Winter Chickens

It's been a while since I've discussed the girls (aka the chickens.)

At home school group last week I got into a discussion about chickens.

Some people have a few...or lots...or are taking the leap.

An ever popular part of the discussion is always:

"How do you take care of the water in winter?"

We have several methods that we personally use that do not involve electricity.

1. When locking up the chickens at night bring the container in in a bucket and let it defrost overnight.

Bring out fresh water in the morning when you go to let them out.

2. Boil water and pour it on top of the waterer (outside) and then fill with the leftover water and a bit of cool water.

3. If the night wasn't too far below freezing, their body heat will keep the coop warm and the water won't freeze.

No matter what we did, we always use warm water to fill their waterer in the winter.  The reason is this: it will take longer to freeze in the waterer if the day is cold thus supplying them with clean water for a longer period of time, and it will warm their bodies so they don't need to work as hard to keep themselves warm thus they won't eat as much feed as the would if they were drinking cold water and having to warm themselves with increased caloric intake.

And to increase that caloric intake...we give them lots of food scraps...

man do they love scraps...

Why don't we light our chickens in the winter?

Won't they stop laying?

1. Fire risk reduction. 

2. We don't have electricity out there...and we don't want the extension cords going way down there.

3. We let them have their natural cycles.  Naturally when weather is not compatible with raising chicks, chickens stop laying.  Makes sense right?  We let them have a break in the winter and they tend to lay very well for us for about 4 years...that's right FOUR years.  Chickens in commercial laying situations usually only get 1-2 years before becoming deep fried cuts of chicken stuff...

(let's not go down that road right now...)

Our chickens are well cared for and tend to have a long laying period of life due to the care they get and the breaks in laying we let them have.

(And by the way...we usually still get 1-3 eggs a day during the winter from a flock of 5 hens and 9 pullets.)

In the winter, I also take care to give them extra bedding material.  We use a deep litter method (works for us) and muck out the coop 2-3x/year.  Each week I put about one flake of straw on top of their floor.  It freshens up things. It keeps their little feet happy.  In the winter the deep littler gives them some drainage so the top layer is clean and dry.  

Drainage from what?

They track mud and snow in from their run.

They do defecate.

That all goes down into the lower layers of straw where it composts.

When you go to muck, you have semi-broken down compost on the bottom.

We have a door in the back of our coop that opens directly into our compost heap.

The straw and feces are then composted (it takes a short time because of the deep litter and the hot composting) and added to the garden.

And boy does it help things grow.

During the winter it is not too cold to let the girls out during the day 

(unless you live where it is below 0 degrees all the time.

Then you may have to come up with another plan...)

  They dig through the snow into the dirt and scratch around for bugs or scraps of food we threw in to their yard.

It keeps them stimulated so they don't peck at each other.

We also make sure that we lock them up at night.

Hungry animals can make a quick snack of a sleeping chicken.

And in winter those raccoons and possums can get very hungry.

When we didn't lock them up we had a massacre. 

Enough said on that topic.

So chickens in the winter...no big deal...just be prepared...use common sense...

and have fun.

This has been linked up to Simple Lives Thursday

and 

Homestead Barn Hop

Shalom...a yarn along...

In joining with the yarn along today...it is true...

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading.

So here it is...the beginnings of my Shalom Cardigan...

I was hoping to get some of it knitted when I was teaching knitting club last week (at our homeschool co-op)

but that didn't happen...fancy that... I was busy teaching...

As for reading, C. is really into the concept of Martha Speaks...

A talking dog...

Vocabulary that is beyond her years...

Those are some of her favorite things...

Did I mention she is starting to read books to me...yikes!

Sometimes she scares me.

As for W...

We are working on reading the whole Harry Potter series...

We are on number 4...The Goblet of Fire...

But I think this may be our last for a while...

They are getting a bit scary and I'm not sure if he is ready to hear anymore.

That's the nice thing about homeschool...

you get to decide what a kid is ready for or not...

C. ready for reading...

W. not ready for really scary parts...

It's our call and nobody else's.

A garden construction vocabulary lesson...

Home school is often a group effort.

And we all have to use our skills in order to make things happen.

For example...if you want to learn about sunlight, plants, photosynthesis, evaporation and condensation, shapes and numbers, composting and recycling...you can build a cold box.

First you have to scrounge for what you have.  

In our case it was inspired by an old storm window that we don't use anymore (and a burning desire to grow some greens RIGHT NOW.)

So we scrounged our scrap wood pile and found some boards that were similar sizes.

And then W. had to use his skills to discern if the two storm windows were CONGRUENT (vocabulary word this week.)

Then he measured their LENGTH and WIDTH and also measured the DIAGONAL (also vocab words) to get a third measurement.

