Is It Safe to Reuse Egg Cartons?

Should you reuse egg cartons from the store? Are they safe? I'll admit, I've accepted cartons from well-meaning friends and neighbors and stored my own farm fresh eggs in them. But there is this nagging feeling that makes me question - "Is it safe?" Especially as I sort through the containers to try and find ones that are not stained from dripping eggs whites passing across them to the fry pan. Or from broken eggs shells once stored inside. Most times this pickiness leaves me with a bag full of fire starter instead of storage containers.

So when our daughter found hard plastic egg cartons, and on sale too, I jumped at the opportunity to leave used egg cartons behind.

Then comfortable with my decision, I did some research on just what a risk I had been taking. What I found scared me.  

·       Salmonella is one such bacterium and it can remain alive for weeks lurking in a used egg carton.  

·       You can be a salmonella carrier without symptoms and pass the disease on to others.  

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that 79,000 cases of foodborne illness and 30 deaths each year are caused by eating eggs contaminated with Salmonella.

•  For this reason Israel Health Ministry issued a ban on used cardboard egg cartons for arts and crafts in their schools and day cares.

Thinking twice yet?

So what about Styrofoam egg cartons? I saw that some on the internet felt they were safe to reuse because they were sterilizing them. But is that enough? Styrofoam is porous and lightweight foam. This porosity helps maintain heat and cold but it also is perfect for harboring bacteria.

Apparently if Salmonella is given time to form a biofilm in the Styrofoam then sterilization is not enough. If not, then yes, you can reuse the cartons but there is no way for those of us without training and the equipment to know if sterilization is enough. The simple answer to those who would bless you with the offer of used egg cartons is, "No, thank you." or use them as a fire starter. They work great!
(Did not type this post in capital letters. And it does not show up as such in my draft. Do what is up with that. I will be switching one of these days to the new site and this should not happen.)

The Virtues of Ducks

Ducks may of done me wrong but I have an idea they might be back in the future. There are some great benefits to raising ducks according to research. My timing for raising duck was poor so I'll wait a while, think things over more, and I would not be surprised if they don't return in a few years from now when the rabbit and chicken self-sustaining set up is running more smoothly. Until then, I'm going to do some more research and some serious thinking. 

  These are the points so far that have me thinking duck:

 (a.) Duck lay better than chickens in winter. Just learned that ducks often begin to lay in February so maybe I was a bit hasty in getting rid of them except I desperately needed their coop and realistically, I'm not ready for them.  Since that is after the winter solstice and light is increasing, I'd guess that is why the timing.  So I'm going to think and watch my chickens to see if I need duck eggs to fill in a gap. 

(b.) Ducks have a larger egg yolk than chickens but when I measured Sasha's egg yolk and one of my Rainbow hen's they were equal in size but they lay extra large eggs. Keep in mind that the bulk of the nutrition in an egg is in the yolk. That is why a chick or duck forms in the egg white and the yolk is they food source.

 (c.) Duck eggs are alkaline and chickens are acidic. That is a biggy. It is one of the reasons why we have goat milk because it too is alkaline so adding duck eggs would be a really good combination.  

(d.) Duck eggs have 6 times the Vitamin D and 2 times the Vitamin A than a chicken egg, more protein too. Other than that pretty much the same as a chicken's egg in nutrition. With having to take 5000 units of vitamin D a day to stay at the lower end of normal and my husband 1000 units that could mean we could go off of supplements part of the year or at least reduce the amount.

(e.) Duck eggs have twice the cholesterol that chicken eggs do but have more Omega 3 fatty acids so don't be turned away. The whole cholesterol and its bad side affects is on debate right now. Cholesterol is far more complex than they first thought and cholesterol does play an essential role in the body. It is the basis of all hormones. Anyway you look at it more Omega 3's is a good thing.

(f.) Duck eggs are richer in Albumen which makes cakes and pastries fluffier and richer. 

(g.) Duck eggs are typically larger than chicken's.

(h.) They handle the cold better and forage better than chickens. I can testify to those two things.

(i) Duck egg shells are much thicker and I mean much thicker. It takes a pretty good wack to open them. This gives them a longer shelf life of six weeks in the refrigerator. They will keep up to six weeks in the refrigerator. As a side note of interest, the shell is much smoother than a chicken's. If you have ducks and chickens in the same pen, this is a way to tell the eggs apart if both lay the same size of egg like ours do.

