A home of their own

The smelly meat birds are finally out of my garage! I couldn't take it anymore. I'm positive my hens never smelled that bad when they were in the garage! And, they didn't move out until they were eight weeks old, these little guys are just three weeks old!

Getting the place ready. Thankfully, the in-laws had an extra kennel we could use.

We moved the brooder, lamp, all the comforts of home to the new location.

They look cuter here than they actually are!

Can we do it? Yes we CAN!

Going on a berry hunt, gonna find some juicy ones! - Dora the Explorer

Big D and I took the kids berry picking the other day for the first time. We decided we would start with six quarts. Good thing we didn't ask for more boxes since Little D just wanted to eat them right off the vine and SG gets bored so easily. Then, we passed red raspberry bushes on the way out of the berry patch, so we stopped and picked a quart of those too.

Surveying the berry patch

Little D got more berries in his mouth than he did in his box

SG did a good job, but had enough after two quarts

Our six quarts

 So, what to do with all these berries - make jam of course! Fits right in with my "master plan." Remember, the self-sustaining master plan? Since I've never made jam or canned anything in my life, this should prove interesting. I have managed to collect a lot of canning supplies, and I have a stack of canning books and magazines. With all of these things on hand, and my berries, I decide I better get some advice from people I actually know.

The goods

My mom canned everything when I was a kid, and I fondly remember pouring hot was over jars of jam and later using a butter knife to cut the wax off the top of the jam when it was time to eat it. But, all of my books and magazines said I needed to "process" the jam in a canner. Hmm...I started by double-checking my memory with my mom.  I remembered correctly. Cover with wax, no processing.  I also checked with some friends and got a variety of replies, none included using wax. One friend turns her jars upside down to seal them, no wax and no processing.
Being slightly OCD and also having a spoiled food phobia, I decided to go to my most trusted source - the World Wide Web. According to all recent Internet info, wax is definitely out and highly discouraged by the USDA. Apparently the only way to be sure you don't kill off all your loved ones via strawberry jam is to process it for 10 minutes in boiling water. Even though my mom was slightly offended by the USDA's assertion that she had jeopardized her children's lives, I decided to process my jam. It would be good practice for my garden goodies.
I followed the recipe that came with the fruit pectin I bought at the bulk food store. It seemed simple enough, only three ingredients - strawberries, pectin, sugar. What gave me a slight pause was the amount of sugar - 7 cups! Seven cups of sugar to five cups of crushed berries! Not that I ever really thought of jam as a health food, but seriously!

That's a lot of sugar! 7 cups to be exact!

Making jam really isn't hard, but it does take some time to clean the berries.  I would have to say that's the most time-consuming part. By the way, it took three quarts of berries to get five cups of crushed berries.

The tedious part. The cool thing is, the bowl I crushed the berries in was my Grandma's - gives some extra specialness to my jam.

I have to admit I was losing interest in jam making while I was cleaning berries, but when I had my pints of jam lined up on the counter at the end of it all, it was very satisfying. And the pb&j sandwich made with the leftovers in the bottom of the pan was delish!

Mmmmm

Since one batch only made five pint jars of jam, the problem now is deciding who is "jam worthy!"

Chicken Updates

The "meat" birds are still here and growing like crazy! And, they're heavy. And ugly. I guess both reasons are why they are meat birds and not layers like my beautiful hens! It makes me feel better anyway. So, we decided not to ship them off in a week to my sister-in-law. Big D is working on something to get them out of the garage - they stink!! Another thing my ladies do not do!

Ok, in this picture, the Meats don't look that ugly. Just trust me. Plus, they are molting right now and that makes them even less cute!

But my ladies...my ladies are beautiful as usual. And, spoiled as usual. I love how they run to the door of their yard when they hear my voice outside. But, they will not go in at night for me, only Big D. They still love getting fresh-picked grass every day and love their yogurt. They also love Crispex and Wheat Chex cereal. They do not like green peppers or kiwi, but they do like berries of all kinds.

The Wyandottes are always the center of attention

They are feasting on clover I picked them at the berry farm.  Yes, while my family was picking berries, I was picking clover for the ladies!

Have a Seat!

We added two limbs that fell during recent storms to the yard for the ladies to sit on. They are curious girls and flocked to the limbs immediately. I think several of the thought they were going to camp out!

p.s. The jury's still out on Fruity Pebbles!

Way too Cute to Eat!!

