Too close to the end

Today while I was working on the coop I noticed Big Red standing at the corner of the chicken run.  She looked a little funny, but I didn't think much of it since the others hurried over to the corner with her, wanting to be let out.  

About 30 minutes later as I walked by, I saw her again and knew something was wrong.  I opened the door and while all of the birds reacted normally, hurrying over to get out and free-range, Big Red sort of turned half an inch but didn't move.  

I scooped her up and immediately knew there was something wrong and it was probably that she's egg bound.  None of the birds stand around like this and none of them would let me scoop them up the way she did.  And, as soon as I had my hands around her, I felt how huge and swollen her abdomen was.

Being egg bound means that an egg is stuck inside her.  If she can't pass it within 24-48 hours, she will die.  I don't know how long she's been like this, so I'm not sure how much time I have.

I carried her into the house and with one hand cleaned out half of the sink and filled it with warm water.

Never did I think I would have a chicken in my sink.

Sorry for the dirty lady in the picture, I didn't think I'd be posing for any pictures after all the yard work.

After a 30 minute soak I put her in my shower so she would be contained and away from any excitement outside.  She immediately went to the bathroom, but there was no evidence of egg.  I gave her food and water and saw that she age, but she wouldn't drink.

A few hours later, I made a tub of warm water with Epsons salt and sat down with her.

You can see her eyes closing in this one

She soaked for about 25 minutes while trying to squeeze something out.  I can tell she's uncomfortable, but I'm just not sure what else to do.  Even my internet research isn't helpful as they say I should be able to feel the egg inside her, which I can't, and some of their solutions involve going into her vent, which I know I can't do.

I bundled her up, dried her off, and then put her back in the shower with a heat lamp, water, and food.  I'm going to take some yogurt and molasses to her in a few minutes as that's what another chicken friend told me to do.  

I don't want her to suffer but after reading up on how to "humanely" put her down, I'm sure I can't do any of those things either.  

Strawberry Projects, Take Two

I knew I had to get these strawberries taken care of before they go bad so I got in the kitchen and started washing and cutting this morning.

One gallon of strawberries

One gallon after they've been hulled

The parts the chickens will be thanking me for later

 I decided to start off with the jams.  My first batch was going to be a four-berry jam.  I found a recipe for triple berry, but the bag of mixed berries that I bought to go with the strawberries had three in it (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry).

I had to mash up the fresh strawberries first.

And then mash up the mixed berries.

 And then the cooking got started.  The jam only has fruit, sugar, and pectin.  Pectin is what makes it turn into gel.

You're suppose to fill the jars up and I had this tool that had a cool way to measure how full the jar was.  The math teacher in me was all excited when I noticed it.

Things did get a little messy.

But things turned out well.

It tastes great.  The only issue was that some of the jars didn't seal.  This was my first time canning and I was doing the hot water method.  I have a few theories as to why they didn't seal so hopefully the next batches won't have the same issue.  This just means we have to eat the jam sooner than I planned.  I can't complain about that.

The youngest son declared it good.

I started another batch of strawberry-rasberry jam and my fingers are crossed that the jars will seal.  We've already tasted it, and it's just as good as the first batch.

 The dried strawberries were also done so I peeled them off the screen.

And sealed some for saving.

Then I made some fruit roll ups.  I made strawberry-banana flavored ones and I'm about to make 4-berry ones as well.

Last, I made some strawberry-lemonade concentrate.  I froze them in ice cube trays and later I will transfer them to sealed bags for storage.  I'll just have to add some water and it will make a great summer drink.

I'm tired, and it was a lot of work, but I'm so glad that I did it.  I need more practice to make sure I can seal the jars properly and find more counter space to work with, but hopefully by this summer I'll be a professional.

We still have a gallon of strawberries left so I'll be drying more of them tonight and then I'll be done.

Until we go picking again.

One small step towards homesteading

I ordered a dehydrator a couple weeks ago and it's been sitting on the table waiting for fresh produce for too long.  So this morning we went to the local farmer's market and bought some strawberries (and some yummy bread and pure honey) and then we went strawberry picking to get even more strawberries.

They measure by the gallon and we had over four gallons.  We picked three baskets/gallons ourselves and we bought 5 quarts.

As soon as we got home we got to work.  I washed and cut the tops off them while the youngest used an egg slicer to slice them up and spread them out on the dehydrator trays.

Six trays of strawberries are drying today and should be done between tonight and tomorrow morning.

A cookie sheet of strawberries is in the freezer.  Once they're hard, we'll seal them with the FoodSaver and put them in the basement freezer.

Then we'll start on making jams for the first time ever.

Goat updates

We still have all five goats, but I think there is someone coming to look at getting one this weekend.

For a couple weeks I was always coming home to this scene:

Yes, the boogers were getting out, and they were actually getting back IN the pen too.  Luckily, they were sticking close to home like Jenny and Kelly do and so far they hadn't broken through the fencing to get to the garden.

 But they sure like to play.

They really are fun to watch when they are running around or playing with each other.

And when they're just standing around, they're the cutest darn things ever.

Chicks in Prison

Although I would push the coop door closed, each day I would walk out to the chicken run and see a chick head or two peeking out from around the door.  They kept pushing it open and poking their heads out.

Then the weather got really hot and I realized they must be dying in there, but I don't have time to cut and secure a screened window to keep the other chickens out until this weekend so I decided to prop the doors open and just block the doorways so they couldn't get out and the big girls couldn't get in.

Now, every time I go outside I see a bunch of birds in chick prison and it makes me laugh.

The good news is that it's Friday, so tomorrow I can cut new windows into the coop for better ventilation for them AND for the next three days, when I let the adults out to free-range, I'm going to let the chicks come out into the chicken run for their first taste of the outdoors.

Good Night

Since the youngest chicks needed the smaller coop, the bigger chicks needed to move in and share the large coop with the big boys and girls.  They weren't too happy and were actually huddled up by the smaller coop door when I went out there last night. 

I had to catch each chick and put it into the big coop, and by the time I would get the next chick and come back, the first one would have already come out of the coop.  I finally got all nine of them inside and then I went in to help them settle in.

This guy was the first one to jump up on to the roost with the big girls and Clyde.

Some others decided to stick together around the nesting boxes.

 Australorp wasn't happy sharing and actually started pecking at the girls next to her.  I decided to help some of them out and I picked them up and put them on the roosting bars.

A few were brave on their own and jumped up to the roosting bars.  Clyde wasn't thrilled.

Meanwhile the goats were all tucked away and ready to go to sleep.

No More Birds in the House!

The chicks that my students hatched and my buff orpington chicks are 6 weeks old and starting to try to fly, so it was time for them to get out of my house.  I cleaned out the smaller coop where the first batch of chicks had been sleeping at night and moved these guys in.

And at night, they all went to sleep together.