Monday 30 April 2012

Spinach Salad Dressing

Lately I've been really craving Spinach Salad.  I just thought that I would share my dressing recipe.  It makes my mouth water to just think of it.

This is so easy to make!

Spinach Salad Dressing.

1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Oil (I use olive oil)
1/4 Cup Vinegar (I use Balsamic)
1/4 Tsp Paprika
1/4 Tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Minced Onion (I grate it with the small side of the grater)
2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds.

Put it all in a jar or a shaker container and give it a good shake.  Store remainder in the fridge.  This stuff smells so, so good!  In my opinion, using the Balsamic Vinegar makes this salad dressing.  

I drizzle it over my spinach and sliced strawberries for a yummy, easy salad!

Sunday 29 April 2012

Chicken Pictures From The Last Few Days

So I figured that I might as well continue to enjoy my chickens.  I thought I would take a few pictures.

Bottoms up!

Sargent Boris

Blue Laced Red Wyandotte Hen looking for goodies in the leaves

This is Frosty My Blue Laced Red Wyandotte Rooster.  He froze his feet last November, so now he has stubby toes.  He still gets around and is even able to breed.  His balance is changed now that his toes are shorter.

It must be great after a long winter to get out and look for bugs in the leaves.

Doin' what chickens were meant to do.  Kickin' it up!

Guinea Fowl roaming the yard.

The Fonze.  Forever Cool!





Sick Chick Update.

Well, I've been avoiding writing about what's going on here with the chick situation.

To tell you the truth I have been so disheartened about it and am just having a real hard time.

My Chicks are still sick.  Several have died.  Some on their own, and some I've had to cull because they were so ill.  

I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with them, but I suspect Mycoplasma.  They are showing several of the symptoms of it.  And so are the Turkeys.

Their symptoms are:

Eye and Nasal Discharge
Sneezing
Coughing
Wet gurgly sounding breathing
Lack of appetite
Swelling of the sinuses and around the eyes.
And tissue swelling and red in the corners of the eyes.

It's really been quite scary.  Actually I've been terrified.

If it is Mycoplasma, it is quite contagious and because I had moved the meat birds and turkey's into the grow out pens in the main coops, all of the rest of my poultry have been exposed to it.  Even if they survived this intitial outbreak of it, they would remain carriers for the rest of their lives and can pass it on to other birds.

I have had them on Tylan and on Oxytera-a which is an antibiotic as well.  Their symptoms are somewhat better in some of them, but it seems that most days there is at least one death.  Lately it's been the meat birds, one by one.  A few days ago we had to put some turkeys down because the facial swelling was so bad.

I have decided to send some in for testing to see just what I am dealing with.

If it comes back that this is indeed what I do have, my husband and I have decided to cull our flocks.  This isn't an easy decision.  It's hard, hard, hard.  I've hardly been able to sleep and I have no appetite. I cry.  Lots.  But I think that this is what we have to do this time.  

I want to one day be able to sell hatching eggs, chicks and chickens and don't want to have to worry that I am going to pass this on to someone else.  I can't have that on my conscience.  There is a fear in me that friends or family who have poultry will come and visit me and bring this home with them on their shoes or clothing.  

From what I hear, I don't absolutely have to cull my flock.  I could just treat them as they have flair ups.  From what I understand, this illness is quite common and many flocks have it, but people don't know what they are dealing with.  The chances are good that I will actually end up coming into contact with this again.

But this time I will deal with it by culling.  Another reason we have decided to to this is so that we can continue to get and raise our Turkeys.  Turkeys are quite susceptible to this disease, as I have found out.  In fact, from what I hear, if you have Mycoplasma present in your flock, you should not raise turkeys.  We want to have our turkeys.  One day I would love to have some year round pet turkeys, and to do this we have to get rid of this disease.

Last week I phoned Dr. Cox of the Agricultural department.  He suspects that it is Mycoplasma too.  Especially when I described the turkeys to him.

So today, I went and spent some time with the chicks watching and listening to see who looked and sounded the worst to send in to be tested.  Not an easy thing to do, picking out baby chicks and turkeys that you know you will have to kill first thing in the morning.  I'm not looking forward to it at all.

But I guess knowing what I am dealing with will bring a certain piece of mind.  Knowing if by culling that I am making the right decision.

If it comes to culling, I can't imagine what it will be like to not have anymore chickens, turkey's or guinea fowl for a while.  The wait time after disinfecting for mycoplasma is about 3 weeks, which isn't that long.  But my husband would like to wait for a year before I get anymore birds.  

For a few days there, I could hardly go out and look at my birds.  I fed, watered, and collected eggs as quickly as I could, because I felt so guilty about having to cull them.  Most of my main flock I have had as chicks or hatched from eggs.  I interact daily with them.  They are more then just chickens to me.  The majority of them are pets.  My chickens over the years have given me great joy, comfort and entertainment. They are my escape on a hard day when I need quiet time.  It may sound weird but on a bad day, I go and stand in my chicken house in the evening and just watch and listen to the chickens.  It's comforting. 