As for flavor, we prefer chicken eggs slightly over duck eggs but there is not a huge difference in them. So taste is not what pulls me back to considering ducks again in the future. What keeps pulling me back to raising ducks is that their eggs leave a more alkaline atmosphere in the body. Cancer feeds on a acid environment and with it so prevalent in our society, that is a big deal. We definitely need to start changing our diet more in the alkaline direction. The other important factor is that we did not loose a single duck to predators last summer and fall. We did loose quite a few chickens. We have the last two years. I read in one site that raccoons are a duck's main problem. We definitely have those, just look at the claw marks by the latch on our chicken coop. Then there is the down. Something interesting I discovered when processing nine ducks of several breeds so stay tuned. 

Range Free Eggs

 Aye, me has plenty of blogs to write about and even the pictures too but life is throwing curve balls a mile a minute and I've not the time. So please bear with me. I'm doing me best. Today, a light hearted Irish spirited post. Me husband thought one thing and I another when I put up the sign at the end of our sun room.

I painted me chicken and wrote Range Free Eggs and he quite disagreed. I don't always do things right and maybe he would say quite often but this time I would disagree. I know that most folks write 'Free Range' but me doesn't quite understand. To me Free Range means the land does not cost. So that interpreted means land does not cost - eggs. Is one making a statement that one has free land and eggs too? As you can see I'ze a bit confundered about the whole issue. 

 So me house, me sign. Chicken, (see painted chicken) range free. In other words they roam about the place except at night of coarse or we simply would be feeding the wild beasties. Plus, they give eggs - yummy, tasty, healthy eggs. Once explained like that me husband had to quite agree. It made sense. Or is that just me way of thinking?

Of course you may add your opinion, we all have them and you may have another thought pattern instead.

A Hen's Eggs Change Color

In pondering about how to set up a chicken record chart that will tell me whether or not I'm reaching my goals on how to save time, and money; I've learned an interesting fact. A hen's eggs become lighter in color as her laying cycle advances. I have an Australorp hen and a Rhode Island hen who are both two and just started up laying again. Good thing because I was going to put them in the stew pot if they didn't get a move on. Indeed their eggs are much darker than the majority. I have a couple, I'm guessing, that are at the end of their laying cycle because the eggs are very pale. This works great because I have hens that though they are not all the same breed, they do lay about the same shade of brown egg when they are at the same time of their cycle. If your eggs are all white then it is pretty hard to tell a white egg from a whiter egg. 

But if you know what hen lays what egg which is easiest if you only have a few hens, then you can keep track. Of course that only works if you camp out and collect eggs as they are laid and the egg shape is distinct. I don't have all day to do that and I'm sure you don't either. But there is that chance that comes once in a while where you peg a hen for the unique egg shape she lays. 

That is why I want to build nesting boxes again. The last ones were for normal hens and only a few would bother to squeeze in. Hens use the same nests each time so that would narrow down the number of hens I'm watching in a particular nest. Also an interesting fact. Hens lay in a twenty-five to twenty-six hour cycle. Which means they lay later and later in the day until the circle comes back to morning again. That I have definitely noticed. Easiest to do when you hens do not all look alike.

Look at the difference in the color of eggs. No, I do not have a hen that lays white eggs. I'd guess she is just about ready to molt. The one on the left won't be too far behind and the one on the right is just getting started, either it is the Rhode Island Red or the Australorp. 

I've also noticed that the same hens are on the nest almost every day. My two Australorps crossed with the mystery breed rooster are two of my prolific layers. There is one more of this cross but I need to check her out. I don't think she has every laid an egg. She is always just too pretty. 10 and a half pound Pearl looked this pretty  and I had no idea until she died on me that she probably never laid an egg in her life. She is the one who started my research on being able to tell when in her egg laying cycle a hen is. It is those pale, pale legs  and pretty feathers that has me suspicious about this one hen. I'm in the culling mood since the present work load is far too steep. Watch out girl you might just be on the chopping block next week. This girl was always going to become chicken noodle soup because she is quite light weight compared to her other relatives but I never got it done.Then this spring it was because I did not want to pass on her genetics. Does that happen to you. The not getting things done part? Now I'm desperate to lower my work load and financial drain on the budget. Great motivation.

