Our homemade chicken coop

We've been raising meat chickens for a few years now and each year we've learned a few  things to add to our list of disasters and a few to add to our triumphs.  

Let me explain how we started.  A few years ago when we lived in the city we built the worlds most expensive chicken coop.  You can read about it here.  In many ways it was fabulous - for 6 chickens.  When you get a few more - like 50 meat birds - it won't do at all.

Every summer that we've had chickens at the farm they've been in different pens.  We would solve one problem by making a change the next year only to create more problems we didn't anticipate.  The first year we used the only pen we had available in the barn but it was a little small for the 60 chickens that lived in it.  We figured they would be outside most of the time anyway and it WOULD BE FINE.  Leaving the feed in their pen at all times was also a mistake as it caused them to grow too fast.  We didn't get the chicks until September which meant they needed 8 weeks to grow to full size which also meant we were getting into wintery weather by the time they left.  Oh dear - can you say chicken poop?  They were the laziest chickens you ever saw. They hated going outside even though we chased them outside every day.  They just sat and got fat and pooped.  End of story.  By the time they were ready for the butcher we were REALLY happy to get rid of them because the coop was impossible to keep clean. Without enough exercise and with too much food they got so big they had leg problems too so we lost a few birds in the process.

Fast forward to the next spring when we had the great idea to build them a huge pen.  You can read about that here.  It was such a good idea except now we couldn't get them to gain weight because they got TOO MUCH exercise.  They didn't have any leg problems though!.  After a few extra weeks of feed before we brought them to the butcher we ended up with really yummy but rather scrawny birds.  Sigh*  I don't think we got close to breaking even when we sold them that year.

So - lets try that again!!!  We recently purchased an old dog kennel through Kijiji - it's 5x15 feet and made of chain link with a good sturdy door.  We know from our past coops that Overkilled Fort Knox is the way to go. There can be NO WAY for animals to get in or reach in.  

We started by wiring the chain link fencing on far more securely than it was originally - we wanted to keep a dog (and others) OUT!   We used two 4 foot pieces of hardware cloth on the ground and zip ties to connect them together - slightly overlapping the pieces.  This provides a strong bottom so predator animals can't dig under the coop.

Then we wrapped the top edge of the kennel with 3 foot wide hardware cloth - attaching it with zip ties as well.  The bottom section is a full sheet of lattice.  It covers the hardware cloth on the top and is connected with zip ties again to the frame and the hardware cloth that makes up the floor.  The roof is plywood sheets cut to fit so there is a 6 inch overhang ( 4 sheets cut to 6 feet each - the roof is 6 feet wide and 16 feet long)  We cut an old tarp to size and stapled it on top.  We were going to have the tarp overhang and peg it to the ground but it made the interior too dark.  It took some creative cutting to fill in all the little spaces around the door to create a tight fit but with enough space that we could still open the door.

After adding shavings and a waterer we had to solve the problem of feeding 50 starving chickens at once without them killing each other in the process.  They get pretty excited when they're hungry.  We have multiple feeders but they never seemed enough.  I solved the problem by purchasing a new 10 foot eaves trough with ends and screwed some 1 foot pieces of an old 2x4 across the bottom to act as feet - I used four pieces.  When it's situated in the middle of the coop the chickens can access it from both sides and finally there is room for everyone to eat.

The coop is bright and airy and doesn't smell bad at all...of course I am not really an expert on that subject! There is great air flow, plenty of space but not too much space and it's a safe place for them to spend the night.  We also built the coop within sight of the kitchen window so I can keep an eye on them.

In past years we let them free range as far as they wanted to - but sometimes they didn't come back.  Our losses were just too great so this year they are kept in a large fenced area.  They still have access to plants and bugs and sunshine but they don't disappear as someones lunch!  So far this year we haven't lost any birds to predators.

We also situated the coop in the shade of several large trees.  Meatie birds are not that smart and sometimes when it's really hot they will lay in the sun and die of dehydration before they get up and get a drink.

The rake in the picture is my Chicken Encourager - I use it to gently encourage the chickens to leave the coop!

