The Good Old Days of Raising Chickens

Smithy & Gracie

A Chick Magnet

The Chick Inn

Heavy Traffic

 

Gracie

Smithy

No Place Like Home

The Rewards

A Much Loved Dessert

I'm in the grocery store when my son asks me to make a dessert for him to take on his weekend house sitting job. He suggested his favorite dessert--Banana Pudding. Um. I don't usually make this so I had no idea all of the ingredients I would need. The techie man child searched AllRecipes on his smart phone and found this one:

Banana Pudding IV

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 bananas, sliced
1/2 (12 ounce) package vanilla wafers

Directions

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk and vanilla until smooth. Fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 inch dish with vanilla wafers. Arrange sliced bananas evenly over wafers. Spread with pudding mixture. Top with remaining whipped topping. Chill.

My MIL usually makes Banana Pudding for him if she knows ahead of time we are coming over. I have rarely had to make it, which is why I didn't know what I would need. After tasting it, I'm pretty sure her recipe is different and doesn't use Cream Cheese or Sweetened Condensed Milk. But needless to say, it came out delicious and was a hit!

Do you like Banana Pudding or have a favorite dessert that gets requested?

 ~Happy Desserts~

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace" (Num. 6:24-26)

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Time for Treats

My chickens love treats! I mean, who doesn't, right?! With our family eating melons several times a week during this abysmally hot weather, there is a never ending supply of really cool ways to beat the heat in the summer for our chickens!

They don't mind it when I toss the rind quarters out there but what they really love is when I freeze scratch grain, melon pieces and seeds, and cut up veggies in the rind.

Aren't they pretty? The one on the left just has some various pieces of watermelon, honeydew and the seeds scooped out of the middle. I didn't even add water, just tossed the whole thing in the freezer for a few hours. The middle one sort of speaks for itself; water melon chunks and scratch grain in a honey dew rind. And then the one on the right was filled with the inner scoops from the two melons and some water, then frozen.

The baby chicks are four weeks old and not too sure about this foreign food in their pen. But once one of them tried it, they all came running and tweeting, feverishly vying for a chance at the tasty treat. Of course, the old girls know what is coming when they see one of these rinds in my hand and this day I had two! 

I love backyard chicken keeping. Even though we live in the country, we can't let them run wild because of critters. We are in the process of figuring out how to re-model our two year old coop to include these dozen new chicks. But in the meantime, I am happy with them in our front yard where I can keep an eye on them, plus they are such fun to watch! They are learning to spread their wings and fly so I have to be careful when I open the pen door or they get loose! And trying to round up a dozen wild & crazy baby chicks is not something I want to do on a daily basis. Today, I managed to entice them back in with a treat, so yeah, they know what's coming now and can anticipate the cool refreshment heading their way.

Are you a backyard chicken keeper? Or do you have other animals? What cool treats to do you make to give them during the heat of summer?

~Happy Summer~

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The Nearly Perfect Plant

I've been a bit absent from blogging as I took a trip to FL last weekend to spend some time celebrating the upcoming arrival of a new 'great' niece. There was lots of food, fun and fellowship accompanied by much laughter, and a wee bit of stepping in the big Atlantic Ocean at sunset.

When I came home, my husband and son had put this beautiful fountain in the front yard.

 One of the plants I will be transplanting into the garden area around the fountain is Sedum, so I thought I would share a picture of some I took a photo of last year.

Sedum

Sedum

Light:

Part Sun, Sun

Type:

Perennial
 

Height:

Under 6 inches to 3 feet

Width:

6 inches or several feet wide, depending on variety

Flower Color:

Orange, Pink, Red, White
 

Foliage Color:

Blue/Green, Chartreuse/Gold, Gray/Silver, Purple/Burgundy
 

Seasonal Features:

Colorful Fall Foliage, Fall Bloom, Summer Bloom, Winter Interest
 

Problem Solvers:

Drought Tolerant, Ground cover, Slope/Erosion Control
 

Special Features:

Attracts Birds, Cut Flowers, Good for Containers, Low Maintenance
 

Zones:

3-10

: : :

My Sedums are numerous and grow both in direct sun and partial sun. They reach at least 2' tall or higher and have white flowers when they bloom. 

Sedum are truly one of the easiest and most prolific perennials in my yard. 

This type of plant makes me happy. :)

What type of plant in your yard is one of your favorites?

Happy Gardening, Y'all!   

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The Barn Collective

It seems like I fell out of the world of blogging but it has been absolutely crazy around here since Feb 14th! I'm not going to go into detail but life happened and then it got back on track, somewhat. It's still a bit 'off ' since our oldest son left for USAF BMT (Basic Military Training) on Feb 24th. We're proud of him but miss him something fierce! I spend lots of time writing him letters and educating myself about being a military family now.

I did get a break this past Friday and went to Asheville NC with my SIL to visit Biltmore House & Gardens. We are huge Downton Abbey fans and just had to go see the Dressing Downton display. Wow. It was something else. Too bad they don't allow pictures. I'll just say that all the costumes were amazing, except one burnt orange looking dress Edith wore in one of the episodes. It definitely looked better on TV than in person!

Since the weather was beautiful, we also visited Antler Hill Village on the estate and passed by this amazing barn!

Look at that Lion Crest!

And that dark brick silo with the wooden top is fantastic!

We weren't allowed to get close so I had to use my zoom lens, but I sure would like to have had an up close look around the barn and outbuildings. I think they're almost as intriguing as the house itself!

Sharing with The Barn Collective @ Rose Street Reflections.

~Have a blessed day in the Lord~

The Barn Collective Link Up # 3

No new barn photos this week so I pulled this one from my archives.  