 So that is what I plan on learning to do - keep track of who is laying, molting, and setting. The last one of course is easy. She sits there and hardly ever gets up. The tricky part is to figure out who is laying and not laying. I researched to have a  more scientific idea on who that is. We'll talk more about what I've learned later. I want to try out the information on the girls first. That means nighty night so I can get up and check the girls while they are still on their perches.  Easier to catch that way. I've got twelve to catch so if it takes me a couple or more days its okay. Just as long as the task gets done.

Lessons Learned the Hard Way.

 "In all labor there is profit.", the saying goes. I learned a big one this spring. Last year I used the empty rabbit cages to put hens in when they became broody. Cardboard in the bottom and pine shavings and the hens were thrilled, happily remaining on her eggs until all eggs that were going to hatch, did. It worked great!

But then entered difficulties that accompany a daughter who has been diagnosed with cancer. Things at home did not get done and that included thinning the rabbit population. Hence, the great set up last year with using the rabbit cages was not available. No big deal right? I can just put the first two setters together in the small chicken coop. It is cozy, warm, and plenty of room for two to choose a nesting site. The food and water was nearby and I would be dealing with only one set up and not two in separate rabbit cages. The first few days worked great. Then the bossy hen on the left stole all the eggs from the hen on the right leaving her screaming at the top of her lungs in indignation. Not knowing which eggs were which, I had to leave them with bossy pants and turn the to be first time mama outside. The question then became whether the brown hen would sit on the eggs long enough to hatch them all since they were different ages.

Then a black hen decided to lay and with the Tulsa trip looming, I put her inside as well and crossed my fingers. While gone, our daughter complained that some of the eggs had begun to smell. I told her to hang in there, I'd be back shortly. Shortly turned in to six days and the whole time I was praying that the brown hen would not interrupt the black hen. I came home to a stinking coop and planned on doing something the next day when the brown hen hatched two chicks and was running all around in a tizzy worrying over them. She had forgotten the eggs she was suppose to be setting on. They were now cold and dead. Maybe it was my mood after a long week at Tulsa but I snatched up her chicks and shooed her out into the yard. The chicks I put under a heat lamp. I was in no mood to baby her when she had only 2.

The 2 chicks would not be alone for long since Australorps were due into the feed store any day. My Australorps did not come but ducks did. Now we had 2 ducks and 2 chicks, with Australorps joining them the next week and a couple days later four ducks. That was when I discovered two chicks running around with the black hen. She had abandoned her other eggs too. This set up definitely does not work. We now have quite the batch of mismatch ages of ducks and chicks. Its okay, they get along fine and a big lesson was learned - use the rabbit cages for broody hens. That is where the profit comes in - maybe not financially but I now know what does not work for us.

When do Hens Turn into Roosters?

I know that the blogs have been mostly about chickens but keep in mind that I'm Autistic. We have a tendency to fixate so please be patient. I'm still fixated. It won't last forever since I have ADD also. You just don't get the full effect as I'm not showing you an eighth of what I'm doing. In fact, today I started a new shampoo experiment. On day one I'm already impressed so we shall see how that plays out. Rest assured that soon the posts will be changing subjects frequently as it is time to order garden seeds. The goats will begin kidding in March and I'm on the look out for a buck rabbit to well, you know. I'm going to hatch out a batch of chicks I think in April. Oh, yeah, that's chickens again.

*******

But though I have parts of other blogs written and some of them are not about chickens, I have something I just have to share. Have you ever heard of a hen that transforms into a rooster?  It got my attention too. We had a goat once who was born with both sets of sexual organs but this is a "a horse of a different color." or rather a chicken. This is a hen who is all girly and feminine laying eggs who up and quits and becomes a rooster, or rather sort of. She grows spurs, a large comb, and her nice round feathers on her neck transform into hackle. Maybe not the fly tying quality but definitely hackle. To top it off, some of these hens who transform   crow. You heard me, crow. That, I'd like to hear. I've raised a number of chickens over the years and I have to wonder. Do they sound really roostery or is the noise more like a strangled chicken? You know the one immature roosters make when they are just learning. It is kind of like a 12 or 13 year old boy's voice which breaks off in mid word or rather crow and squawks and squeaks.


I stumbled across this little side show while researching one night. At first I thought it was a hoax. But no..., the information was from a reputable university agriculture website. I checked further and indeed this is possible -- but rare.


