It's all about the Snacks

Ok, so I've been doing this "auto-immune paleo diet" thing for almost 2 months now.  How's it going?  I really am not sure.  There is this huge list of foods to avoid, and frankly, I'm really bad at it.  For the first month, I totally ditched dairy, grains of any kind, nuts, "most" legumes, eggs, "most" high-glycemic fruits, all alcohol... and a few others.  Exactly 1 month after I started was my birthday, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to have something special on my birthday!  The cupcakes I made had only a handful of ingredients: eggs (like, 10 of them), chocolate, cocoa powder, and honey... And they were CRAZY good.  So eggs have been back "in" since then.  But I didn't notice a difference with or without them.  I am, however, mostly using duck eggs, as they are structurally different than chicken eggs... but that's a different post.  And I came to realize I was "cheating" without realizing it.  I honestly missed my lattes.  I did switch to chai lattes instead of coffee, but I was ordering them with soy milk instead of milk-milk.  DUH.  Soy = soy beans = legume.  Silly me.  But then, thankfully, I rediscovered a local roastery that has Almond milk Chai Lattes.  Saved!  And thank goodness for my bank account, they're not open on weekends.

I'll tell you, for the first while, all I could think about was what I couldn't have.  It gets you down, let me tell you.  My hubby is a fantastic cook and baker -- makes this amazing bread with fermented grains and yumminess.  I couldn't touch it.  Breakfast for the first month was a nightmare -- no eggs!  No toast or cereal or oatmeal or yoghurt or granola!  Geez! So I bought coconut yoghurt (not cheap stuff, lemme tell you!), which has added sugar... not so good on a "clean" diet.  I tried making it myself and failed miserably.  I ate a lot of applesauce that first month.  And I was ALWAYS hungry.  I even woke up in the middle of the night once and had. to. eat. meat.  I raided the fridge in the middle of the night.  I NEVER do that!  I've only got a handle on the frequency of eating recently.  I eat basically all the time.  I always have snacks going.  The best one?  Coconut chips by Blue Monkey.  Cheap and they satisfy the sweet/salty/crunchie cravings.  I love 'em.

Along with the eggs, I've tried a bit of dairy, but my shoulders seem to bother me afterwards.  So I've cut out the dairy (again).  I'm trying nuts this week.  I figured, might as well, as I'm drinking those delightful almond chai lattes a couple times a week.  Still staying away from all the grains though.  Which has me experimenting.  A recent issue of Taproot Magazine had a recipe for gluten-free sourdough starter.  I am trying it using coconut flour.  It actually seems to be working!  It smells yeasty now, and I've been working on it for about 10 days.  Which is longer than the recipe says, but I expected that with the coconut flour.  What spurred me on was my friend discovered this amazing coconut bread "Cocolithic" made with just Organic coconut flour, whole coconut, sea salt, and water.  No grains, yeast, oils or sugar.  I can't wait to try a bread with my starter!  Mainly because I can only get this bread in our town once/week and only if I line up at 9AM.  Crazy. And it's like $8 for what seems like 1/2 a regular loaf of bread.  But it's SO good!

My ankles are still a major issue, but I seem to be more focussed, not so foggy now.  I think.  I will continue on the AIP diet for now.  I've read that the longer a person's been dealing with an issue, the longer it takes to go away.  I can remember my feet bothering me for YEARS.  Not all the time like now, but definitely for about the past 5 years or so.  That's not going to go away overnight.  So I'll keep at it and will post my frustrations and successes as I go.

Eggs, Eggs, and More Eggs

Dear chicken-crazy daughter got a surprise the other day: EGGS!

A couple of months ago, I sold some turkey eggs to a lovely lady from Lytton who got to chatting with my girl and discovered they have a mutual admiration for Salmon Faverolles.  "Tricia" promised to bring my girl some eggs next time she was through town.  Well.  I don't like it when adults promise kids things, as most adults do not respect the power of the promise to a child.

But this special lady does :)

She arrived with no less than 12 Salmon Faverolle eggs AND 6 Mille Fleur D'uccle eggs for us to hatch!!  Whoa Nellie!  Talk about sweet gifts!

Salmon Fav's are big and beautiful and gentle, and winter well.  Mille Fleur D'uccles are lovely hens... the jury is out on the roosters (I haven't heard good things).  So all these eggs went into the trusty incubator (I told you it was getting a work-out!  Add to those eggs, the couple of Easter Egger eggs from here, and we'll see what we get in a couple of weeks.  Needless to say, we'll be selling most of the chicks as we are bursting as I've mentioned.  And I thought I was done with chicks for this year!

Incubator Work Out

As promised: Ducklings!!

Bath time:

These 4 little fuzz balls have got to be the cutest things I've seen of late! 

Ya, and going back to that thing I wasn't supposed to do -- incubating waterfowl with turkeys.  Well.  Um. OK, so not only did I mix water and land, I also had the eggs due to hatch on different days, like a week apart, so I stopped turning the turkey eggs while the ducks were hatching.  Not supposed to do that.

Are you waiting for bad news?