Anyways, tomorrow is the day to send them away and then the long wait to get the results....  

I think it will be hard to sleep tonight....

Saturday 28 April 2012

Chocolate Chip Bars

If you love Chocolate Chip Cookies, you can't help but love these squares.  I think they are easier to make then the cookies!  And they taste like the cookies!



Chocolate Chip Bars

2 Cups Flour
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Butter
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup White Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
2 Cups Chocolate Chips
Optional, 1 Cup chopped Walnuts


Blend dry ingredients in a smaller bowl.  Blend Butter, Sugars, Eggs, and Vanilla until creamy.  Blend in the dry ingredients with the creamed mixture.  Stir in Chocolate Chips and nuts.  Spread batter into a 10 X 10 inch lightly greased pan.  I use a 9 X 13 inch pan just fine.  Smooth batter with spoon.

Bake for 30 minutes for at 350* or until golden. 

I like to slightly under bake mine so that they are good and chewy!

Enjoy!
  

Easy Pancake Recipe

This recipe is pretty easy and yummy!


1 1/2 cup Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 3/4 Cup Milk
2 Tbsp Oil
1 Egg
Vanilla

Blend dry ingredients together.  Blend Wet ingredients (I do this in my 4 cup measuring cup).  I don't measure the vanilla but just dump it in.   Add the wet to the dry and give a mix, then ladle into a hot pan or griddle.  The batter will get bubbles on it when it starts cooking.  When the bubbles pop and the batter starts to lose the shine, give it a flip!  Cook until golden brown.

Usually I find with my family, we have to double the recipe or even quadripple the recipe so that there is left overs for lunches and stuff.

If you want thinner pancakes, just add a little more milk.

Friday 27 April 2012

Egg Freshness Float Tests and Stuff

So you notice that the egg production has dropped way down and your wondering what the heck is going on.  Then you move something in the barn or hen house and there is a nice big mountain of eggs, and it dawns on you... Those sneaky hens are hiding the eggs!  Or maybe like me, you keep a bowl of eggs in the fridge and add the small little ones that are for personal use to it daily.  But once in a while you get so many eggs it's hard to keep up on the use of them.

Then you're left wondering just how fresh some of those eggs are.  Yes, you could toss them.  But why toss the good ones along with the bad.  Most of the time, even our 'old' eggs are fresher then the ones you are buying off the self in the grocery store.  

Heck, you could even test it out on your store bought eggs if you are wondering just how fresh those babies are.  Have you ever used store bought eggs and went to boil them and seen them floating and bobbing around in the pot.


Fill a container up with warm water.  I use warm water.  The reason for this is.  Eggs are porous.  If you put an egg in cold water, it will contract and draw any bacteria that is on the outside of the shell in through the pores.  This is not good.  So, if you use warm water, the egg will expand, and you will notice that little air bubbles form on the shell.

Put your eggs into the warm water, and look at them.  A very fresh egg will sink to the bottom and lay on it's side.  Week old eggs will rest on the bottom but the fat end of the egg will rise up slightly.  Three week old eggs will be balanced on pointy end with the fat end sticking up.  Old eggs will be floating, bobbing along the surface of the water.  These floaters should be tossed as they aren't any good to eat.  Or if you have chickens just cook 'em up and feed them back to the chickens.


As eggs age, the air cell in the fat end gets bigger as moisture evaporates from the egg and the air cell increases, causing the egg to float.

You can see the difference a little better in this container.

Another way to tell if your egg is fresh is to crack it and have a look.  With a very fresh egg,  the white will have a cloudy look to it.  This is cause by carbon dioxide still in the egg present when the egg is laid.  As the egg ages it will become clear.  A fresh egg will have more thick egg white with a bit of the thin.  As the egg ages the thick egg white will break down and become thinner.  A fresh egg will have lots of nice firm egg white and the yoke will be siting nice and high and round.  The yoke will also sort of break down too, and become less firm, breaking when it hits the pan.

Yet another indicator is the Chalaza in the egg.  This is those little squiggly white things in the egg that often get mistaken for a partially formed chick or something left over from the rooster.  The Chalaza is actually like a twisted springy anchor that holds the yoke safe in the middle of the egg.  It is attached to the outer layers of the egg and when you crack that egg, it springs in close to the yoke.  These are not harmful to eat at all.  As the egg ages, the Chalaza breaks down and in old eggs it will barely be visible.  If you hold an old egg up to a flash light in a darkened room you would notice that the yoke will float around more inside the egg if you move the egg around.  This is because the Chalaza is breaking down.

Sometimes when you crack an egg, you will find a blood spot or a little piece of something that looks like meat.  These are not harmful either, and the egg can still be eaten.  You could just scoop out that spot with a spoon.  This happens when the egg is being formed and a blood vessel breaks. The meat spot is what happens when the blood clots.  It does not mean that the egg is fertilized or is a chick forming.  

