Spring has arrived!

Finally the weather has changed for the better... it has skipped Spring and headed right into summer. So our project list is under way.
Right now we are building large pens for our flight quail. We currently have 2 small bins for our newly hatched

Two large wooden brooders for our growing babies.

We have hatched out emu, chicks, and duckling are arriving this week.

Build a homemade still-air incubator for quail, chickens, ducks

Back in the 1960's, I tried to hatch robin's eggs in an old metal breadbox. I didn't understand the value of the right temperature and humidity, so year after year, I failed to hatch any eggs.  Granted I was only about 8 years old! Years later, hubby Jim and I now hatch quail, chicken, duck, goose and emu eggs with success. We started with a store bought incubator and have progressed to large cabinet style incubators.

You can use anything for an incubator as long as it is fireproof. An aquarium works well and you can look at the eggs easily.  A more inexpensive incubator is a Styrofoam cooler.
You will also need a thermometer with humidity. Quail need about 60-70% humidity and 100* temperature.

Experts recommend that you set the temperature of your still-air incubator to 101 to 102 degrees to best avoid the formation of cold spots on the inside.
Set up before you get eggs and maintain the correct temperature with water, before putting eggs in. Let the eggs set for a day so they are room temperature before adding them to the incubator.
You need heat and moisture. 
You can adjust the height of the bulb, and you can cover part of the top to keep the heat in. Put the light over the water, not the eggs. 
Keep in mind you will need to turn the eggs 3-4 times a day. You may need to adjust the temperature, so check it daily. As the embryos grow, they will create a little heat. 
You can check the fertility after 6 days, using a candling lamp the embryo should be red and clearly visible.
Turn the eggs for 16 days. Then stop. The eggs will hatch at 17-19 dependent on accuracy of temperature. The warmer the temperature, the faster the eggs will hatch, the cooler the temperature, the slower they will hatch. The difference of temperature should be no more than 1 degree from 100*

NOTE: Most duck eggs take longer to incubate: 28 days Muscovy Ducks go 31 days.

 Ventilation and getting the wattage right are the keys. Temperature has to stay right and the humidity has to be right at hatch or they die in shell


Mark the eggs with an 'O' on one side of the shell and an 'X' on the opposite side.Place the eggs into the incubator on their sides with the pointed ends angled slightly downward.


Moisture is a bowl or can with water. Heat is a light bulb, the size is whatever will keep the temp at 100 degrees at egg level. Keep the thermometer near the eggs for an accurate reading. 
Cover the water when the eggs start to hatch to avoid accidents. 

From day 16 it is important not to open the incubator, (no matter how tempting it is) until the eggs have hatched and the baby chicks have dried out and are fluffy. This is because they need the humidity generated by themselves to aid hatching,


The babies will need heat and kept draft free after they hatch.

www.highlonesomeranch.com/Chickens.htm

Here is a link to an egg hatch guide:
http://poultrysupply.com/manuals/GQFEggTempChart_from_Kemps_Koops.pdf

Brooder box for your new chicks

Last Spring, Jim and I hatched out all sorts of eggs. Emu, ducks, chicks, turkeys and quail. It was tough trying to create a good place for those babies to stay warm.
Over the years we have done all sorts of innovative things.

The first year we got chicks in the mail, we were living without electricity. We blocked off an area under our stove and set a pot of hot water wrapped in a blanket on the floor. The chicks discovered how to cozy up to the pot in between folds of the blanket and stayed warm and cozy. However, as they grew feathers, they also discovered they could have run of the house!
We have kept them in the bathtub with a heat lamp, but cleaning the tub afterward was horrendous!


Last year we found plastic bins with lids at the local Walmart. Jim cut the lid to allow the heat lamp to be placed above it.

Then, as needed, we raise the heat lamps and add a screen to keep them from flying out.

Pictured above are day old quail. We move them from this container in the basement at 1 week old,  to a larger 4x5 brooder in the barn, and then into 12x10 pens to grow out. We move then so often because each week we have at least 100 -300 quail hatched.

We use these bins for ducklings, chicks, turkeys for their first week or so depending on how many we have hatched out.

Martha Levasey's Sweet Potato Casserole

Years ago, when I was a young speech pathologist in a school system, the Special Education Department would have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner just before we had our Thanksgiving break. Each one of us brought something to add to the dinner. I was never a fan of sweet potatoes... I would eat a bite each year... a BITE each year when I was growing up because I really didn't like them. Until Martha Levasey brought her Sweet Potato Casserole.
I fell in love with sweet potatoes! No marshmallow stuff on these... this had a topping that crunches slightly when you put the serving spoon in, and the delectable steam rises. I think it is better than pumpkin pie!

For the past 30 some odd years, I have been making them her way for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. When the children were home, they helped me make this... I would get whole walnuts and their job was to crack open the walnuts and get the meat out, then chop them up. This has become a tradition that I hope is passed on to their own Thanksgiving tables.



