time I get home from work, get out to take care of chores, I am usually cursing them for eating the eggs and emptying the contents of the boxes. 

I read somewhere (sorry, can't remember whose blog it was), that they used curtains on the boxes.  According to the author, the hens like their privacy when laying eggs, but don't like to stay in the dark for all that long.  The curtains also discourage the hens from egg-eating.  I finally got the ambition desperate enough to get out and get it done. 

I had several empty feed bags that were sitting around and decided to find a staple gun, a pair of scissors and start cutting.  I just guessed on the size that I would need.  I had plenty of bags to use, so I just started cutting away.  I stapled it to the top of the box and trimmed to about 2 inches above the floor of the nesting box.  I wanted them to be able to see into the box a little, but wanted it dark enough to discourage the camping out habit.  Once I got the piece stapled at the top, I cut strips about 1 1/2 inches wide and 3/4 of the way up the stapled piece.  This makes it easier for the hens to get into and out of the boxes.  Once I was done making noise and disrupting their afternoon, I grabbed a hen or two and put them up into the boxes to show them it wasn't anything new or scary.  After the first day, I noticed an egg, still in on piece and clean, sitting in a nice clean pile of pine shavings.  I was so excited and praised my girls for being such good chickens.  A few eggs were still on the floor of the coop, but in one piece.  The next day, there were a few more in the nesting boxes, in one piece and sitting on clean shavings.  I was ecstatic!  Yesterday, I went out and there were five eggs in boxes!  I think they are learning quickly!

I know I should have done this years ago, but I am still learning.  I'm no chicken pro by any means.  I have had chickens for several years, but it's a learning process-what works, what doesn't, revise and try again. 

Apples, Apples Everywhere!

A few weeks ago we took a day trip to a local apple orchard.  There aren't very many in our area, so when we found this one, we loaded up and headed that way.  Unfortunately, I left my camera behind, so the only pictures I got were on my ancient Blackberry.  They were not very good, so I won't be posting them.  We picked for about an hour in a couple different places in the orchard.  We picked three boxes of wonderfully sweet, crispy, crunchy apples.  The orchard owners said to find a tree, taste the apples and if we like them, pick.  That's a perk of pick-your-own orchards!  You get free samples while you pick!  Both my son and daughter ate apples while they picked.  We were all quite sticky and full when we were done.  It was a fun family day.  Those are few and far between in the fall due to my coaching habit!  :)

Anyway, now that we have three boxes of apples sitting on my floor, I have to do something with them.  Don't get me wrong, we are loving the fresh snacks and easily accessible lunch/breakfast foods, but I forget how busy I am on weekends and they sit there staring at me begging to become applesauce or apple pie.  Well, I have mades several batches of applesauce and also made some fritters.  Those were to DIE for, let me tell you!  I can't make them too often or I will be gaining some unwanted pounds. 

An apple pie has been calling my name, but I am terrified of making pie crusts.  I have attempted several in past years and they always end up sticking to the counter and tearing as I put them into the pie plate.  If they don't stick, they end up so dry and crack as I roll them out.  I would get so frustrated that I would end up throwing the whole thing in the trash and sulk.  I finally decided to suck it up and try again.  My mom always said use "ice cold" water.  I did and I can happily report that it was a success!  The crust was flaky, but not too dry and it didn't tear as I put it into the plate.  I filled up the crust with apples, sugar, cinnamon and a little cornstarch to make sure it wasn't too soggy.  I put a crumb topping on this pie.  I didn't want to tempt fate and mess up a crust in my second attempt in one day.  Again, no pictures.  Sorry.  It was eaten before I thought to take any. 

Since I had successfully made an apple pie, I decided to use up some of my apples that have been staring me down.  Apple pie filling was made and processed in a hot water bath.  This is not a very clean job, at least not in my house.  I had peels everywhere, syrup sticking to this and that and pots full of water and other things cooking on my stove.  Six quarts of pie filling were made and I had to stop with that. 

It was getting late in the evening and I had other little things that needed to be done.  You know, dishes, dinner, hanging with my kids, nothing big!  ;)  I'm just kidding!  My daughter loves helping me, so she was in the kitchen asking what she could do to "help" almost all afternoon.  When she got bored, she would go play, then not too long after that, she was back asking to help again.  A 15 year old isn't too thrilled to help mom in the kitchen, so he stayed out of the way unless he got hungry.  Typical boy, right? 

I'm excited to try a pie with my filling, but I better not for a while.  My waist-line isn't very happy with me eating the last few pieces of my first pie. 

Garden Burn Out

Is it bad that I haven't touched my garden in several weeks?  I get so wrapped up in wanting this large garden every spring, work the ground, plan everything out, spend hours planting, weeding and watering, and then by the time August gets here, I want nothing more than to look away.  The last two summers have been more than enough to make any gardener want to throw in the towel.  No rain, 100+ degree weather for weeks at a time and hot dry winds.  Luckily we have a high water table that hasn't decided to dry up, but I'm afraid that it won't stick around.  It has dropped several feet over the last two years.  Our typically damp basement has been bone dry.  Our newly dug pond is struggling to keep water in it and we are losing trees left and right.  Most of our cedar trees are dead and I think the nice big oak in our front yard is not going to make it.  It struggled to keep leaves last summer and this summer, not many stayed on it either.  It's been bare most of the year. 