"You will never be able to live off the land Mom!" That was SG's declaration Friday night after the new baby chicks arrived. After I declared that I probably was not going to be able to eat any of the new fluffy little bundles of joy.  The same little bundles of joy who up until now have been solely referred to as the "meat chickens" due their destiny as a main course on our dinner table.
While she might have a point, I'll never concede that my tween is right! I could live off the land! If I went vegan! I just can't possibly eat a little creature that I care for an nurture for eight weeks. I also don't think I could load them up and take them to the Amish ladies who will then "dress" them for the freezer. Nice choice of words right?
So, I already have solution. In about four weeks, my sister-in-law's chickens will be "getting dressed," and she will have room for the 15 "meat" chickens we just got. I know some of you may be wondering why I can't just keep them and put them up with the ladies. Well, these chicks are a breed specifically for meat, they don't eat the same feed as my layers, and they are straight run chicks (boys and girls). Just wouldn't work.
I know the whole reason I now have 32 chickens was due to my curiosity to see if we could be somewhat self-sustaining. I don't feel like I've failed because I love taking care of my ladies and I know there are a lot of people who will enjoy their eggs.  And, I have confirmed something I have known for a long time: I can only eat meat if I don't really know where it comes from.

Little Chicken Nuggets - that's what my brother called them!

Link Up!

I've added a couple of links to the bottom of the page to some great sites. Cappers and Mother Earth News are both magazines that I love and their websites are awesome! Right now, you can register from either site to win a $2,500 chicken setup!!
Also, on the bottom right, I've started linking some of my favorite blogs.  If you have a few minutes, check them out.
p.s. The ladies do not like apples!

Spoiled Rotten!

We've all heard of hand-feeding animals. And, some farms offer grass fed animals. How about hand feeding grass to your animals? Daily. Hand picking grass. The small, tender shoots with the little tasty white seeds on top. You're probably thinking that's a little over the top right? I know. But, I still do it twice a day for the ladies! They like their grass! Even Little D knows which type of grass to pick and "not to get the dirt, just the grass."
I started picking grass for them a few weeks ago, before the run was finished and putting it in the coop for them. I'm still doing it because it didn't take long for them to turn the ground inside the run into a dirt pit.
I've also been supplementing their diet with raw oatmeal for a few weeks. Just a treat. Something other than the chicken feed. They love that too.  I scatter that around their yard every morning. They will actually fight over little pieces of whole wheat bread. Strangely enough, Meep ran off with a piece of the bread tonight. I didn't know cats would eat bread. Hmm..
I have read that once they start laying, it's good to add extra protein and calcium to their diet by feeding them yogurt. They're not ready to lay yet, but I gave them a few spoonfuls of nonfat plain yogurt today and it was definitely a hit. I was beginning to wonder if there was anything they wouldn't eat - cabbage. My ladies do not like cabbage.

Berry Hard Work!

According to The Backyard Homestead aka the book that started it all, I need to plant fruit and nut trees and berry bushes to become self-sustaining. Big D and I are still "discussing" the fruit trees. He wants them, I don't want to have to pick up rotten fruit out of my yard every fall. I'm not even sure what to think about the nut trees, and honestly haven't done any research on what type of nut tree I could grow here (other than my own family "nut" tree of course!). But, today we got down to business with the berry bushes. We have a lot of wild berry bushes that grow along our wood line, but I wanted to plant some that would be easier to get at. So in the ground went three raspberry bushes and one blueberry bush.

Little D supervises while Big D digs the holes for the berry bushes.

He loves to water the plants...and himself...and Meep if she doesn't get out of the way!

Give 'Em a Yard!

Now that the backyard has dried out from all the Spring showers, it was time to get the chicken run together so the ladies could get some fresh air. And did they ever love it!
I have been picking grass and sprinkling it around the inside of the coop for about a week now and the hens love it. They swarm the piles of fresh grass, stepping over each other to get to it.  I was excited to be able to get the outside of the coop.
We decided to use a dog kennel as the fencing for the run for a number of reasons. First, we wanted something high enough to be able to walk in the run to make it easier to clean. The dog kennel was actually cheaper than buying fencing and posts to make a 6-foot high run. Also, the kennel had a pre-made door. We didn't go for the totally pre-made kennel because we could save $100 and put the kit together in an hour, maybe faster with "a helper." I'm not sure if I was the helper or if Big D was the helper, but it took closer to 3 hours!
It was dusk by the time we were done. But, I was so excited I wanted to get the ladies out in their yard. At first they just sat in the doorway they didn't even know existed. Two of the Buffs were the first to take the leap, followed by an Australorp. More followed, but Big D had to get in the coop and shoo the last few out.
They loved their yard! They were clucking and talking, pecking and scratching. It was so fun to watch them. It's going to take some time for the ladies to figure out the ladder to get in and out of the coop. Big D had to give them a little help getting back in.
Tomorrow we'll be putting the netting over the top to keep the hawks and owls out.