The hen does not really turn into a rooster since she still has all her feminine parts but the hormones get mixed up. For you young'uns, I will explain the birds and the bees of the thing so those of you too young to hear this part put your fingers in your ears and say, "Nuh, nuh, nuh.", really loud. I'll holler when I'm done. A hen has two ovaries. Most female animals do but what is different about a chicken is that the right ovary stops developing when the female chick hatches. The left ovary continues to mature and produce eggs. I can't help but think what would happen if both ovaries went to town producing. "Wow!!" I can't believe a scientist hasn't worked on this project.


The cause of this strange hen turning into a rooster phenomenon is a damaged left ovary. Chicken ovaries produce the hormones oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Read that sentence again. It is oestrogen, not estrogen. I'm really resisting heading off and learning about the difference between estrogen and oestrogen but my to do list today is reining me in. I admit, I did check to see if a hen goes through menopause. You know when the ovaries cease to function anymore on a woman. Why not a chicken? There is a debate out on that one.


It is ridiculous! I think it's a disease. My brain won't shut down with questions that scream, "I want answers!!!"


 I have a theory about this strange rooster look for hens. I can't help but think the oestrogen  and progesterone levels go down in the damaged ovary and the testosterone remains strong. Hence, the roostery look but not the full effect because the testosterone level is not full force like if there were testes. My question though is why does the right ovary not develop at this time? You know how the brain can in part rewire itself if damaged. If it isn't a spare then what is its function? See, the brain won't shut down. I would have loved being a research scientist.


To get the whole scoop from the horses mouth try some further reading in the link below.

http://extension.psu.edu/animals/poultry/topics/general-educational-material/avian-anatomy-and-physiology/the-reproductive-system-and-fertilization/the-hen


See I tried to not make the post all about chickens. Note the horse references thrown in here and there.




YOU CAN PULL YOUR FINGERS OUT OF YOUR EARS NOW!!! I'm done.

How Many Roosters are Needed?

After determining what our chicken set up would allow and what our needs were, we set goals. Ideally we should have 10 to 12 hens per rooster for breeding purposes of course. You do not need a rooster for the hens to lay eggs. But a side note - Did you know roosters like big combed hens? No, not big breasted or ones with a large booty. Nope, a large comb turns them on. And yes, rooster do have favorites. Sir Gallop has already chosen amongst the young pullets, though he does not do so at the exclusion of the others. Now I want to watch to see if he prefers big combed hens like the research study concluded.


Sorry, squirrel there. My mind darts like crazy. Back to the story. We had 2 roosters and 19 hens. The young rooster got along as well with the older rooster in their winter facilities with hens, as the 2 buck goats did in theirs with the does - not well! The young rooster was the easy choice to put in the stew pot but which hens? I can't decide. I chose 3 easy picks but I need charts just like I made for the goats to choose more. I rank each goat in varying categories which meet specific criteria for the perfect specimen for our needs. Some categories are worth more points and there importance is greater. This has moved the cloud of emotions out of the equation. This has cleared the confusion.


Through careful thought, I've just completed the list for chickens. Interesting, our needs have changed from the previous location to here. We have more people to feed. We have different facilities and now the ability to use free range; but we have more predators and lots more snow. Time will tell which of these young pullets born last summer will make the grade. Some look great in one category but not in another. They need scored in order or me to decide who stays and who goes. The bottom number of hens needs to be 12. Maybe that was why some of the eggs last summer were not fertile.


We know we need to lower production costs. But with some molting, some not producing yet, and a couple that were injured and had to be put in the stew pot, (which happens), what is the magical number? We need to find out. We need to chart each hen and know how many eggs she produces. Are they of the quality needed? How long is her molt? Is she broody and if she is, does she begin laying eggs when the chicks are young or does she go straight into a molt? We had a variety last summer.  We need records. The information we need will take time but waiting won't get it for us so we had better begin. 


 Increase costs in the care of the hens means we need to produce more with less. We need to search out ways to save money on feed. We need chickens that better fit our needs for meat and egg production. We need to do this within the facilities we presently have. We need to do it within budget. The we needs are awfully long. I think and I emphasize, I think, we need to use the incubator once a year to produce more meat and not simply allow the hens to set on their eggs like we did last summer in hopes we will get what we need. When to use our incubator is what I'm contemplating now. Timing is the key to success. Anyone have any ideas?


Our home canned broth has almost completely eliminated the use of store bouillon and of course we don't use store broth. Home canned chicken is used more and more over store bought frozen. As I use more of home grown, it creates a higher demand. A demand I did not meet last summer and which means we will run out this winter.  


