Rosemary Brac and HOA's

 Yesterday I had a visitor from the neighborhood next to ours,the neighborhood working towards having chickens allowed by their HOA. My visitor had emailed asking if she could take some photos of our coop for an up coming HOA meeting,sure why not anything to help their cause. We visited while I gave her a tour of our gardens,pictures were snapped and then a request was made,could I, would I mind manning a Q&A table at their HOA meeting? All I would have to do is answer people's questions about keeping chickens in the city.Ok I said,I thought at first I would have to stand in front of a partially unfriendly crowd to talk with mic in hand so standing at table seems easy enough,only a few folks at a time to talk to I can do that.
 The pro-chicken crowd had sent out a survey to their neighbors with questions to answer and a space for them to list any concerns.The three main concerns were very simple to answer and two are easy to solve.The other is a matter of tolerance.
  Many of the surveyed people were worried about smell and rats. I can understand both of those.A smelly yard is no joy to me so I got that one. I ran all of  my answers by my visitor to see what she thought. Keeping the smell down is simple, when your nose tells you that your coop is smelly,clean it.Your nose will know before your neighbors catch wind of it.This can be about bi-weekly in the summer because city chickens live in much smaller coops than farm chickens,like any other small space it needs cleaning more often.In the winter it can take longer because of the cooler weather. ( We don't clean our coop from November until March, the composting manure releases heat and helps keep the hens warm.)
  As for rats, I hate wild rats and do not want to see them in my yard at all. The best ways to keep rats from coming are easy, feed your hens in the morning and take their feed bin in at night.Rats are nocturnal if there is not anything there for them to eat at night they are not going to hang out. Also by keeping your feed stored indoors the rats won't be tempted to chew through your feed bags or buckets.Indoor storage also keeps your feed dry which is always good too.I had not thought of this until now but by designing your coop so it is up on "feet" you won't be building rat habitat,they love living under things.Finally, keep your coop clean.
 The third concern was how much noise chickens make.That has kind of a round about answer, yes they make noise but not all of the time.My visitor said she read somewhere the loudest hen ever recorded was 80 decibels the same volume as a dog barking.She asked me about the "I just laid an egg" chatter the hens do.So far I can find no rhyme or reason to this behavior.Sometimes my girls will go for weeks with out announcing they have laid an egg,then one day it is the biggest news since Obama won the Presidential race. But really my neighbors dog barks longer than the hens sing out about their egg laying habits.In my mind if you can ignore a reasonable amount of dog barking you can ignore a hens cackling.The only other time the hens make noise is when there is some threat in the yard and this is a good thing to tune into,there's trouble in the yard and it is your duty to A.keep your hens safe and B.fix the problem.
 So a HOA meeting is where I will be one evening next week,wearing my best Suburban Mom costume,no nose ring and a big patient smile.There's some conservative folks over there so I will need to blend in like G.I Joe in the jungles of Way Far Out.
   I have another recipe to share today.I know I always post some sort of baked thing it is because they are the only things I cook I have an actual recipe for.When I cook it is a dash,handfuls and a bit of this or that.Well I do follow the recipes for canning but that is different.
 Today's recipe is for Rosemary Brac,(Brac is an Irish term for tea cake.) I have no idea where I got this recipe, I have it written down in my book but the origins are lost.This makes one 9 inch round cake that is slightly sweet,savory and has it's own richness to it as well. The first step to making the Brac is steeping golden raisins and rosemary in warmed milk.This step is important,the warmth of the milk softens the raisins and allows the oils in the rosemary to infuse the milk. I know this may seem like an odd combo,sweet and savory but it works. I had a slice of it slathered with butter and apple butter yesterday,the apple butter sent it over the top! Yum.
   
    Rosemary Brac-
    Preheat oven to 350   remember if using a glass pan turn the oven down by 25 degrees.
   Grease a 9 inch round pan.

   1/2 Cup Golden Raisins
   1 Cup Milk
   1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh Rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried
        Heat these together in a pan until the milk just starts to boil.Set aside and cool to room temp.