The fencing we used is something we've also used to fence our vegetable garden.  The material is a plastic mesh that comes in 50 foot rolls for less than $15.00.  The posts are a little pricey but since they can be easily moved and re-used we thought it was worth it.  You may be wondering why the fence is so short - it's only two feet tall. The fencing comes in three foot height as well but the due to a problem in the pricing for the fence posts it was more economical to buy the two foot fencing instead.  We've found that our meat birds grow so fast that they don't fly very well.  Occasionally one gets out but they never go far and the fence is more to contain them than to keep them safe from predators. 

This coop is not going to be used in the winter - it's a little too airy for subzero temperatures but it could be modified in a pinch.  Necessity is the Mother of Invention they say!  If you can get a good deal on a kennel and shop around or use what you have already have you can make a similar coop and have the fencing like this for under $450.00.  If all goes well it should pay for itself this summer and last for many years.

The chickens seem to like their new digs and are growing well!  Three tries and I think we got it right!!

100 year old barn and cistern repairs

Our 100 year old barn has long been in need of repair.  The eaves troughs were falling off, the soffit and facia were rusted right through in some places, hanging crooked in most places and the roof leaked like the proverbial aluminum sieve.  This summer is all about barn repair!

The barn has a great history to go with it.  There was another barn in it's place when the house was originally built - a large "L- shaped" wooden barn.  Sometime around the turn of the century they were using a steam powered thresher and the barn full of hay caught fire.  It burned to the ground leaving only the foundation.  The metal barn was built in it's place - I guess the fear of fire had it's impact - no more wooden barn!  It doesn't look too bad from the front since the two sides that show the most were painted at some point in the past 10 years.  The other two sides look pretty bad...now that I've tackled painting the garage and the potting shed maybe someday I'll get to the barn too.

So back to repairs.  There was no way sane and "normal" people would climb around on the roof 50 feet in the air!  We hired some Mennonite men because they said they would!.  They were a pleasure to have around and we are really pleased with the work they did.  They fixed things that they noticed were wrong that we didn't even know about.  The sliding doors for instance have never hung straight or slid properly - we just assumed that that's the way it was going to be - they fixed them and they now close perfectly.  They also cleaned many years worth of raccoon poop out of the area where the soffit and fascia meet - gross.

Leonard on the roof - 50 feet from the ground!

The fact that they are Mennonite-of-the-type-that-doesn't-drive-cars meant we had to pick them up and drop them off after work.  It was an hour drive one way so it added up but we took turns driving and somehow it worked out.  The ride was usually pretty quiet on the way home as the men took the time to sleep in between their days work and the farm chores yet to come.

While they were working on the barn they nearly fell into an old cistern.  A cistern is a large holding tank that collects water off the roof of a building so it can be stored and used - like a rain barrel but much better. I had heard that there was one around that area so I was excited - after I made sure everyone was OK of course!   I asked a neighbour who is a member of the original family if he knew about the cistern and he said it had never been used in his memory.  I am about to change that!  

I crawled in to have a look around.  It was obviously dark and damp but it looked in reasonable repair except for a few large cracks.  I checked with a waterproofing friend of ours and he told me what I needed to do in order to get it ready for use.  With an electric pump we can pump the water right into the barn into a large-water-cube-in-a-cage-thing and not need to use the house well for the animals - a real boon in times of drought.  In the winter time: no more lugging buckets from the house cistern when the pipes in the barn freeze!  It will only mean a small change in our original plans for how to direct the water with the eaves troughs.  I'll write a detailed post on how we do it when we get it finished.

I'm looking forward to completing the whole project and having a dry barn.  We have lots of work to do inside but knowing that the everything will stay dry in a down pour will make the rest of the work required make more sense.

Don't ya think the sliding doors need to be painted RED??  me too...

The Garage & Potting Shed

There's been so much going on I have hardly had time to stop and write about it!  We're having our barn repaired this month but that's a story for another day.  They say the most expensive four words in renovating are: WHILE WE'RE AT IT... and that's what happened.  We had to rent a man-lift for the barn repair and it was a great opportunity to use it to paint the upper story of the garage.  After the men left for the day they would park it right in front of the garage and up and down I went on the man-lift 54 feet in the air.  It was pretty nerve wracking at first but I actually got quite comfortable up there.  In any case I was able to paint the garage without having to climb a ladder. I had some help from our friend Dan - it helped that he is already really tall and the ladder just extended his reach. (thanks Dan!)