There isn't any :)

Eight turkey eggs went into lock down, after resuming the turning schedule after the ducks hatched (I also did a quick clean out of the incubator after the ducklings were in the brooder so the turkeys would have a clean start)...

and...

8 hatched: fine and fluffy and healthy as anything.

Whew!

Chicken Garden 2013

The one and only, "Beep"

Lettuce in the chicken garden

Mixed spicy Asian greens in the Chicken Garden

New black silkies!

I like to spoil my chickens.  They deserve it.  They give us a bounty of beautiful, healthful eggs almost all year-round, they clean up the insects and kitchen scraps, add nitrogen to the compost pile and are a joy to watch.  And so, Chicken Garden 2013 begins.  I've netted the same area that I used for the chicken garden last year.  This year, I'm taking more precautions as I actually want to grow some stuff in there for the people too, like corn and pumpkins (lots of pumpkins!) and different squashes.  The chickens can have a variety of different lettuces, peas, beans and sunflowers.  Plus the millet and oats that we planted in there last year has re-seeded itself so there's that too.  I've roped off part of their main pen as well and planted more corn, millet, oats and sunflowers in there.  Hopefully I can keep the sneaky devils out of there until it comes up enough that they won't devastate it in a matter of minutes.

There's quite a few of our feathered friends down there now -- the main flock of 13 (including Bowie the Rooster and our one last "Old Lady" Sex-sal-Link hen who hasn't laid in YEARS)-- Daughter's 5 Buff Orphingtons, the 9 mixed Orphingtons, and the new trio of black silkies.  Of these, we'll be keeping almost all the hens, and Daughter can choose one Buff Rooster to be her breeder-man for next spring.  Of my Birthday Presents of marans and wheaton ameraucanas, we'll keep one blue marans rooster ("Elvis") and the wheaton ameraucana roo ("Sting").  Of the rest of the boys, I may try to sell a couple, as marans are not always easy to come by, or, failing that, apparently they dress out nicely for the table as well.  It looks like, of the 6 ameraucana eggs I purchased, only 2 hatched, but I may have gotten my ultimate wish -- 1 hen and 1 rooster.  I've learned my lesson about counting my hens before they lay, so  the one I believe to be an ameraucana hen we've dubbed "Happy" -- because that's what I'll be if it does turn out to be a hen :)

Happy and Sting

So Much to Say ...

So Few Pictures!

Like, none :(

Things are rolling right along on our little slice of land, I just haven't had time.  There's couple photos I have taken, and will share as soon as I can get them downloaded, but for now, you'll just have to be patient and enjoy the mental images.

The lambs are getting SO big!  It's getting hard to tell who are the mama ewes and who are the babies.  I'm letting the mamas wean the babies gradually, instead of seperating them as most shepherds do after about the 2 month-mark.  For a couple of reasons.  I think my sheep are happier all together and I'd rather not shock the mamas into mastitus or something of the sort. Plus, I really don't have a lot of extra space to seperate them completely, far enough away from each other, and provide adequate housing so that they are safe from predators at night.  So, I'm going with the gradual wean.  And it's interesting to watch.  Being a long-term breast-feeder of both my babes (we're talking over 5 years and almost 5 years, respectively), it's just easier on the moms and babes, physically and emotionally.  And I'm noticing that the mama ewes are letting the lambs nurse less and less, and for much shorter periods (like, seconds!). So ya, right or wrong, that's what I'm doing and it seems to be working for my girls.

The ducklings hatched last week -- I started with 4 eggs in the incubator, and got four ducklings!  I had to help the last 2 out.  I think they might have gotten a little shrink-wrapped when I opened the incubator to nab the first two.  You're not supposed to do that either - open the incubator when there are critters hatching -- but ducks are messy and I didn't want them pooping on the other duck eggs or disturbing the turkey eggs that still had a week to go.  Ya Ya, I know, you're not supposed to do That Either -- put land poultry in with waterfowl, but hey, I'm on a bit of a roll of doing things against the grain.  So far, it's working for me; hopefully that continues.  We'll see when the turkeys are due to hatch this week!

The turkey mamas are doing fantastically with their babies in the netted yard.  We had a couple of casualties in the first day, when the little tiny poults were finding their way out of the pen through little tiny cracks we didn't even know were there.  But since then, it's been all good.  Mamas are keeping them warm, the poults are eating well and growing strong.  I have someone coming for 8 little ones this week, which will leave mama Tasha with 3 to raise.  Mama Violet still has her 3 (she hatched 10, I sold 4 and some winged predator gobbled down 3 before we could blink).