  In a bowl -
  2 Eggs beaten until frothy
  4 Tablespoons of melted Butter
  3/4 Cups Sugar
   Add butter and sugar to eggs mix well.Now add-
  2 Cups Flour
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
    Add dry ingredients to egg mixture beat until smooth then add in the milk,rosemary and raisins.Stir it all together and pour into your pan.
Bake for 30- 45 minutes. Somehow when I first wrote this recipe down I did not write down the temp or time, duh Rois. So I had to work it out for myself.Most cakes bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes so that is what I went with.My oven takes close to 45 minutes.
 The Brac reminds me a bit of scones, a bit sweet,rich and will go with lots of things.I hope you try this recipe out although it sounds odd it is really tasty.
  Enjoy your weekend and happy Mother's Day to one and all.
    Rois

Encouraging my hens to go broodie...

Here is Abby our Black Sexlink wondering what on Earth I am up to now.






 This morning when I went to the store I picked up a package of plastic Easter eggs with the hopes that one of the hens will go broodie. I am hoping the colors of the eggs won't matter,I did try to keep the colors as true as possible.Now we wait and see what happens.

Here they are, the "eggs" sitting in the hen's favorite laying corner.
Cross your fingers for me!
 Rois

Keeping Chicks

Image via Wikipedia

Spring is around the corner and the feed stores are filling up with sweet little peeps coming from brooders full of chicks. At work our brooders are full and it has been dang hard not to scoop up every single chick we get in.If we lived on land and not in the city I'd have two big flocks of chickens one for laying and one that was all of the amazing breeds out there that I would have just for their looks. I have resisted so far but probably not for long.

Not for long for a couple of reasons,the first I can't not bring some home, the urge is like an addiction that I keep at bay by my strong sense of common sense and the second is our 2 older hens are no longer laying. But you see the second reason gives me room to feed my need for chicks.

The second reason is also something people have to realize before they start having chickens,what to do with the hens once they have stopped laying? Here we will butcher the hens and have them for soup,not everyone's cup of soup but it is our solution.Sometimes a person lucks out,sort of, and their older hens die on their own before you have to think of this problem.And there is always some city-fied critter eying your coop like a 24 hour drive thru to take care of this point too.

Having Chickens is a long term commitment..period,end of story. They are like having any other animal that you bring into your life.They need care,food,shelter and protection.Chicks are darling little puffs of sweetness for the first few days and then it all begins to change.Just like that sweet little baby you brought home from the hospital grows into a cranky teen but faster. Fortunately Chicks won't argue with you about every little thing, demand more cell phone minutes and another pair of shoes .

Once you have chosen the breed of Chicks you want you are going to need to set up your brooder before you bring chicks home.Having things all set up and ready to go will make for an easier transition for the chicks and make things simple for you. You will need a large box of some sort that is about 3 feet long.You can ask at your local stores that carry appliances if you want to use a cardboard box. Otherwise good luck on finding one made from something else.Also for the box you will need some sort of screen for over the top so the light can get in,no other pets can get in and the chicks can't later fly out which they will try. You will also need some pine shavings for in the bottom of the box, be sure it is PINE not cedar,the oils in the cedar are not good for the chicks. You will also need a feeder and a water.You can find these at feed stores.Don't feel you have to buy the jars for both of these you can use any narrow mouthed canning jars instead. And most of important is a Brooder light to hang over one end of the box to keep your babies warm. Growing up my parents used a high watted light bulb and a hanging light,nothing fancy at all, it works it is a choice.You can also find Brooder Lights with a shield to focus the light a bit more,these use a larger bulb that are found near the lights at feed stores. You will need to be able to hang you light above the box towards one end.This allows the chicks to move in and out of the heat of the light.

You will also need some Chick feed.There is specific feed for chicks that they eat for the first 3 months.This feed comes medicated or not.I always buy the medicated. Why? Because it's like getting my kids their shots but in some ways better.The medicated feed protects the chicks from some diseases that are naturally in the soil ,don't panic here,these are things that effect chickens not your family. The other up side to me about the medicated feed is by the time the chicks will be laying the medication has worked its way through the birds body.This means that if your goal is to have your own organic eggs you will have them any way.