The garage had not been painted in many years - probably about 20 from what we can piece together so the paint/stain was very faded and the wood was very dry.  It took twice as much stain as we thought it would.  The plan was to paint it slate grey but slate grey on the paint chip and slate grey in real life were two different things - there is no getting around that the garage is now BLUE.  I was trying to get away from blue but after we had already purchased the stain - blue it would remain.  I actually really like it.

Of course I had to paint SOME part of it RED.  Since I wanted to paint the whole garage red (but was overruled) I chose to do the doors.  I feel like a very patriotic American - except I'm not American.  As one thing leads to another the whole farm will eventually be painted red, white and blue.  I am still holding out for a red house - we'll see!

This little red door leads to my potting shed - now I will have to actually clean it up and "pot" something in it!  

As I was painting the potting shed door I spent some time thinking about all the people who had painted it before me.  The door is original to the farm from what I can tell  meaning that it was nearing it's 150th birthday.  It's been painted and re-painted many times - but this coat was it's first in RED.  It was a humbling thought that I was adding to the history of this door.  I wonder if someone will paint it many years from now and wonder who it was that loved RED so much!  It has many latches and old hooks and since at one time it was used as a chicken coop it has a chicken flap at the bottom.  The nesting boxes inside are still there and haven't been used for chickens in more than 25 years but there is still straw in each box.  The last batch of kittens was born in one of them a few weeks ago.

 I'm sure an analogy could be made about how our lives can look good on the outside but be terribly messy on the inside (notice I didn't take any pictures inside!)  This garage has a story all it's own related to our move here to add to it's already long history and I am so glad we could get to painting and fixing it up first - that just seems perfectly appropriate.  

Little cuties - ducklings & chicks

Momma Ducks are very protective of their young and there was no getting close today so I had to take the picture through the wire mesh! So far we have 10 white Muscovy ducklings and 17 black Muscovy ducklings.  We have one Crested White Momma sitting on a nest but at the moment she is gallivanting out in the rain and I'm not sure she's planning to go back in!

Our meatie bird flock is growing well.  They have a few quail friends in there because we've run out of pens and so far they seem to be getting along well.

It's a rainy day today and most of the chickens are choosing to stay inside where it's warm and dry.

Chickens behind bars!

My new kitchen shelves and MORE canning jars!

When will I stop talking about canning jars??? Probably never!  Last week I was able to put all the older zinc lidded canning jars I had been collecting on to their new shelves.   When we first moved to the farm I needed shelves in a-bit-of-a-hurry because there were so many other things to do so I bought melamine shelving from Home Depot and lived with it for a few years.  The first the summer they were up it was very hot and sticky.  The humidity had a rather strange effect on the shelves!  They drooped on either end and I rescued my glass jars just before they slid off and fell on the floor.  How strange.  As soon as the weather improved I flipped the shelves over and refastened them all was well again. 

I had an idea for what I wanted but being somewhat inept with power tools when it comes to fine work I didn't trust myself to make these shelves.  A few months ago I reconnected with an old high school friend and his family.  After a tour their home with many beautiful built in shelves in the closets I had an aha moment!  Just the guy I needed to build my shelves.

You can see in the picture below that there is a shelf/step on the back of the main shelf.  It allows the jars at the back to stand just a little higher so I can see the contents more easily.  The jars at the back are quart sized and the ones in the front are pints.

After staining and routering (is that a word?) I have the shelves I was hoping for!

Now I have cooking inspiration at my fingertips and I can look at all those lovely jars every day.  I am missing two more pint sized ones and after searching the entire house I've come to the conclusion that I will HAVE TO go to some yard sales this summer and right that wrong!  There are worse ways to spend a Saturday morning!

If you live somewhere nearby and need something built email me and I'll give you Jerry's number!  Thanks Jerry!  I am thrilled and they look great!

Chicks with Momma Hens

By now you must have figured it out - I am a child at heart.  It's the simple things in life that bring a smile to my face and yesterday was a great example.

We've had three broody hens locked in a separate pen sitting on eggs.  I honestly didn't expect much because "everyone" says:  They have bred the broodiness right out of the hatchery hens.  Well - it seems that is not the case.  My son and I have been pecked and squawked at so much this spring that we decided to find the three worst offenders and see if they were serious about sitting.  THEY WERE!