We are working on a more plant based diet that will help lower the need for meat but that takes time. It means more garden space needs to be established. Meanwhile, with our needs high, we need to figure out how to do more with the limited space we have available. A new, larger chicken coop is not going to happen and the one we have has to house the rabbits and chickens in the winter time. A new summer rabbit loafing shed is in the planning stage and maybe it will work for winter but the question is out on that.


Simply put, we need to do more with less. It will require timing. It will require a better dual purpose chicken. How to do that, I'm not completely sure. I'm researching genetics, reproduction, and more. Lots of changes are in the wind and they include the garden, beef, goats, and rabbits.

How Do Chickens Stay Warm?

This young pullet is saying, "Baby it's cold outside!" Note the fluffed up feathers.  She isn't kidding as the temperature was -13 F. when I got out of bed this morning. I wait to do chores in weather like this until it warms a bit for there has been a breeze of late if not a gale wind that plunges the temperature further to a wind chill of 38 below zero. Hubby went to work in a white out this morning. It lasted for four miles. We live in the worst weather spot for 20 some miles either direction. I tell the grandkids that all the lights for our exit off of the interstate, our exit only, is because we are so special but they know better. It's for the cameras that allow people to see the not so lovely weather we have in the winter time. Our spot is often the reason for road closures. Of course that means we have the greenest spot in the summer too because the snow piles so high. Our little beauty spot is nicknamed, hurricane, flats. Not as bad as where we lived before moving here but it does get breezy at times.

 My lungs protest are protesting this polar weather. They are difficult to treat. Found that out two years ago when in January I spent some time in the hospital. The smart thing is to just not get my lungs mad, so I wait until the temperature is above zero, if possible, before going out. It works out best for the animals too as they don't like coming out of their sheds to drink if it is above zero either. The water freezes almost immediately while the animals try to convince me to bring it to them with insistent bellers. Hauling water twice in a row is not my idea of fun. They prefer to eat when it is a bit more toasty too. The chickens usually don't come out at all except on rare occasion to bask in the sun that beats against the side of the barn. They think it is only worth it if the wind is not blowing. Don't blame them really. The minute I opened the door they feel the frigid cold and hustle to the roost, fluff their feathers out, and tuck their legs up under to keep them warm. Those warm cushions of air between the fluffed up feathers are a nice insulator against the cold.

Even the rooster, Sir Gallop, has his hackle spread out wide. He tucks one foot in his feathers and then switches the supporting leg to tuck it up under where it is warm. That is why they like the roost so both legs stay warm.

 The first thing to freeze on a chicken is the comb. Note Sir Gallop's. The black is the part that froze and it is dead now. It will drop off in a few months. Frost bite is not unusual up north where we live. I've had mild cases of it a number of times myself. For roosters in the winter, it is not so big a deal. Don't know if it lowers their sperm count or not but that is not a concern for who wants to hatch chicks now anyway? It is a problem if a hen's comb freezes. They will stop laying eggs until the injury has healed. The remedy is to create a warm insulated coop. With 22 chickens and six rabbits inside, it stays pretty warm. Yes, we brought home three baby bunnies. I'll have to tell you the story. It is rather funny but that is another blog post. None of the other chicken's combs have frozen but then none of them are as large as the roosters.

We've raised chickens for about 28 years and though we've become pretty good chicken herders, sometimes there is just nothing you can do to get one or two back inside. Sometimes you will get one that just wants to be free-range day and night. Usually it is because they are being bullied but not always. Most chickens are smart enough to head for cover. A couple Wyandotte roosters ended up living with the goats or sheep. They rode  on their backs out from the shed to get a drink or eat with them at the hay feeder, then hitched a ride back. Their feet never touched the ground except to get a drink and up they'd go again to the shed once more. They shared warmth in the insulated shed and did fine through the winter. But we had three chickens that paid the price for not finding a good place to weather the storm and their combs froze along with their toes. One froze both feet so badly we had to kill it because it could not walk. Chickens are just not meant to live outside in the winter.

If you look carefully, you can see a tiny black dot on the comb of this Wyandotte hen. It has been an exceptionally cold winter so far. It has not stopped her from laying or I don't think it has. I've now studied two different scientific studies about how to tell if a hen is a good layer or not. I have my suspicions now about her but we'll talk about that later. I have raised Wyandotte chickens for many year but I may end that as I've found the fox and coyotes here seem to really like them.  This girl is the only one left. They are a gentle, sweet breed, even the roosters.