Everything is set up and you have brought home your chicks.What is it like to have them around? That depends on where you end up keeping them.We keep ours in the dinning room (No comments from the Peanut Gallery. Hey, the first person to leave me a comment about the origin of that phrase will win a prize.) and then later move them to the garage. The chicks need to be some place safe,draft free and dry.The box is big so finding a spot is interesting and a trail of patience in the end.
*** I just want to add here about how much this could cost you.When people come in to buy chicks and the set up things it runs for 4 chicks and the "kit" right around $70. I know that may seem like a lot but I have two solutions.Shop around for your supplies.And think of it this way it is an investment that will last about 2 years. It all evens out once the hens start to lay.

I like having the chicks near by so we can talk to them.I find by talking to them they seem to bond a bit more with us. Besides that it gets us in the habit of checking their food and water often.We can also keep an ear out for any stressed out peeping.And well they are so cute we spend lots of time just watching them go about their days. Eventually the charm wears off and everything is covered in dust and out to the garage they go.

This is usually around 3 weeks.The chicks have grown and started feather out. They are also bigger,scratching around more and trying to fly a bit.They are starting to smell more by then too.This is a good point to talk about how often you will need to change their bedding.I use my nose for this one, about once a week is about how often we change their bedding.

Checking their food and water is important too. Checking it a couple of times a day works well. We put out smaller amounts of food so that less is wasted.We don't use the jar for the food and the little ones will sometimes poop in the feed meaning you wil have to change it if there's poop in it. Chickens in general drink lots of water so changing that is important.

Chicks are kept in their Brooder for 8 weeks and during that time you will need to raise the light up one inch per week.As the birds feather out they don't need as much of the heat and you are preparing them for outside temperatures.While the chicks are indoors you will know if they are warm enough by their movements. If the chicks are huddled together under the light they are either getting ready for nap time or they are too cool.You can move your box or lower the light a little bit. If the chicks are crowed at the end of the box where the light is not so intense they could be too hot.Again move the box around or raise the light.

Some other chick behavior that may surprise you is their sleeping habits.Chicks sometimes just fall over and are asleep.They fall asleep on top of each other or even in their feed bowl.Just like a baby who falls asleep sitting in their highchair,clunk they are out like a light.

At 8 weeks your chicks can go out to the coop to live.Some people choose to build the coop before they bring chicks home so it is already to go.Others build the coop during the 8 weeks they are raising the chicks.Either way make sure you are ready,the time goes by faster than you think.

We are beginning to really get the spring chores rolling here.Yesterday we had soil delivered for more garden beds and some gravel for around our fire pit and under the clothes line.I planted 2 kinds of Swiss Chard and Sweet Peas and 3 kinds of Lettuce. The excitement is building here.My Dad was here the other day and has offered to teach us how to graft apple trees.I want 2 Gravenstein Apples and they are hard to find.My Dad's solution is to get some cuttings from a family friends trees and graft them.I am most excited about learning this new skill.It sounds easy and will add to our Homestead nicely.My Dad also brought us an assortment of seed potatoes for the garden.It's not too early here to plant them,we just need to get the bed built for them. Things are good and we are all happy and well.Not much could be better than that.
Rois

A great posting about keeping chickens

I wanted to share this posting from another blog about raising chickens in general.Rhonda Jean has done a very good posting on her blog.If you are just starting out or want some ideas for your own established coop this is helpful blog.
Rois

Raising your own meat Chickens and butchering classes.

Image via Wikipedia

We are starting to plan out a rotation schedule for raising more of our own meat Chickens.Last spring/summer went just fine but we need to do a little fine tuning here and there.

The first thing we are changing from last year is the breed of birds we will be raising for our meat.Last year we raised Les Poulets also known as Amish Meat Chickens which are a heritage breed of chicken that take a bit longer to get to butchering size. Although the birds were fine and their meat was good, we want a bit fattier bird and one that grows quicker.

I want a fattier bird so when I make soup stocks I get the golden color I think of as a plus to raising your own birds,the Poulets did not have much fat to them so my soup still looked like stock made from a store bought chicken. Fat also helps make a cooked chicken moist and tender,just the way we like them to be.