So, maybe you are wondering just how you will be able to tell if that egg you are about to eat is fertile?  Or maybe you want to incubate some eggs and what to figure it out without firing up the incubator to test a few.  

Well, on the egg is a spot called a Germinal Disc.  If the egg is not fertilized, it is called a Blastodisc.  The spot will be small and unevenly shaped.


If the egg is fertile, the Germinal Disc is called a Blastoderm.  It will be round in shape and sort of look like a ring.


And there you have it!  

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Fiddlehead Quiche


It's that time of year when the fiddleheads are popping, and begging to be eaten.

Not every fern is edible, so make sure that you pick the right ones, Ostrich Ferns. The ones you are looking for have a very thin papery skin on them, that you will need to remove before eating it.  The main stem of the fiddle heads are smooth without the darker brown hairy frond skins. The skins should rub of quite easily.  Fiddlehead ferns often have a dark brown spore frond that will be sticking up lasting through the winter.  Pick the tightly curled ones.  I would also recommend not picking ones that grow along roads.  Make sure not to pick all the heads on the plant!

Grasp the fiddlehead coil and bend it back and it will snap away from the plant.


Rub and wash off the papery husks.  Pretty aren't they?


Fiddlehead Quiche

1 frozen or fresh (or homemade) Pie Crust
2 cups chopped Fiddleheads 
1 small Onion 
2 Tbs. Olive Oil 
1 cup Shredded Cheddar
4 Eggs 
1 cup Cream (or half & half) 
1 Tbs. Coarse Mustard 
2 Tbs. Flour
Chopped and cooked Bacon

Precook piecrust in a 350° oven. After preparing the Fiddleheads for cooking (remove the thin golden skins and rinse), sauté onions and Fiddleheads in olive oil for 6-8 minutes then place in crust. Sprinkle cheese evenly over the top. Blend eggs, mustard, flour, cream, and pour over other ingredients.

Bake at 350° for about 50 minutes (full cooked fiddleheads). Pie is cooked when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. This dish may be served cold, warm, or hot.  Serves 3-5


Isn't there just something so beautiful about a fiddle head?




Friday 20 April 2012

The world awakes!

Yes, spring has sprung!

I love this time of year when winter retreats and the world wakens again!  The breeze is warmer as it caresses your cheek, and the smell of cottonwood sap, skunk cabbage and moist earth makes you feel alive again.

The sounds of the grouse drumming and hooting, robins singing, and birds fighting as they chase each other through the branches is a welcome change from the silence of the snow.  Hummingbirds return and Butterflies and Bee's glide and zip though the air as they search for flowers that are yet to come.  The mountain utters grumbles as she sends her snow tumbling and sliding down her slopes.  The sound of rushing water in the creeks.  The ice along the river melts and gives way as the waters rise.

The snow is melting and at last there are just patches here and there in low laying areas and in the shady spots.  The bare patches reveal trails in the grass where the voles and mice have been busy under the deep snow safe from predators.  New shoots of grass are pushing their way into the world, and leaves are turning the gray to the delicate shades of green.

Everyday filled with wonder and discovery of a world awakening and returning to life.

Yes, I love this time of year without a doubt!

Fiddle Heads emerging.

Skunk Cabbage.

Geese return.

And ducks.

May Cherry buds




Wednesday 18 April 2012

Chick update

I thought I would give an update on how the chicks are doing.

Well, They aren't doing so hot.  It seems that some how we have come in contact with an illness.  It also seems to be contagious, because most of my chicks are now coughing, sneezing, gurgly breathing, have puffy eyes and are all huddled under the heat lights.  I've had several deaths too.

This has really been stressing me out and I have been so worried.

When it first started, there were some puffy eyes, and I assumed that my turkey poults who were in with the chicks were pecking eyes.  There was also some sneezing, and I put his off to that maybe they had gotten a chill when one of the 3 heat lights got unplugged.

So I moved the turkeys and plugged back in the heat light.  But puffy eyes were still happening, and the sneezing turned to coughing and gurgling.  I put them on Electrolytes and Vitamins, and in draft free area's.

The other morning I had 3 chicks die.  I sort of panicked, because I've never dealt with illness with this many chicks before.

The chicks seem to have come down with Mycroplasma.  I don't know for sure, because I haven't had them tested, but they have the symptoms of it.   Both the Chicks (both heritage and meat birds) and the Turkey Poults have it.

I was really hoping that I could get away without the use of antibiotics.  Especially because of the meat birds, some of which we planned to butcher in 2 weeks.  But with them this ill, and all the risk of loosing so many I put them on Tylan last night.

When a friend of mine heard of my plight, she rushed all the way out here with some medication.  I can hardly beleive the kindness and generosity of this lady.  I am so very grateful!  I hope one day I can return the favour (Only I would never wish this on anyone.)

So now that they are on the medication, I feel a ray of hope!  So far today we haven't had any die, so that's just awesome!

And now we wait to see if the Tylan kicks in and things turn around.