I don't know why this amazes me so much but I am.  We've been checking every day and yesterday there they were.  Two momma's and 5 chicks down on the floor and one more momma still sitting in the nesting box on top of at least 6 more chicks.

The instinct to nurture is still there and considering that the momma hens were raised in a hatchery incubator and have never been "sat on" or taught how to be momma's...well - I just love it!  The chicks are every colour of the chicken rainbow!  Black, yellow and beige - it quite a mix. 

BIWAF - Before I Was A Farmer  I had no idea about how this all worked so let me explain in Magic School Bus language.  Chickens lay an egg an average of 5 or 6 times a week - basically once a day in the early spring/summer and a little less in the late fall/winter.  It has nothing to do with it being cold and everything to do with the hours of daylight available to the hens.  That's why traditionally there was a glut of eggs in the spring and summer and much less in the fall and winter.  The number of eggs can be manipulated by adding lights to the coops to extend the "daylight" and confuse the hens.  It's a long and troublesome conversation to have with chicken owners - some believe the hens should have a rest and therefore no additional lighting.  Some seeing the financial/practical side and leave the lights on because consumers have lost touch with the cycles of life and don't really understand when suddenly there are no eggs to sell them in December.

Chickens may be tricked into laying eggs all winter but somehow they know when it's spring-for-real because they get broody.  Broody - means a generally quiet and contented hen turns into the Terminator and will peck your hands to the point of drawing blood.  They are really great little protectors!  Those meanies are the ones who want to be momma's!

We have a coop of 60-70 chickens with several breeds represented.  We have about 14 nesting boxes for them to share but sharing to chickens is all about seeing how many of them can cram into one 12x12 box at the same time and still be able to lay an egg.  I've found as many as 4 in one box - with many empty boxes available.  Of course there are always some hens that cross their legs and wait till you let them out and no-joke - they come tearing out the door to find their favourite hidey-hole no matter how long you keep them cooped up!

Our egg-layer pen is actually two pens with a little mini-door connecting them.  Most of the year the mini-door is open so they can go back and forth between them but coming sittin' time we allow for one day of egg laying in the nests and then lock the broody hens in and everyone else out.  That means that in our situation the hens are actually sitting on everyone else's eggs - thus the colourful offspring!

The really interesting part is when you have a hen that sits on her own eggs.  She will faithfully lay an egg a day in a nest in some out of the way place in the barn (that usually ends in disaster when  a raccoon finds the nest).  Day one - one egg.  Day two - one egg and so on until she has what she considers enough - usually 10-15 eggs.  The day arrives and she decides - today I will sit.  She will barely leave the nest to eat and drink and 21 days later the little cuties will be peeking out from under momma.  Stop and think about that for a minute.  They all hatch the same day.  That means the egg she laid on day one has been sitting there for 2 weeks before she sat on it and then another 21 day afterwards. Isn't that something!!

Our 50 hatchery chicks who are now a week and a half old were out growing their brooder box so we decided to put them in the pen with the momma's and the babies and see what happened.  We added just one at first to make sure the momma's wouldn't go psycho and kill it.  She just sniffed it and under it's wings it went.  I'm sure she must have thought - MY - WHAT A BIG CHICKIE YOU ARE!!!  All went well but when we added the other 49 chicks the momma's weren't fooled so easily.  They have become two camps in the same pen but seem to be co-existing quite well.

Chicks are so much fun...so let's do the math: 70 layers plus 50 meatie bird chicks plus at least 10 16 new chicks= lots of chickens... and next week the ducklings hatch!  Oh my!

Masked Bandits at the Farm

Don't worry - all is well and we have caught the thieves   We've been dealing with nightly raids for weeks - they were certainly getting the best of us.  We thought it best to keep the authorities out of it given the circumstances.  However the theft and damage was becoming very costly.  In true Mission Impossible fashion we conducted surveillance, decided on the best course of action and thankfully everything turned out OK and no one got hurt.  

We did however catch some really cute raccoons.

The little buggers were in the walls of the barn for weeks and found a way to make daily forays into the duck pen - which we thought was as fortified as Fort Knox -  where they ate themselves silly on duck food.  How convenient - we put out food for them just like the dog.