C. informed us that the window was a rectangle and told us the numbers (two-zero for twenty etc.)

W. drew the BLUEPRINT.

And then the building commenced.

I did the saw work (raise your hand if the idea of me with a chop saw scares you

...yes all hands should be up.)

I also did the screw gun work. 

(Again, if you are a good student, your hand should be up for fear...)

W. measured my box...yup 20 inches long...48 inches wide...52 inch diagonal...just as it should be.

We all dug in the big garden for some soil...and added a little compost...and some potting soil from a poinsettia...

We wondered why the soil was ice on the top of the garden...and why the worms were below the ice layer in the workable zone...

We smooshed up the ice chunks and mixed all of the soil components...

The soil was very moist so we didn't add water...but we did put on the top...

And then waited as the sun warmed up the box...making the water in the soil EVAPORATE...and CONDENSATE on the glass...and talked about the water cycle.  

After that, it was time to plant some lettuce...

And when it comes up...we will be ready to talk about other math and science terms.

Who says you need a fancy science curriculum...This lesson cost us FREE dollars...

Or

Cost us negative dollars since it will eventually feed us...

and the lesson doesn't stop there.

If you noticed, our box doesn't have a tilted top yet. 

We are going to add vertically in the next week or two as our plants need more room, but cutting boards on a DIAGONAL...well, we need someone else to do that one...

(Hey husband if you are reading this...you may be foreseeing your future...hopefully with thumbs...

Don't worry, I'm trained in first aid...)

My own nook...

I have been neglectful of this space...
And it is partially my sister's fault...
My dear Country sister used to have a couch in her very large kitchen.  It was so cozy and since all the generations of our family have always wound up gravitating to the kitchen, it was extra comfy.  

Times changed and her family's needs changed.  The couch is gone and they now have a "proper" grown up living room and a proper dining room as well.

Recently, my husband's aunt got rid of her old living room set and now we have a "new" living room set (THANKS! it's perfect) What to do with the old furniture?  Our old couch was in very sad repair...very sad repair once we saw what it looked like under the slip cover we put on 2 years ago.  Torn, stained, and smelling like spit up...it's been sent away to where the good couches go.  

The loveseat that came in the set with it (second hand from the husband's grandmother...the only new furniture we've ever bought was a small kitchen table.)  was in pretty good condition (as long as it had a slip cover on it.)

  So, we were going to put it down in the basement "kids' clubhouse"
...but it went in the kitchen on it's way down...
and hasn't left.

It makes my cozy little kitchen nook.  I spend lots of my time in there, cooking, cleaning, feeding, and teaching...
why not also make it a place to hang out, read a newspaper, drink coffee, or fold laundry?   

Then to sweeten the deal, we also were given a bookshelf from the aforementioned aunt.  It was perfect for C's room, so C's bookcase came downstairs to become my cookbook shelf (I have a few...and my parents just dropped off a bunch of others from my grandmother including one where Mrs. Calvin Coolidge is "first lady of the land.") as well as an area for the kids to put the novels that we are reading right now together.  They can get their favorites and snuggle on the couch.
Saturday mornings, coffee on the little couch while breakfast is made.
Late evening conversations after the kids are asleep.
Anyone who knows me knows I am far from being an interior decorator, but this space...

it's perfectly designed for us.
(By the way...ever try taking pictures when the dog insists on being in each one...
He truly is the world's weirdest dog.)

Friday Morning

We are...

Boiling chicken bones from last night's dinner as well as the ones in the freezer.

 (I wait until I have roasted several chickens and then boil away for broth.)

Dreaming about the garden... 

I already have most of my seeds for next year from seed saving, but I am still planning 

what I still need to get as well as what else we may want to grow. 

Making granola bars...

(YUM! chocolate chunk...and crumbled over yogurt is divine...)

Practicing Ballet...

I love the earmuffs with the outfit...she says it's to pretend it's a snowflake dance...

Like in the Nutcracker...

And fencing footwork...

(yes, Pumpkin makes a great fencing partner...when swords are not involved.)

We are still getting ready for C. to take ballet lessons, but we finally set up W's fencing lessons.

Last night we went to his first lesson, an introduction to fencing.

One of the members of the club showed him the evolution of the sword and the history and reasoning behind each of the different eras of swords.  

He also learned about why they wore white (they fought to first blood...most easily seen on white...) 

and got to watch a match between the champion fencer for the state and the second in the state.  

Then he got a lesson in footwork.

They didn't have a foil (fencing sword) in his size so they let him use a practice foil from 1890.

"I get to hold a piece of history!"

He got to aim and push on the teacher's mit.

(If they used real sharp points instead of electronic points,

 the pressure needed to trigger a point would sink in about an inch.)

His silly grin let me know he was having a grand old time.

