Day: January 20, 2012

Turkey Tracks: Some Favorite Pictures

Turkey Tracks:  January 20, 2012

Some Favorite Pictures

Bryan took this picture on their visit in September.  It took me a while to pry it out of his camera, but it arrived not too long ago.

We had our house trim painted in September–thus the ladders next to the rock wall.   And you can see how social our chickens are.  They’ll come get in your lap if you let them–which Ailey is clearing worrying about.  Chickens are especially friendly if you’re eating anything.  In this pic they’re after the millet treat next to us.

Here’s another favorite picture–taken over Christmas when Mike, Tami, and the four kiddos were with us.

Talula and I were making stuffed green peppers–using the meatloaf recipe that’s already on this blog.  Here’s another view:

Here’s a pic of the stuffed green peppers ready to go into the oven.  They are topped with the roasted tomatoes I made last August and September and froze in mason jars.  That recipe is on the blog as well.  It takes about 45 minutes at 350 degrees to cook them.

Tami or Mike took this pic of John and Penny, who is the most affectionate dog.

Maryann came over Christmas and spent hours and hours playing with the children, who truly love her and her gentle ways with them:

Kelly came to us with a VERY loose tooth.  It took days and days with all of us periodically checking “how loose is it now,” but eventually it came out.  To our surprise, he lost the OTHER ONE the next day.  The tooth fairy only had a $5 bill found late at night after everyone else was in bed and, so, was completely broke after two nights of lost teeth.

Here are the kiddos at the Snow Bowl, which is walking distance from our house.  We signed them up for a week of ski lessons while they were here, and to our amazement, by Friday, the boys were riding the T-Bar lift alone and Talula had mastered the Mighty Might Lift and the beginning slope in fine fashion.  Wilhelmina made progress, but kept running out of energy and would fall and lie down in the snow.  (Skiing is hard work.)  Her teacher told Tami the following:  “This little girl won’t come up out of the snow.  She told me she’d get up if I gave her chocolate.”

And, of course we got a Christmas tree.  And of course it’s Maine grown.

We put it outside on the upper porch and decorated it with white lights and pine cones.  We never did slow down enough to string popcorn and cranberries for it.

Turkey Tracks: Chicken Feed Recipe Posting

Turkey Tracks:  January 20, 2012

Chicken Feed Recipe Posting

The chicken feed recipe is one of the most popular posts on this blog.  For over a year now it ranks second in the number of hits.  The first are the essays on the most recent science about the dangers of adding fluoride to our water.

I’ve had a request to repost the recipe.  But, how about if I tell you how to get to it on the blog?

On the right sidebar, below the comments, is a search tab.  The title of the exact post is “Chicken Feed Recipe”–and the recipe is at the end of that post.   There is a picture of a jar of mung bean sprouts up front.  The posting date is February 9, 2011.

You can also search the blog by putting in one of the categories:  chickens, craft projects, quilting, recipes.

Now, as to the chicken feed recipe.  I’ve found a local place where I can buy organic whole wheat and organic cracked corn in large sacks.  (I’m forgetting the poundage and am not going out to the garage right now to check–they’re probably 25-pounders.)  So I’ve been buying a sack of each of those and using about 3 parts each of the wheat and corn–then add  in the other grains and peas in one-part increments.  I’ve got a used big yogurt container and a lot of those BIG ziplock plastic bags, and I put all the bags of grains/peas/grit in a circle on the garage floor–the wheat and corn first as I use more of those–and fill a bag at a ziplock bag at a time with each ingredient in its proportion.  I put the filled separate bags into a big plastic garbage can, and I’m good for several months.  (I’ve got 8 chickens right now, and I last did this mixing before Thanksgiving.  I think I pulled the last mixed bag out this week.)

Remember though that I also give my chickens a big bowl of torn bread, whole raw milk, and raw meat (hamburger usually) every morning.  I add in whatever fat I’ve got from frying bacon or a meat roast and, sometimes, leftovers I think they’ll like.  (They have to compete with the dogs for tasty leftovers.)  In our currently frigid weather, I warm the milk for them, and they LOVE that.  They purr and talk and thank me quite nicely.  We’ve got frozen ground and snow, so I’m also supplementing with whatever greens I can find for them–they love kale–and I will start some mung bean sprouts for them today.