In honor of Martha, here is her recipe

1 large can of sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/4 - 1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk

Mix this together well,  and put into a 9x 13 baking dish.
Add topping:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts
Mix together

Top the sweet potatoes and bake for 45 minutes at 350* 

Cool kitchen tip

I got this tip from one of my forums

The plastic top from a Parmesan jar will fit on  canning jars... powdered sugar, baking soda for cleaning, just a nice alternative to the plastic jar. 

It will fit on old mayonnaise jars also.

You can use the lids on the quart jar for hot chocolate mixes and the kids won't be as apt to spill when they spoon some out...   It will also fit on pint jars... even use the half-pint for your spice mixes. 

Preparing your chickens for winter (and keep them laying)

What do you need to do to keep your chickens laying and happy through out the winter? 

A couple of things come to mind: 


Preparing the coop:
The coop should be draft free, but have plenty of airflow. Make sure that the airflow also keeps predators and rodents out of the coop. Plug up all the holes. :)
Supplementing light:


Chickens need at least 12-16 hours of light in order to maintain their egg production. The ideal is about 14.5 hours. Many farmers add light to their hen house at the end of August. If you haven't started the light already, your production will go down. The hens will molt, and then they will start up again. But you will lose a few weeks of eggs.  
You can add 15 minutes of light each day to maintain the 14.5 hours (if you begin at the end of August) but many of us completely forget about it until September rolls around and we suddenly realize that the days are getting shorter (then there is the dreaded Daylight Saving Time)

Some set their timers at the end of the day and then again at dawn... For example: the timer is set at 5 am and go off at 8 am, and also set it for 5 pm till 9 pm. This gives the hens those extra needed hours of daylight.

I read somewhere that it is best to give light only in the morning. The reasoning behind this is when dusk starts gathering, the hens all begin to find their place in the coop and on their perch.

There is a hierarchy and the oldest most mature hens get the top roost, and the younger ones go for the lower roosts... unless you have hens like mine and the young ones manage to find a foothold on the ceiling beam closest to the wall. For this reason, there is sometimes a little bit of scrabbling to get to the roosts.

If you are adding supplemental light at that time, and the light suddenly goes out due to the time you have set, then the hens may be caught on the floor eating, or walking about and have to find their places in the pitch dark. So, for that reason, I add all the light in the morning and let nature tell the hens when to roost in the evening.

A simple 40 watt bulb will work for a 10x10 coop.

Feeding:

The hens will also start eating more at this time. Our hens are completely free- ranging through out the day... no fences at all, they wander at will gathering the bugs and seeds from plants. But they also know that winter is coming, the temperatures are dropping, so to compensate, we give them a supplemental feed. When snow is on the ground, we feed the chickens a mixture of corn, wheat, oats and sunflower seeds. We also bring out a lot of left-overs from our meals. They love it.



Watering:

Be sure the chickens have water... warm water will be greatly appreciated. Be sure to check through out the day. Water will freeze very quickly, crack your water bowl and leave the chickens the option to eat snow - not a good idea.
If you have electricity in your coop, you can make your own heated waterer.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/heated-chicken-waterer-zm0z13fmzhun.aspx#axzz3OFczKP9j


Heat:

I do know that there are some that add heat to their coops. We have never done that. In fact the first year we had chickens we didn't have a coop. They roosted in the trees through out the winter. In the morning the snowy blobs in the trees would move and shake. Snow would come down off the chicken and they would fly down to the ground where we would feed them.
Chickens with rose combs are fine without heat, but chickens with the large single comb will suffer from frost bite. The comb will turn black and eventually fall off. If you are not going to add any heat, be sure that the chickens you have a winter-hardy. Some common winter hardy breeds are: Dominiques, Australorps, Easter Eggers/Ameraucana, Orpingtons, Brahma, Cochin, to name just a few. 

If you do feel you would like to add some heat, by way of maybe a heat lamp, be sure that the hens do not have the opportunity to actually sit on the lamp (it is really useless to have it so high that they can't huddle under it anyway). Heat lamps can be very dangerous and will start a fire (we have personally experience with a fire from heat lamps).

Chickens put off a lot of heat, and there are places where the coop is attached to a greenhouse giving the green house supplemental heat. If your coop is well insulated, the chickens will be quite warm from their own body heat. Make sure there is a sufficient amount of litter on the floor.

If you feel you really do need heat, try a radiant heater These can be put on the ceiling. You can find some on the FarmTek site:  http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1;ft1_heaters_accessories;ft1_tube_heaters

Finally... be sure to gather your eggs a few times a day, or they will freeze! 

  
Chickens venturing out of the coop and into the snow

Jelly

I have always had fun making jelly or jam. If you strain the juice out of the fruit, that is a jelly - it is usually clear. If you keep the fruit in the final product, that would be a jam.