After all, what little boy wouldn't be thrilled to sword fight!

"What is a boy? A whirling noise with dirt on it."

-anonymous

Chewy Granola bars...at last

Over our little get together over Christmas, my sister dropped by our parents house and dropped her kids off before a grocery shopping trip.  She asked if there was anything I needed that I couldn't get back in Pennsylvania...

I have always had a weak spot for blueberry toaster cakes.  I love those things.
They are a sweet sticky cornbread pancake type thing...
studded with blueberries...
Just the memory makes my mouth water.
 But then came a warning from my sister.
You think you may like them, but if you have one now, they have an awful chemical aftertaste to them.  Keep them perfect in your memory and try to concoct them yourself or you will really regret it.

Then my husband said he recently had a similar reaction to chewy granola bars.
He said that they taste weird now to him and he wishes he could have one.

That put me on a mission.

Make homemade granola bars without the chemical aftertaste.

Well, I am proud to let you know...I have the solution.

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

Got to try them.

I was, at first, a bit worried over the massive amount of honey (1 cup) as not everyone appreciates honey in the household, but as I had bought a gallon of honey about a year back, I figured it's one of those things I should use
(despite the fact that honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs is still edible...)

And let me tell you, I was not dissapointed.

Follow the basic recipe using 2 cups of mix ins and you will be in bliss.

I used 2 cups mini chocolate chips.
But I do have some sunflower seeds in the freezer.

Also recommended is replacing half of the butter with peanut butter.

Just go with this one.

Make them.

AND

DO NOT EAT UNTIL THEY HAVE COOLED FOR AT LEAST 6 HOURS.

They need their time to set up or they crumble.

I cut and wrapped them up the next day for lunches and on the go snacks.

And they are scrumptious.

And they do not have a chemical aftertaste.

So lets see... 20 granola bars (leading natural brand as I did use good quality ingredients) will set you back about $16.
The regular national leading brand will set you back about $9.
So here's the breakdown

Oats (organic bulk)- $1.16

Butter- $2.00

Honey- $1.80

Flour (local organic)- $0.22

Chocolate Chips- $1.00

vanilla (homemade) and baking soda (bulk)... negligible...cents worth

$6.18 for 20 bars or about $0.31 cents each and these are much much much x1000 much better for you.

And cheaper (unless you are a coupon queen.)

And you don't get a wonderful chemical aftertaste.

Husband and Child approved.

YUM!
I will try to get a picture once the second batch I've made this week cools properly...
This batch is made with half butter, half crunchy peanut butter with flax seed puree and chocolate chips.

Dive!

In high school I had what one would call an "interesting" group of people I'd spend time with.

They would do "interesting" things.

Debate

Write

Dumpster dive

yes...dumpster dive.

And the things they would find while diving 

such as a case of MSG (put out by McCormick Spices)

chips sealed in the bag, just past date...

or soda that the label was torn and couldn't be sold that way.

So I felt nostalgic when Netflix recommended a newer documentary called Dive!

I watched it.

Well, it was an hour long and if I had made a drinking game out of the times they had "filler shots" I would have been wearing a lampshade within the first 10 minutes (not that I have any tolerance, but you get what I'm talking about.) 

So out of an hour long documentary, you could have distilled about 30 minutes of content, which I will say was pretty good.  

Basically, they focused of Trader Joe's.

They seem to have a picky clientele, so when cans are damaged, veggies bruised, or one day before expiration, they all go in the dumpster.

And at night, they dive in to see what they can get.

A man fed his family of four entirely off of dumpster food (well 3 including a pregnant wife and then a family of four)

He bought freezers to contain it, and his wife spoke of her rush to preserve items in order to use it all.

Then he saw what he could do to help others.

He coordinated with groceries and food banks and shelters.

He got in a disagreement with Trader Joe's.

He researched how much food goes into landfills (insert about 15 minutes of bulldozers pushing trash around a dump.)

He researched farm waste and found it to be about 50%.

Yikes, that's a lot.

Then a few days later I caught a food network special about their chefs using only discarded food to cook a gourmet meal in order to bring awareness to food waste.

The food the places in both shows that was found wasted appalled me.

Even my husband, a notoriously picky (although on the rebound) eater said that all that pseudo trash was a waste.

I explained that often I go to the farmer's market during the season and will ask them for seconds for the next week.  They are cheaper, they are still good, and it reduces that waste stream...

Just try it...often they are happy getting rid of those seconds.  Also, I found that if I go to the end of the market (final half hour or so) I am much more likely to get the farmer (especially since I go each week) begging me to take things that won't keep until the next day when the market goes to another area.  They know I will find a way to use it.  They know it's appreciated, and they know that I will buy firsts of this and that.  

But diving

"Man, I'm to old for that stuff."