The chicks we hatched out this spring are all doing well.  My 4H Daughter is slowly but surely selling off her extra roosters to people who want "Daddy Birds" as opposed to dinner, which makes her very happy, and at this time, supplies her with just enough extra cash to pay for their food.  Man, those large breeds can EAT!  She's got the Buff Orphingtons, which we affectionately call "The Monsters".  They are so big, but so gentle, and they way they walk is a sight to behold.  It kind of reminds me of Jurrassic Park - Thud Thud Thud as they cruise the pasture.  Too Funny.  The marans and my 2 sweet little wheaton ameraucanas are coming along too.  They are just 10 weeks old, but so sweet and colorful!  It seems that out of my ameraucana eggs that hatched, I have gotten the ultimate chicken wish: 1 rooster and 1 hen.  Rooster has been named Sting (we name all the roosters after singers), and the hen?  "Happy".  'Cuz that's what I am that she's a hen :)

Lastly, for now anyway, I was perusing the chicken classifieds and thinking "I am NEVER going to find any dark silkies this year"  and lo and behold, the next ad I saw was just that -- Three 12 week old black silkies!  Obviously I didn't hesitate.  I was hoping to get a hen, but now it seems I may have a little breeding pair!  Oh bliss!

I'll sound off for now -- and publish again -- with Pictures! -- very soon.

Take care, friends.

:: In Progress ::

Well.  My dance card has been FULL lately, let me tell you!

So, in short, here's what's in progress around here ...

:: First batch of Buff Orphingtons are now old enough (and Big Enough!) to be in with the main flock
:: Second round of orphingtons - 3 buffs and 6 isobels - are in the transition yard beside the main flock
:: My birthday presents, the marans and wheaton ameraucanas, are now by themselves in the chick yard, covered by netting to protect them from winged predators
:: First hatch of turkeys happened Today!  Mama Violet hatched 10/10 eggs and is now in the Turkey Nursery yard, which is also covered with netting for the same reason as above
:: Tasha the Turkey hen is sitting on a clutch of eggs, due sometime next week
:: The garlic is going Mental
:: I have volunteer potatoes and New Zealand spinach in the garden - boy is it nice when plants come up all by themselves!
:: It's looking like a good crop of strawberries and raspberries this year!
:: We gave away 1 drake (kept 1), and are hatching ducklings in the incubator next week
:: The lambs are now 10 weeks old, and the boys have all been castrated (!)
:: My "shalom" sweater is near completion!

We've plateau'ed for a bit now -- garden is mostly planted, the lambs don't need to be doted upon, the chicks are all outside and doing well, the turkey mamas and babes have protection.  It's all just basic management at this point.  The ducklings will stir things up a bit next week and will require a little extra attention, and I have turkey eggs in the incubator too and my fingers are crossed that all goes well there.  I've only ever had mama-hatched poults before and they do SO well with mama.  Why the incubator then?  I had turkeys laying eggs all over and no one sitting on them, and really, at $15 per poult, it's a bit of gold when they hatch.  All the money we get from selling baby turkeys goes to feeding the rest of the birds, and it would be so nice not to dip into our personal savings to feed everyone this winter.

Next update: ducklings!

See you soon....

I Won't Do THAT Again

What, you ask?  Loan out my incubator in the spring.  Stupid me!    A friend of my daughter's asked if, for her birthday, she could hatch a few chicks.  It was the beginning of March, and I think, sure why not.  Great experience for another home-schooled kid.  (Why should my kids get all the fun, eh?) So after I hatched out 16 of my Birthday presents, 

Blue & Birchen Marans chicks, 3 days old

I handed it over, no charge.  Am I crazy?  Yes!!  There's a guy locally who rents out his incubators to families, schools, libraries, etc for $100.  They hatch out 7 of his eggs, and return the chicks and all the equipment.  Basically charges $100 for the experience, and I'm giving it out for free.  Not to mention, the turkeys, ducks AND geese all decided to start laying and not setting about a week after the incubator settled in it's new (temporary) home.  Grrrr.  So I sold several dozen turkey and duck eggs as "fertile" eggs to try to save some of these eggs that could be turned into creatures.  I'm still waiting for the turkeys to start setting, and I'm collecting the goose eggs to incubate.  I get the incubator back next Friday, and I'm counting the days.  I sure hope these turkeys go broody soon!

Duck, Duck, Goose...

... Chicken, Beep.

Duck Egg, Duck Egg, Goose Egg, Chicken Egg, Beep Egg :)

Hee Hee!  We're up to our eyeballs in eggs over here - must be Spring!  The ducks have started laying and since we have 3 ducks and 2 drakes, we are getting a lot of duck eggs - fertile ones at that.  So while my incubator is on loan to a friend, I'm selling fertile duck eggs.  Not a bad interum gig.  The geese, Jordie and Lucy, are also wanting to start a family!  So I think we are going to let them do that; Lucy is just collecting her eggs at the moment.   Apparently, in her "other" life at the farm-before-ours, she often tried to set on a nest, but the ducks would bother her right off of it.  Not this time!  We'll make sure she has the privacy she needs.

And Mr. Raven paid us a call the other day, and because of him, we discovered the turkeys have started a clutch of eggs as well.  We moved the nest and showed the turkey hens where it was, and they seemed quite happy with the new location.  Not only was the old location in full view of passing crows and ravens, it was right beside the pond.  I could totally see unaware turkey babes plunging into the water and us finding the unlucky hatchlings floating... not to mention distraught mothers!  Ugh.  So move them we did and since they seem to be adding to the nest, me thinks they are pleased with our suggestion.