Back to the garden.....The cabbage did marginal.  That was an experiment this year.  I've never tried growing it before and I may try it again.  The few heads we did get, we ate or sold at the farmer's market.  I had several people tell me they were good, so I guess we did a good job taking care of them.  Another experiment we tried was cauliflower.  That one was a flop.  It had lovely foliage, but NOTHING showed up that looked like a head of cauliflower.  I think we planted it too late and the heat kept it from finishing.  Most of the other "usual" veggies grew fairly well.  The cucumbers turned out bitter, but I'm sure that's from the heat and lack of water. 

We are also struggling to get a milo crop to finish.  The heat and lack of water stunted the growth and when it finally rained, the warmth that the plants need to finish maturing went away.  I think we will be able to cut, but it won't be a great crop.  Luckily it's not our sole income.  It's only 16 acres, so it's a definite hobby. 

I guess it's ok that I get a little garden burn out by the time August comes around.  School starting is always a busy time for us.  Our oldest son started high school this year, so that has been a big change.  He is driving to school now.  (GASP!!!)  It has made my life soooo much easier.  I don't have to sit around and wait on him after school and other activities that are immediately after school.  He can just head home when he is done.  Our daughter started her 2nd year of preschool this year and is also getting involved in activities in the evening.  It's amazing how quickly they grow up.  Before I know it, she'll be heading off to her first day of high school.  

I am also a volleyball coach at a neighboring school.  That keeps me busy till 6 or 6:30 most nights and sometimes longer.  It's something I love, so I feel it's worth it.  Being a positive role model to teenage girls is something that I feel I can do to give back.  That's a post for another day!

My thoughts on the garden burn out leads me back to looking at the year and understanding that it's ok to get tired of it.  If all I did was garden all year long, it wouldn't be so exciting each spring when the catalogs start showing up.  Each season comes with its "things to do" lists that need to be done.  Having a little time off helps me get that itch and the excitement to tackle these projects. 

Time to put the garden to rest, so I can be ready to roll when spring comes around! 

New Ventures

Garden Toadstools

I'm trying something new this year for the farmer's market we attend-crafts.  We'll see if this is a hit or a miss for our little market.  I saw an idea a few year's ago at a garden show.  I'm not sure what they used for their toadstools, but I knew that I could use old implement disks from the farm to make mine.  This idea has been stewing for about two years now and I've finally decided to dive in and tackle it.  This is how I made mine.  Any variations can be made depending on what you have available to you. 

What you need:
1 implement disk
1 can red rust sealing spray paint
white acrylic paint
1 large landcape nail
1 large washer
1 10-16 inch post

All steps were done outside or in the garage with the doors open.  This can be a messy project!

I started by using a wire brush to scrape off any rust and dirt from the disk.  I didn't buy any of the disks.  We had some that we were wanting to discard.  There are always farmers wanting to get rid of old ones, just find one near you.  I also used a Scotchbrite pad after the wire brush to make a finer "sanding" effect.  Wipe down the disk to remove any extra dirt or rust.  Let it dry for an hour or two depending on the humidity.  Lay your disk on some old newspaper or cardboard and spray a coat of paint.  Let it dry completely between coats.  It will take two to three coats of paint.  Once you are happy with the coverage let it dry for about 12-24 hours. 

Once it is dry, start painting your toadstool spots.  I used white acrylic paint, but you can paint it whatever color and in whatever design you prefer.  I went with a simple spot design.  I didn't make my spots perfectly round or all the same sizes.  Toadstools are perfect in real life, so I didn't think these should be either.  Apply two coats for your spots and let dry completely. 

To make the bases, I wanted something that looked old and aged.  We recently removed a bunch of fenceposts from our sheep lot.  They were rotten at the ground level, but fine further up.  We used a chainsaw to cut off the rotted part and then drilled a hole in the top to allow the nail to be driven in a little easier.  I call them landscape nails, but I'm not 100% sure of the name.  They are about 8 inches long and not quite 1/2 inch in diameter.  Paint your washers red to match the disk.  Place your washer over the hole and drive your nail in through the washer and disk.  I had to keep moving the disk and washer to line back up so the holes would be covered.  Once you have the nail just about in center everything and give it one last whack with a hammer.When you have it secure, place a piece of newspaper or cardboard over the disk with a hole made in the center to paint your nail head.  If you paint the nail head before you hammer it in, you will chip the paint off and have to do this step anyway. 

Voila!  You have your own garden toadstool.  It's ok if they aren't perfectly straight.  I think they have more character when they have a slight tilt to them.