Sprouting Seeds For the Chickens

You probably thought you had heard the last of it  --sprouting seeds for the chickens.  (In case you missed the first experiment you can read it here. http://easylivingthehardway.blogspot.com/2014/01/sprouting-grains-for-chickens.html)

Hardly, I have quite a few things I want to try on the subject. When I used chicken scratch to sprout, I learned that because of the corn in the mixture it had a tendency to want to mold. I had to rinse the grain three times a day but filled the bucket and drain more times than I am now with wheat to keep the mold smell away. The chicken scratch grain stays fairly moist so it didn't seem like it needed the rinsing as much for moisture level as mold retardant.   

You can see experiments coming can't you? Yup, since I figured the scratch grains were a bit slow to sprout and the corn was causing molding I should try grains singularly.

First bucket of wheat started at the same time as the second bucket of wheat. More wheat is in this bucket. Not by a great deal.
I brought in wheat and began the same process. With this grain it is imperative to rinse three times a day as the seeds absorb the moisture quickly and dry out more so than the chicken scratch. They also sprout quicker by a couple days. I like the wheat better but there is less nutrient variety of course because it is simply one grain. The chickens aren't as fond of just wheat either. They know a good thing when they see it but I can't keep the counter full of grain buckets waiting on the chicken scratch mixture. I would like to do a combination of grains sprouting to keep a steady supply. In the new place I will stack the buckets by the back door to the garage and in the garage when it is warm enough but for now it is just experiment time.

Second bucket of wheat started at the same time as the first bucket but with less wheat to begin with.
The other thing I had a suspicion of was that it seemed like the less that was in the bucket the faster it sprouted but I was keeping the amounts fairly consistent so I couldn't be sure. The first wheat sprouted in two buckets were of approximately the same amount. This came out with the knowledge that they sprout faster than the scratch grain combination.

With the second two batches of wheat sprouts  I put less wheat in one bucket than the other and sure enough the wheat swelled up to almost the same as the other bucket with more wheat in it initially. The bucket with less in it sprouted quicker also. Once again less was more. So more is not better. A wider container might be helpful if I want to sprout more grain per bucket. I will be looking for new buckets.

I have some dried beans from my parents which I have no idea how old they are and how they were kept. I am going to attempt to sprout them for the chickens also. Why should chickens be fed grains only? I also want to try growing wheat grass probably next winter in the sun room of the new house.

Last but not least. I see some lovely colored water coming off of the grain when I rinse it. I'd bet it would be good for the house plants and the like. Too bad I don't have any right now but in just a few weeks I will be starting some for the garden. Will have to save the water to use it on them.

Yes this is not the last you will hear on this subject.

Trapping, My Latest Skill of Necessity

I LOVE Wyoming but if you aren't fond of traveling like I'm not fond of traveling, the wide open spaces have a large draw back. You have to travel to get anything. I needed fabric and foo foos for Halloween costumes so off our daughter and I went between the hours of school time. That was Monday. Tuesday off I went to get supplies for the window wells hubby is building. 

Wednesday storytime and ballet with the three year old while the six month old was in arms and early school release at 1:00 followed by library afterschool specials with the older grand kids, younger ones in tow. Thankfully that was in our small community.

Then Thursday was a whirlwind to get anything done before Friday. It began at 4:30 a.m. as we hurried to do chores and travel five hours to pick up Gracie, our sole remaining yak. Then home again to do chores and set traps before picking up the four grand kids to spend the night.

Oh did I fail to mention that I'm now adding trapping to my resume? Not by choice but necessity which has been the mother of most all our acquired skills. Just like window well building has become my hubbies newest skill since we priced ready made metal ones. We'll talk about how later. 

It was necessity that sent me to borrow live traps once more from the town Animal Control Officer, in other words the dog catcher. The same kind of live trap that I caught the skunk under the shed at the house.

Warm winter, nice spring and the population has exploded. Now after a summer drought, their are too many for the available feed supply. In they move to terrorize my poor chickens, sucking eggs, and possibly killing one hen. Possibly because this is what we found in one of my traps Saturday morning, a raccoon. Now I didn't scout out no raccoon trails. Nope, I had been going to the corrals just after dark to watch for skunks to see what direction they came from and try and figure out where they denned up.  I concluded they were in a small culvert since the grass was pressed down at the entrance and that proved to be true. 