We put the trap right in the pen on Saturday night and by Sunday morning we had number 1.  We delivered her to the local conservation area and reset the trap.  This morning we caught Number 2 sneaking around in the pen so into a cage he/she went.  After waiting for several hours in hopes of catching some more siblings (and hopefully saving us a trip) we gave up and made the second trip to the conservation area. We arrived home and thought - let's go check the pen right away - and there were Numbers 3,4 & 5 pestering Momma Duck who was kicking up a really loud fuss about them invading her space.  Back to the conservation area we went AGAIN!  I was feeling rather like we needed to name our unorthodox animal taxi service.  The Masked Bandit Express?  

They are adorable-looking but we have seen first hand the damage they can do in the barn and how much they EAT!  Bye-bye raccoons...problem is I heard at least one more!  The trap is set - we'll see what we catch tomorrow!

Information about Botulism

I was having a conversation today with someone I love dearly.  The topic of canning came around as it usually does when standing in my kitchen filled with canning gadgets and tools at this time of year.  She proceeded to tell me about the carrots she had water-bath canned two years ago and how she did it as an experiment and was going to test taste them soon.  Sigh.  I know many older people who have canned for years are not up on all the latest canning information and some people who have just started canning who need to know this information -  PLEASE - do not can low acid foods in a water-bath canner.  Canning is incredibly safe if you do it right and incredibly dangerous if you do it wrong!  It's not hard to figure out you just need to know the basics of canning.  

Health Link BC did a great job on the article and said it better than I could.  Please read and take heed!

Article found at: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile22.stm

What is botulism and how is it caused?

Botulism is a serious form of food poisoning that can cause death. The poison is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that is commonly found in soil, or on raw fruits and vegetables, on meat and fish and many others foods and surfaces.

Botulism spores are tough, and cannot be killed with boiling water or heat without including canning pressures.

Botulism bacteria (the bacteria that grow out of germinated spores) can multiply quickly in a moist, oxygen-free environment and create a very powerful poison. One teaspoonful is enough to kill 100,000 people.

Improper home canning creates the perfect environment to grow botulism.  Because food contaminated by botulism may look and smell normal, you cannot tell by looking at the food whether it is poisoned by botulism bacteria.

What steps can I take to avoid botulism?

Home can properly using extreme care to avoid botulism. Do not take any short cuts.

High-acid foods are resistant to bacteria and only need the "boiling water bath" method of canning. Plums or rhubarb are high acid foods. The "boiling water bath" is a food preservation method commonly used in making jams. It involves dropping a basket of sealed jars into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. 

Low-acid foods such as most vegetables, meats and seafood must be canned at a higher temperature using a pressure canner.

What do I need to know about pressure canning?

A pressure canner is a large, cast-aluminium pot with a locking lid and a pressure gauge. By cooking under pressure, you can bring the temperature of boiling water up to 116°C (240°F). This is the minimum temperature necessary to destroy botulism spores, and the only way to guarantee safe canning for food items such as vegetables, meats and seafood.

Your pressure canner should come with complete instructions. Always follow them carefully. 

Keep these points in mind:

• Foods can be processed at 5, 10 and 15 pounds pressure. Consult a chart provided in the instructions to determine what pressure is safe for the food you are canning.
• Processing time will vary depending on the type of food being preserved and the size of the jar. Never shorten the cooking time that is recommended in the instructions.
• If you live more than 1,000 feet above sea level, the pressure and cooking time will have to be adjusted. Consult a chart.
• Once the right pressure level is reached during cooking, it must be kept constant throughout the cooking step.
• Both weighted gauges and dial gauges should be checked for accuracy. Read the manufacturer's directions carefully for recommended testing and frequency procedures, to make sure your canner is being operated safely and correctly.

What jars are best for canning?

It is important that you use heavy-duty jars made specifically for home canning.

"Mason" type jars - which screw shut with a threaded neck - are the most common choice. Do not re-use the lids: after a lid has been pried off once, a perfect fit can no longer be guaranteed. The jars themselves can be used many times, as long as the rims are perfectly smooth and there are no scratches or cracks that would prevent a perfect seal.

It is important that you do not use commercial jars, such as empty peanut butter jars for home canning. Commercial jars are not strong enough to be safely used.

