Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

[savingdogs]

They are predicting snow for us tomorrow.

I'm quite glad I decided to keep my seedlings indoors, it just seemed like a cold spring. The ones outside still have not sprouted so I'm not sure it has even yet been warm enough, despite being the "right week" to plant. Maybe the right week in some normal year. We are having a very cold spring. To have snow in April here might be a pretty unusual occurrence. We'll see if it reaches our level.

I have currently very low egg production, I think because of these muddy conditions, all my poultry are unhappy.

And my goat kid buyer Cat Eyes is backing out! Rats. I will need to take new pictures. I think they found friendlier goats. And mine were all muddy and there is no good place to visit with them here. She offered to keep them and show them from her house for me. I may take her up on it. She is right in town and is a good friend. I would 100 percent trust her and her instincts, even to make the sale for me. Very good person. But now I need to find a new buyer.

Since they still have not dropped their "sac" I wonder if I should wait until that happens to sell? Is the castration considered complete if it is still banded? I don't know goat sale etiquette here. Will they have less value now? I need to get the full price for them if possible that we had hoped for.

The baby bunnies are great, getting cuter.

Molly and Ginger are doing great with the milk, getting more milk now and made another batch of soft cheese yesterday. This one reminds us of Feta and I had it over salad with vinegar and oil. Yum!

Through Freecycle, we got a freezerful of free meat, but it is freezer burnt. I'm going to cook it for the animals. I think the dogs will be eating better than us! I had Hubby take the lady some eggs this morning on his way to work.

Still watching the Good Neighbors, loving that show!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

This one reminds us of Feta and I had it over salad with vinegar and oil. Yum!

what recipe/book are you using for the feta??

i just had to order more rennet and such. whoot! i even got some blue cheese bacteria for gorgonzola.. i'm so excited!

 

[savingdogs]

It isn't a feta recipe, it just tasted like it.

I used the one I found online that you just heat up the goats milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar after it reaches 180 and I added herbs. It didn't curdle well, so I added a big dab of yogurt and it curdled great. It tastes yummy. It is a soft cheese, like for crackers.

It is amazing how small a bowl of cheese it makes from that giant crock of milk!

We tried giving the chickens the whey....they seemed to like their first try.

I didn't have any cheesecloth. I used clean white T-shirt. It was for an organization I no longer belong to, and in fact, don't care for the people, so when I was done I threw it away with relish. I can attest that T-shirt material works fine in a pinch, for soft cheese at least.

Dang it is raining again already!

 

[savingdogs]

It is snowing. Then a big fog bank rolls over the mountain and covers us for awhile. Then another bout of heavy rain. Then more snow. Then a spot of sunshine, brief, but lovely. It draws me over to the window temporarily and makes steam rise from the roof of the chicken coop and the goat barn.

What a weird spring. My seedlings that were destined to go outside are growing tall indoors at the window. But yesterday we had an enormous hailstorm, I was so glad none of this was outside.

Trouble filled the wheelbarrow with goat poo for my garden but didn't dump it. We now cannot move the wheelbarrow as rain has filled it up and made it too heavy. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. But of course it is DADs fault because Dad asked him to fill the wheelbarrow. I'm thinking that all my crops will need to get a late start. The only thing doing well is the quinoa, which is a very vigorous plant I had not planted before. It is making me feel that perhaps not all is lost in battle the seedlings are having with spring.

 

[R-Lawrence]

It isn't a feta recipe, it just tasted like it.

I used the one I found online that you just heat up the goats milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar after it reaches 180 and I added herbs. It didn't curdle well, so I added a big dab of yogurt and it curdled great. It tastes yummy. It is a soft cheese, like for crackers.

It is amazing how small a bowl of cheese it makes from that giant crock of milk!

We tried giving the chickens the whey....they seemed to like their first try.

I didn't have any cheesecloth. I used clean white T-shirt. It was for an organization I no longer belong to, and in fact, don't care for the people, so when I was done I threw it away with relish. I can attest that T-shirt material works fine in a pinch, for soft cheese at least.

Dang it is raining again already!

This is how I make my cheese. I just call it farmer's cheese. Except I don't add the herbs until after it curdles.

Heat the goat milk (from our goat!) to usually 200 degrees for sev minutes. Add vinegar. Stir as it curdles. Add a tad more vinegar to curdle a bit more. It usually takes 1 tablespoon per 1 qt of milk.