Since coons love chicken dinner, I'm not so sure the missing hen wasn't its doing. I trapped this one over in our neighbors pen by their now empty chicken coop. The coop that once was full of chickens which all became varmit dinner.

As I asked permission to set traps in neighboring club member's pens, I discovered that chickens were going missing elsewhere too. Others may tolerate annihilation of their girls but you mess with my girls and you mess with me.

No more of MY girls is going to make anyone but us people a chicken dinner and nothing sucks MY eggs for free without asking as the two skunks who were caught in the act can attest if only they were alive to do so.

Though the skunks to my knowledge are not longer trespassing in the chicken coop, I'm left with a bad case of  PTSD  hens. Think I'm kidding? What would you call 1 to 4, at the most, eggs a day from 8 hens if not a bad case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome? Can't blame them, bullets flying over head and nightly invasions by threatening marauders. I might have it too if I weren't at the other end of the gun.

You might think just secure your pen tighter, well you have to do that too but our neighbors thought they had, a year old coop with buried wire underneath but still, they lost all their chickens. If something is hungry enough, they are going to find a way in. It is why population control in the animal kingdom is so... important. We do it or mother nature does. That is what the EHD that killed Jasmine was doing. I say was because cold weather has killed the flies.

 Mother Nature sent EHD to lower the deer population since we have a bad drought and no food. And wow,  has it wiped out a huge population of white-tails in particular along with some mule deer and antelope. She sends starvation, rabies and other nasty diseases to control skunks, racoons, and rabbits when needed. But for all you softies who say let Mother Nature take care of things, I want you to weigh the difference between a quick death by bullet or Jasmines death which did end by bullet but not before her organs turned to mush and she hemoraged out every orfice.

 I say population control by bullet is far kinder than disease and starvation so forgive me but since I've seen many forms of Mother Nature's population control, I favor the bullet and I favor trapping to control over population.

So for two nights, I timed my entry into the corrals to just after dark to attempt to discover if indeed skunks were lurking in the small culvert under the road. FWI, Skunks hole up together in the late fall for warmth and sure enough on the second night I saw two skunks tottering down our lane. This was after we had already gotten rid of two that got into the chicken coop.

 

As I told you the last time, skunks LOVE cat food and so it makes a great bait. What I didn't know is how unnearving it is carrying the crate with them inside. Luckily, the two trips we've made, no perfume has been donated.

More unnerving yet than carrying the cages is putting my hands in the front to slide the metal rings upward and opening the trap door.  So far nothing has tried to bite or scratch.  Not true if you accidently catch a kitty cat in a trap.  Five skunks and a racoon so far has left me wondering if we've got them all. I hope so. We go this morning once more to check, then on the road again. I've got to go help the folks at a business meeting.  

 

Oh yeah, got to have the educational part. I called a friend whos son's job is trapping for the goverment and he said fish oil and marshmellows is the best bait for racoons. Also, just keep setting the traps in the same spot you caught a varmit the last time for their friends will just keep coming until they are all gone. Then move on to another area and try there if need be.

 

Yes indeed, a woman of many talents, master of none, that's me.

Sourdough and Planting

My sourdough breads, whole wheat and white flour were just too dry. I need to make some bread crumbs or dressing out of the bread.

 Remember the start, that hadn't been fed as often, well I've given up on it. It is really tart and it isn't getting any better with feeding, throwing part of it out, and cooking. I made rolls with it yesterday and baked them last night. Kirk took one bite and said to feed it to the chickens. I threw out the start today. I've wanted an excuse to just have one start anyway and I've got one now.

The other start, I made pancakes with and the next plan is for pumpkin muffins. I'm determined to learn to become skilled with sourdough. Yes, I've made English muffins, bread, biscuits, and pancakes some but I wouldn't say I'm skilled.

I hope it won't be as challenging as the hat band I'm doing for the knit along. I've ripped out one-fourth of the length, three times and smaller sections more times than I'd like to count.

Why is it that I'm such a sl...o...w learner? Good thing the Lord blessed me with extreme stubbornness. If it weren't so, I'd never learn anything.