What should you do if the home-canned food does not seem right?

Never eat, or even taste any home-canned food that:

• Appears to be spoiled;
• Foams;
• Develops a bad smell during cooking;
• Has a bulging container lid or is leaching;
• You are not sure if the food was properly canned or not.

Place any questionable containers and food in a waterproof container and throw it in the garbage. Do not feed the questionable food to your pets or any other animals. After throwing it away, wash your hands well with warm soapy water. Also wash any utensils or surfaces the food, container, or your hands may have touched.

The importance of cleanliness

All work surfaces and your hands should be kept clean during all stages of the canning process. The food being preserved must be rinsed clean. It is very important to sterilize the jars and seals before use. To sterilize jars, boil them for 10 minutes. If you live at higher elevations (over 1,000 feet), allow 1 extra minute of boiling for each extra 1,000 feet of elevation. To sterilize tops, follow the manufacturer's instructions. Wash your hands often with warm soapy water.

For more information

Home canning is perfectly safe but needs to be done correctly. It is a good idea to read about home canning before you try it. Books are available on the subject, either at the library or in the stores. Pressure canners almost always come with instructions. If you have an older pressure canner and cannot find the instructions, contact the manufacturer for a copy.

An excellent source of information on home canning is the Utah State Canning Guide at extension.usu.edu/utah/htm/fcs/food-preservation-canning/usda_home_canning and at EatRight Ontario – Home Canning www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Cooking-Food-Preparation/Home-Canning.aspx

Article found at: http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile22.stm

Lilac Jelly

I heard about Lilac Jelly from a friend and was just as astonished as anyone else - you can EAT lilacs?????  I'd never heard of that before and couldn't wait to try it myself.  You can read her lilac post here: Farmgal's Blog  Lilac bushes are one of the only bushes we don't have on our farm but no worries the side roads are covered with them! Lilacs come in white and many shades of purple.  The most common is a light purple and as I was working with them I realised that they were not all the same either. What I REALLY wanted were the deep dark purple but I couldn't find any on the roads nearby.  I'll have to do some scouting for next year.

DH and I had an appointment in town and on the way back we picked one "green box" of heads with some leaves.  It was probably half leaves and stems by the time I was done.

When I got home I stripped the flowers off the stems.  I started by picking them off - that took WAAAAY too long so I just ran my fingers along the main stem and stripped them instead.  You want to avoid the green bits as much as possible but don't worry if some get in there.

I used 1.5L jars and packed them almost full - tamping them down several times as I worked.  I ended up with three jars full.  I did NOT rinse them first as I made sure to pick the flowers on the opposite side of the bush from the road when possible.  Once filled I poured a kettle of boiling water over them.  You can see the progression in the jars as I waited for the next kettle to boil.  I left them overnight and by morning there was no colour left in the petals and lots of lovely purple "juice" in the jars.

Since I had so much juice to work with I decided to experiment a little with the sweeteners.

Batch 1: 

• 8 cups of lilac water
• 1 cup honey
• 2 packages No Sugar Needed Pectin by Bernardin

Batch 2:

• 4 cups of lilac water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 package No Sugar Needed Pectin by Bernardin

Batch 3:

• 6 cups of lilac water
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3 cups sugar 
• 1 box Pomona's Universal Pectin

The No Sugar Needed Pectin is becoming more available in regular stores like Canadian Tire and Home Hardware.  I hope I am able to find more of it because it does allow for more experimenting than regular pectin.  It is used exactly like the regular or low sugar pectin most people are familiar with.  I found Pomona's in a health food store after searching for years.  It is available on line but I didn't really want to pay shipping.  Both worked equally well to gel the jelly.  Pomona's is made from a citrus extract and uses calcium to activate the pectin - it comes in the box along with instructions which were easy to follow.  A box of Pomona's will set two recipes so the price works out about the same.

So the results:

Batch One tastes terrible!  I was very disappointed.  The combination of honey and the floral flavour was not a match made in heaven!  

Batch Two: was much better.  The lilac flavour was MUCH stronger than I anticipated and DS said no thanks.

Batch Three was the best of all of them.  I'm not sure of Pomona's has anything to do with the taste but the quality of the gel was much nicer.  That could also be the extra sugar I used.  The flavour was intense but not overwhelming.  I know you want to know how it tastes and the best I can do is: like a lilac should taste - like flowers. ha ha!  Next time I am going to try half lilac water and half apple juice.