The other point of the birds growing at a quicker rate is all about space for us.Since we live in a city environment and only have a larger city lot we can't raise to many birds at once.We figure 6-8 meat birds is our maximum and even that could be pushing our luck. If we add in the laying hens that would mean we would have up to 16 birds here all at once.Too m any to keep for long.By buying the quick growing Cornish Cross birds we can butcher the birds at 6-8 weeks.

I am not overly fond of the Cornish Cross Chickens,they creep me out.The Cornish Cross are the white chickens you see in all of the big mega meat plants.They have been breed to grow so fast and fat that they have awful habits that turn my stomach and make me a bit sad for the birds. Because of their rate of growth the Cornish's legs can not make muscle fast enough for the birds legs to support them; they end up being crippled by their own growing.Also because of their growth the birds just live right by their feed bins.So you have this crippled bird that eats,sleeps and poops in one spot from about week 3 on. When I think of these birds the movie Super Size Me comes to mind,if you have seen the movie you may get my point. I am not talking about Cornish Cross's that are living their days out in a meat plant here;I am talking about the Cornish Cross's living in my Dad's barn the same environment (on a city scale.) our birds will be living. But farming is not always pretty and sweet and we want our own meat.

So we figure we have room for around 6 birds at a time that was easy enough to work out.Now we are working on how to keep a rotation of birds going long enough to stock our freezer well. I figure we eat about 2 whole Chickens a week,that comes out to 104 Chickens a year. We are not going to be able to grow that many birds ourselves.We estimate,with much hopeful thinking,we will get in 3 rotations giving us 18 Chickens in the freezer or 9 weeks worth of meat.

Last years birds numbered 8 so the 18 will be a boost in our pantry. I have used those birds as a "treat" for us saving them for when we wanted an extra nice something for dinner.And I will most likely do the same with this years birds.

Now I want to talk about the cost of raising your own meat birds.Last year we added up the price per chick and the feed used while the Poulets were around. We did not include the scraps they ate from the kitchen,those scraps are a freebie in our home economy. The price we averaged per bird ended up being around $9 or maybe $10. I compared the price of a regular non organic chicken and an organic chicken at our local market.Our home raised birds landed right in the middle for price.We did end up saving $3-4 per bird because they were raised free range and organically. Not a huge savings but a savings.And lets not leave out the whole political conversation we could have about the benefits of our own meat.But I'd be preaching to the choir so I am moving on...

I want to go back to my comment about farming not being pretty or sweet.Many more people are looking into raising their own meat in an urban/suburban setting after watching the assorted movies or reading one of the many books out right now about the insecurity of the meat industry.I do understand the concern but I am asking you to think about your abilities,carefully and thoroughly.Can you really do this? Can you see it all the way to the end?

I want to point out raising animals for meat is a totally different world than having an animal as a pet.I even see this trend with urban/suburban chicken keepers,the birds are coddled and cooed over like they were a darling little child. Once you have made the choice to raise your own meat you have to look at that animal as meat,nothing else.Can you do it? Are you so sure of your politics that you can take a life?

Butchering a Chicken is simple and not as bloody as some may think.Chance and I found our students at our Chicken Butchering Class very interested in the whole process. We were proud of them for coming and just doing what we were asking them to do,take a life so theirs could continue in a way that fit the students beliefs. Many students did exactly what we asked, read up on Chicken Butchering,watch a video or two on YouTube and think it over. The students had thought it through and came to the class, they were ready.

So think it all through before you leap.

Chance and I have started to receive emails about wither or when we are holding any Chicken Butchering classes this year. We are but at this moment I have no dates to share with you.We need to talk some things over with our Chicken Guy first.But I can share this over view.

We do teach and this is what we ask:
You have your own bird,The age is not important,you can eat an older bird too.
You need a sharp larger kitchen knife.
Are you ready? See above.

The costs: $15 per person for a group lesson min of 5 people max of 10.
( if you can get a group together great,or watch here for our dates to come.)
Or : We will do a one on one lesson for $30.

You can leave us a comment here or email us with further questions.

Well, Issac is studying for Finals this weekend and needs the computer to look something up and since I'd like to see him do well I must go for now.I have a few more postings brewing in my mind that I am hoping to post this week so check back soon.

Rois