Some of the traditional ones I have made are Wild Blackberry and what I call Three-Berry (which is a combination of whatever berries I have on hand). This could include any berry such as blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry... etc

Here are some of my unusual favorites: 

My daughter Bethany and I made Red Grapefruit Jelly one spring when we were visiting my mother in Florida. A friend had a grapefruit tree that had an abundance of fruit. She brought over a box full, and knowing we couldn't eat it all, we made jelly:

PINK GRAPEFRUIT JELLY

31/2 C. fresh squeezed red grapefruit juice

1/4 C. lemon juice

7 C. granulated sugar

2 (3 oz.) pouches liquid pectin

Red food coloring (optional)

Combine juices and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and quickly skim off any foam. Stir in liquid pectin. Add 6 to 8 drops of red food coloring. Ladle into hot sterilized jars and cover with lids and rings. Process jars in boiling water for 10 minutes to seal. Makes 6 jars.

Mountain Dew and Pink Grapefruit

My son loved to drink Mt. Dew, so for Christmas one year, I made him Mountain Dew Jelly. It is delicious:

MOUNTAIN DEW JELLY

3 1/4 C. Mountain Dew

2 T. lemon juice

4 1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 pkg. Sure Jell pectin

Pour the Mountain Dew and lemon juice into a 6- to 8-quart pot. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes. Let it cool slightly, then follow the Sure Jell directions. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

NOTE: You can use more Mountain Dew and reduce it to 3 1/4 cups for a more concentrated flavor.

CORNCOB JELLY

12 dried red corncobs*

3 pt. water

1 pkg. powdered pectin

3 C. granulated sugar

1 T. lemon juice

* Red corncobs come from what is termed "field corn" that is raised to feed animals. However, you can use corncobs from the sweet corn you have just had for dinner!

Rinse cobs well. Break in half. Boil gently 30 minutes and strain the juice through a wet cloth. Measure to get 3 cups. If necessary, add water.

Add the pectin and bring to a full rolling boil.

Add sugar and heat to dissolve.

Bring to a boil again, boil for at least a full minute or until it starts to jell - another minute or so. Skim; pour into sterile glasses or jars and seal.

The corncob jelly takes it's color from the cobs that you use. I have always just used the cobs from dinner and the jelly is a pale yellow. It has a wonderful flavor that is good on toast, biscuits and popovers.

Hints for Successful Jam & Jelly Making

Make only one batch at a time. Doubling the recipe does not make the jelly jell (I have had many mistakes by trying this) 
It is now recommended that all jelly be processed for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

To prevent growth of molds and loss of flavor and color, pour hot product into hot canning (mason) jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace for jams, butters, conserves, marmalade and preserves, and 1/8-inch for jellies. The small amount of air trapped between the lid and the product will be heat treated during the water bath processing.

Wipe jar rims, adjust lids (place hot flats on jar and screw band/ring on tightly).

Buying grass-fed beef in bulk

If you are wondering how to buy meat in bulk from a local farmer, here is a good way to break it down for 1/2 a  beef for a family of 5 


56 1# packages of ground beef
7 packages of stew meat
5 packages of soup bones
5 chuck roasts
1 rump roast
2 cross rib roast
4 packages of short ribs
 1 tri-tip 
8 sirloin tips
7 packages of cube steaks
2 fillet
7 top sirloins
16 rib steaks
14 T bones

http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2012/08/buying-meat-in-bulk.html



Here's another way:

83 pounds divided as follows:
 ~21 packages of ground beef totaling 47 pounds, 14.3 ounces of meat 
~5 roasts totaling 12 pounds, 4.1 ounces of meat
~15 packages of steak totaling 18 pounds, 14.8 ounces of meat
~2 miscellaneous cuts totaling 3 pounds, 15.3 ounces of meat

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/12/13/how-to-buy-a-side-of-beef/

Rocking horse from a pallet

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      This rocking horse was made from a pallet that was from cherry wood.  We drew the picture on paper to get the general idea of the shape we wanted.


The wood was glued together and cut into the shape. Put together, sanded and sealed!                                                                                                        

 

In hindsite, we would have added a back to the seat, to make it more saddle-like

Chicken coop

I am hoping that by writing this blog, my husband Jim, will be inspired to build me a new chicken coop!
  You see, Jim has built many chicken coops, but so far has sold all of them! The favorite one is this one:

This coop has a large enough door to get in and clean the coop. But if you don't need to, on the front are the nest boxes, and you can gather eggs from the outside.

On the back of the coop are custom made food bowl holders made by Jim's cousin Dave of  Physical Steel

The holders rotate out of the coop to be filled.

A few other mini-coops Jim has built that could also be used to house bunnies:

(Here we are finishing up a coop, that houses 4-6 chickens, to be delivered)

High Lonesome Ranch Creations