I don't think I've posted it before, but if I have, I do apologize for the repeat.

At my age, that frequently happens ;)

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The Barn Collective @ Rose Street Reflections

Before and After

This is the wheat field I gaze upon from my front porch in early May. 

Lush greens ebb and flow, especially when the breeze blows across 

the tops of the plants and they seem to whisper back and forth.

It's one of my favorite times of the year.

But all too soon it is over.

About six weeks later, this big boy comes along and harvests the crop.

This Deutz-Allis Gleaner makes a tremendous noise as it reaps, 

binds and threshes the wheat. Not to mention the amount of dust that gets thrown into the air. 

You do not want to be outside when this happens, or have the windows open. 

It will cause severe sneezing and coughing.

Thankfully, the operator gets to sit inside this enclosed cab. Pretty nifty, huh?

Of course, he was done for the day and already went home to eat some vittles by the time the air 

cleared enough for me to go out and take photos.

It's always a little sad to see it afterwards.

I look forward to next year when the process begins again and I see that 

gorgeous sea of green when I sit on my front porch.

: : :

Have a blessed day in the Lord!

Gender reveal and Coop trouble at The Chick Inn

Warning!!!

This is a long post about chickens J

An adorable little chick named Smithy

Smithy @ 1 week

went through this funky looking stage,

Smithy @ 3 weeks

and we had no idea if he/she was a pullet or cockerel,

Smithy @ 5 weeks

or if he/she was going to be a hen or a rooster.

Smithy @ 9 weeks

At this point in Smithy's development, I posted about him/her and several 

thought a pullet based on the comb.

Well, now we know for sure. 

Smithy is in fact a...

Smithy @ 11 weeks

ROOSTER because he CROWS!!!

Although every time he sees the camera, he stops. 

I cannot sneak up on him! 

He is a wiley dude :)

Now the big question remains...

Smithy @ 14 weeks

What breed is Smithy? 

Look at those saddle feathers! They are awesome.

Here's a close look at his neck feathers, which are changing color!

It is the weirdest thing. I promise he is not dirty! My son managed to catch him, which caused a major ruckus in the run. I thought those brown blobs on his sides were injuries or poop but you can see they are brown feathers. Here's a close-up of his wing feathers.

He was a rare breed bonus chick included in our order from McMurray's Hatchery this spring. After searching high and low on their website and on the internet, I think I have his breed narrowed down to two or three possibilities. The most probable is a Silver Leghorn but his legs have a slight slate tint to them. They are not the yellow color of the other chickens. Not that his breed really matters. We're just curious. If you know anything about breeds of chickens, what do you think?

Here he is a few weeks ago before the feathers started changing, with Gracie, his 'chick' friend. She is definitely a Silver Leghorn pullet and as a chick looked identical to Smithy except much smaller. He was huge compared to all the others!  

But we also have a problem. 

Smithy and Gracie and the four Barred Rock pullets are so different in color, they seem to get picked on a lot by the Rhode Island Reds. They have all been raised together from the time they were put into the box at the hatchery and shipped to us. I was told there wouldn't be a problem with several different breeds being together but we just are not seeing it with our flock. 

Gracie @ 13 weeks

My husband has decided that he and our youngest son will make an addition to our already brand new coop and move the six black & whites over there. Big sigh...I am not happy with this as it is an added expense but I really don't want these beautiful birds to be picked on anymore and eventually end up sick or dead. And I am not getting rid of them. They are the least friendly of the birds (maybe because they get bullied) but so pretty and I love them! 

Also, we ended up with three Rhode Island Red roosters. Two of them will be getting their own little Quonset huts to live in pretty soon. One will remain in the main coop. I'm trying not to stress over this but we are on a count down to egg laying time and I was really wanting one single friendly flock.

Hindsight being what it is, if I had to do it all over again I would not have ordered a variety. The Rhodes are big and supposed to be great layers, so I would have exclusively ordered them. Even though they aren't exotic looking, I would rather not have so much dissension in the flock. 

Has anyone else ever had this problem? 

If you read this whole post, you are awesome!!! Thanks for sticking with me! 

Have a blessed day!

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A cool treat on a hot day

Proverbs 27:23 tells us to know the condition of our flocks and to give attention to our herds. I am trying to care diligently for my flock of chickens. With the extreme temperatures that were predicted today, I was concerned about my birds. I want to do all I can to keep them comfortable and cool. When it's 79* one day and 97* the next, they have a tendency to get stressed and overheated. A few months ago, I saw this Confetti Ice Wreath on the Fresh Eggs Daily website and decided now was the time to try it.

 They converged on it immediately, enjoying the corn, peas and raspberries!  

Yes, a couple of them decided to cool their heels a bit, too :) 

This is such an easy way to offer the girls some treats while keeping them from overheating and possibly getting sick or dying. I enjoyed hearing them clucking and cackling, as if they were saying Thank you, Mom!

My husband and youngest son installed the automatic chicken watering system today. There's a dozen poultry nipples supplying fresh water inside the coop now. The bummer...they're too low! Saturday he will raise them up...big sigh.

I switched from shavings to sand in the coop yesterday. Boy, was that a stinky job! The girls seem to like the sand better though. It's cool and absorbs moisture so it's supposed to be more sanitary. It's also easy to scoop the poop. I just think about it like it's a great big litter box. 

And here's my Smithy. I do believe he is a she as the saddle feathers are rounded, not pointed. It doesn't matter to me but I do wish the other chickens didn't ostracize her. Here she is, sitting quietly in the coop while the others enjoyed the cool treat. Next time I will have to make her a small Confetti wreath of her own.

I really don't have any idea why they treat her this way. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting the others to let her be a part of the group?  

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