My friend suggested this over lemon cake or on a very light tasting bread - it would not go well with heavy-duty rye bread.  She also suggested using it as a glaze for meatballs... I'll let you know.

For the how-to part just follow the instructions for grape jelly on the pectin packages.  I water bath canned for 10 minutes.

The only sad part was when I water bath canned it I lost all the colour.  I'm not sure why.  Here's a before and after picture.

The lilacs are still blooming - if you try it let me know!!

Full house in the barn and Sheep Shearing

We're running out of room!  I am trying to juggle animals in the available cages and pens and I'm not sure exactly how this is going to work out.  

Fifty-two White Rock chicks arrived this week - one died within hours of getting here - poor little guy.  White Rocks are meatie birds...and every year I say I'm going to go with another breed but I don't - so here's to hoping that most of them make it to the butcher this year.  Right now they are in our home-made brooder.  DH and DS overbuilt a brooder box for me a few years ago.  It's as heavy as a box full of cast iron frying pans and looks like a coffin-for-two!  Thankfully it's so well built it doesn't need to be INSIDE another pen.  The problem is it will only last for a week and they will need bigger quarters.

I also have three very faithful hens sitting on eggs.  These are the Red Sex Links that everyone says have the broodiness bred right out of them.  I'm not so sure.  I've had to fight a lot of the hens for eggs in the past two weeks so something is kicking in.  We've never allowed any hens sit before so it will be interesting to see how successful they are.  We have about 70 hens and only one rooster - let's hope he was a busy guy! 

We also have 4 ducks sitting on eggs.  One white Muscovy, 2 black Muscovies and Pom Pom Head our Crested White.  These have all been good momma's in the past - we've just had some setbacks in their nesting boxes and had one family massacre by an angry papa duck.   We just let the ducks nest in their pens last year and those girls sat and sat and sat.  It should only be 4 weeks but I gave them a few extra thinking maybe my numbers were off.  Nothing hatched.  When I explained the situation to a farming friend she asked what they were nesting on.  Apparently a concrete floor with some shavings wasn't optimal because the concrete would wick up any moisture which is necessary for the eggs to hatch.  This year we got creative!  I had some leftover over stacking storage bins

 and used shavings on the bottom and a nice layer of leftover sheep wool that was headed for the compost pile.  Hopefully that provided them with a toasted warm place but we'll wait and see what kind of hatch I get before I get too excited.  P.S.  I didn't stack them but I did place large sheets of wood on an angle against the wall to provide them with some privacy.

In order to prevent another massacre by the papa ducks we need to put the fathers somewhere else as soon as the ducklings are hatched.  The twist is the boys don't get along with each other either so they can't be in the same pen.  They tend to work out their differences ok outside where they pester each other all day long - chasing, honking and beating on each other but in a small pen that behaviour could result in death.  I may need a spreadsheet to figure it out!  Springtime hormones oh MY!

Yesterday - we finally got the sheep sheared.  We had arranged to have it done earlier this week but the animals had been out in the rain and wet sheep are next to impossible to shear.  We kept them indoors for a few days to dry up and all was well.  

Mr. Sheepie looks ridiculous.  I guess all sheep look funny after being shorn but you wouldn't recognize this guy.  He's so tiny.  We've never seen him shorn before - there was more wool on him than flesh.  He looks a lot like a goat - a very tiny skinny goat.

The shearer was going to leave the wool but since I doubt I will have to time to learn how to spin this year I gave her most of it and just kept Mr. Sheepie's.  His was so matted it would probably have been rejected by the wool co-op anyway.  I'm sure there is enough for me to play with as it is.  The colour of his fleece is particularly gorgeous...next year it will be better as he skipped a year getting sheared!

Rebecca Parker - Sheep Shearer - Bethany Ontario middlekingdomfarm@gmail.com or  905 259 1102.

You may have read that my daughter and I took on shearing the sheep last year.  We only needed to do two and it was an adventure that I'm not sure I want to repeat any time soon.  Rebecca was great and we learned a lot of shearing tricks - maybe we'll try the calmest one and let her do the rest next year!