Strain (usually using a slotted spoon and various assistants because I'm no good at pouring). I also use a fine mesh strainer. Immediately add a LITTLE bit of salt (I don't eat much salt) and herbs. Stir in. Let chill.

My chickens love the whey too. Plus I also use it as the liquid in my homemade bread (ok, my bread machine bread).

I especially like garlic and chives, or onion powder and dill. Delicious! This year I'll be adding dried tomato with dried basil and onion.

 

[Javamama]

Sorry to hear you are dealing with awful weather too. Is it still cold there? We finally broke into the 60s today. Yeehaw!

 

[savingdogs]

No, Java, it is a miracle. Big white fluffy things are floating around up there and this enormous warm yellow ball is making its way across the sky. I think I may have seen this phenomenon a long time ago, but it sure is nice to see it again.

I got some plants transplanted, I took the goats on a goat hike, burnt a bunch of rubble and trash in my fire pit, and cooked a roast, and that is just so far today. Actually, I'm pretty pooped from that. I'm getting soft and fat and white sitting inside watching the rain come down and changing lyrics to songs.

It is still nice out but I'm too pooped to pop now.

But ALL the animals are enjoying the warmth and getting everything dried up just a little. I have the dogs outside right now and they are frolicking and running in circles.

It looks like Hanna and Ellie are getting adopted. We will really miss Ellie. Hubby will probably tear up. She is a truly great dog. But we found the right person. She is in Montana so this should be interesting. We may need to fly the dogs there or she may come and get them, we shall see. But the adopter is a really interesting person, it is so cool the people I get to know through rescue. And we wanted the dogs to go to a home together and they will have that, and someone who can handle them properly. We get sad when the favorites leave, but we are happy too. We will fall in love with the next fosters. And we would have Hanna and Ellie here with us another month or so until the transfer is made.

I think we have someone working out for Murphy, too.

 

[Rhettsgreygal]

Have you ever thought of doing a CUR (Canine Underground Railroad) run?

Here is a link to a blog with information on CURs:
http://beingstray.com/dogs/canine-underground-rescue-transport-sites/

It would be cheaper than flying if it can be arranged.

I participated in one many years ago (GUR - Greyhound Underground Railroad). I can't remember where the greyhound started out, but I picked him up in Naperville, Illinois and drove him to Madison, Wisconsin. He was adopted by a family in Northern Minnesota. I can't remember how many "legs" there were to the run anymore. He was a sweet pup.

Annette

 

[savingdogs]

My group may do something like that! I'm not the one who handles that part of things, I'm just the foster home. I know we have used a pilot in the past but unfortunately the last I heard, they were searching for the guy and were worried his plane had gone down. I never heard the end of that story. My coordinator AB will handle those details with the owner. That was part of why I decided to go with volunteering with this group, I just have a small part, just these foster dogs, to care for. Hubby does some of the errands and the coordinator does the rest, and the phone calls, etc.

 

[savingdogs]

So Hubby has this ......wild idea I guess that we ought to make pinatas for the fourth of July..........of the head of a particular political figure. To be politically neutral, I won't say whom. He thinks he can sell them online or set up a booth on a street corner in town before the 4th. So as I discuss this, picture we are talking about whichever politician you particularly hate.

Actually, I want to suggest to him that we make a pinata from the other party as well and I have been loathe to bring it up to Hubby (he is not neutral about politics) hee hee. I'm kind of the anti-all-politician type so I'm good with this.

But he thinks this would be a fun family project to make money. I just have to shake my head and say yes, I could make pinatas, but........I think it is more of a funny idea rather than something we would actually do.

We have bright beautiful sunshine outside and not a cloud in the sky! I hope to be outside much of the day if I can. I have a headache so that isn't a good sign, I will probably get vertigo and I know it, but oh well, I want to enjoy what part of the day I can before it hits. Hubby says I psyche myself into it, but it follows weather patterns. Huh, Deb? I get it when I have a storm coming or when we have the first bright clear day and I wake up with this particular headache.
I'm sooooooooooooo glad I do not have to drive down the hill and work, knowing it will probably come. That was such a horrible scary time in my life, it makes me thankful to be scrimping and pinching every penny, but staying at home and out of my car. I have to go for a hearing test next week for SSI. Hubby told me about it with a worried look and I just laughed. I asked him was he worried I would hear too good? That made him laugh too. Of course I can't. We only wish I would hear too good.