I also have some Kamut wheat sprouting in the kitchen waiting to be dried and ground into flour. It is going in to an oatmeal cake. So... many projects, so.... little time.
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I started some tomatoes and some peppers a little while back. Most have sprouted, all but the Washington Cherrys, my favorite cherry tomatoes. Oh how I love those cherry tomatoes. I'm not sure that you can call them a cherry tomato they are so... huge and yummy. I opened a newer package and started again last weekend when I added some lettuce and broccoli to new pots. But I spent most of my planting time separating sprouts and replanting them. 
My favorite tool to play in the dirt is a spoon, just like when I was a kid. It helps to spoon the dirt that is around the tender roots without touching the even more delicate stem. If the stem is bent, the plant most of the time dies.

I've run out of small, traditional containers, so I opened up some Dixie bathroom cups I'd bought for another occasion and never used. I poked holes with a pen in the bottom for water to drain out and air to circulate in. 

The plan is to sell the extra plants on our local town's Facebook page, just started recently. The page has turned out to be really handy. I'm hoping to sell a few chicks  on the page also. I've a few people already interested, so I'll try and put in as many eggs in the incubator as I can this weekend. I'm going to even try sexing the chicks when born. Wonder how hard that is?

 But until then, I've lots of transplanting to do and watering.

 Tomatoes and peppers aren't all I started. I put in broccoli, some spices to go along with the sage and oregano, that have sat in our living room window all winter along with some lettuce. 

Part of the onion seed, I took from an onion plant last year, I planted also. It is part of a three year experiment since you have to put onion bulbs back into the garden the second year and save seed. Then the third year you grow the seed. Onion seeds are only good for one year so I'm going to have to repeat this experiment this year with putting bulbs back into the ground once again.

I've never put lettuce transplants in the garden before and I don't know how it will work out but I'm going to give it a try. Yup, spring is in full swing.

Howling Winds

 One look at the neighbor's flag yesterday and I knew it wasn't going to be a clean the chicken coop day.

 Nope, the Wyadotte rooster we put in the hen house Sunday just about got his feathers blown off. So chicken coop cleaning will be reserved for another day. I don't relish being slapped with chicken manure in the face as I'm shoveling it into the pickup even if the garden is waiting for it.

I know it is a bit early according to our usual spring schedule but the Canadian geese have been coming north in droves for a good month now. I heard a Meadow Lark sing a few days ago and the Horned Larks are back too. Early, yes, but it must mean spring is right around the corner for surely the birds wouldn't lie and that must mean I need to up my schedule for hatching chicks and starting plants for the garden.

 And if the birds weren't enough indication, Sherman (the rooster)  {note how he is sidled up to Bella (kid goat)} has now all but abandoned the goats for our one black hen that runs loose. He also challenges the roosters through the wire of their coop, something he didn't do before. Yup, the rooster that didn't pay any attention to the neighbor's hen, Goldy, when she made advances is now all a flutter with hormones, so it's got to be time to put in a rooster in the hen house.

We house our roosters separately from our hens because they pester them unmercifully and they pull out feathers which the hens need with our cold winters. We kept three roosters this year to give eachh other company and warmth for the cold winter we didn't get this year and I'm grateful for.The extra two roosters will end up being chicken noodle soup soon and as for the one in the coop, he'll eventually go to the same fate. The older the rooster, the less sperm. One year old hens and one year old roosters being the most fertile.

In a couple weeks, I'll start putting eggs in the incubator to hatch. Just one batch this year if all goes well. The grand kids will be thrilled. It is one of their favorite things, watching chicks peck their way out of the shell. Got to love Grandma's house. LOL

 And while I'm speaking of critters. Chicory gives a big thank you to all those willing her a speedy recovery. She is feeling much better and is back to standing upright, though still a bit tender on her feet. The total of medications ended up being two anti-biotic shots and three doses of calcium drench given 12 hours apart. She must not of suffered too much because she is milking up a storm. I credit that to her being in excellent condition before this occured.

And what were her kids doing while the wind was howling, not playing on the upturned rubber watering pale, nope, hiding out in the goat shed. Big ole ears like these take flight in such howling winds and who knows who they might take with them. LOL

What are the bees doing in all the warm weather? They are doing spring cleaning. This is the time they remove all the bee poop, dead bees, and the like from their hives. I've given them a little sugar water as a refreshing snack. But yesterday they stayed tucked inside as the wind would blow them into the next county, so instead they just tipped toed to the entrance to grab a quick sip.  

Is spring early where you are, or for those of you down under, is fall early this year?