Bruce's Journal

[Bruce]

Weren't some of your ducks broody? Maybe if you put the duckling in with them they would take care of it. BTW, Mama Heating Pad Brooder. Best thing next to a real mama.

Tonight's fun and games:
Already on the roost:
- Betty (on the far left with older girls) and Trouble on the far right. I left him there. I wonder what time he'll come out of the barn through the alpacas' door and crow.
On the alpaca stand: Mint
On the door: Veronica
On the edge of an open nest box in the coop: Trill
On the half wall between the "feed room" and the alley: Cassiopeia
.
.
.
Above the door when I came in with the flashlight: Oreo .... who moved farther into the space between the rafters before I tried to get her. The entire ceiling is covered with 1/2" hardware cloth poultry stapled to the underside of the joists. No way I can get to her. Stupid bird If there is a raccoon around and it decides tonight is a good night for chicken dinner, she's a gonner.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Yeh, we had 3 of them, but when we cleaned out the pen and eggs they quit acting broody. Oh, we still have our brooder setups, so Momma can be assembled rather quickly.....and only having 1 duckling it will be a breeze after the experience of 12....
1 thing about Oreo being up high tho, is that scent rises with the air, so she should be okay....hoping anyway....

 

[Mike CHS]

They are easy prey. We found the last of our Delaware's missing it's head inside one of the coops the other day.

 

[Baymule]

Maybe you should keep them put up for several days to a week. Try letting them out an hour before dark. After a few days, let them out earlier. Possibly you could retrain them to their coop.

 

[Bruce]

Oreo is around this morning, nice pile of poop up on the overhead 1/2" hardware cloth. Mint is MIA though. I assume she went "flyabout" after the auto door opened. Cassie, Veronica and Betty were at the upper gate when I went down at 10. At this point I do expect Mint to show up from under some plant/deck. We will see.

 

[Bruce]

Still haven't seen Mint I figured she would show up when the other chickens were let out of the barn (the older ones that won't go out through the Alpacas' door) or at least when we got back from the Farmers' Market and opened the gate up front since the girls prefer to be around the house than behind the barn. But no sign of her (or any evidence of foul play) in or out of the barn as yet.

Got my pork belly today
Unwrapped


Skinned and trimmed


In their sleeping bags (coated with salt, maple syrup, some pepper, garlic and basil) ready for their 1 week sleep in the refrigerator. I'll be gentle with the daily "flip" so I don't disturb them


There are a lot of bacon curing recipes on the web, some very different from others. One says basically 0.5 cups of salt (kosher or sea) per 5 pounds of meat. Others say 2 tablespoons for a 2.5 pound piece of meat. That is a 2X difference since there are 16 tablespoons to a cup. I figure my two "slabs" are about 5 pounds each so I went with 1 cup of salt since the salt is supposed to pull out extra moisture and there are instructions that once cured the slabs should be rinsed really well to get excess salt off/out anyway.

Another interesting thing mentioned on one site: home cured bacon doesn't spit and crackle when cooked as much as store bought stuff because the curing solution in store bought is injected into the slab rather than soaking in from the outside so there is water in the store bought meat. I guess I'll see in a bit over a week.

 

[CntryBoy777]

The belly looks and sounds good. Really sorry to hear Mint hasn't shown up yet...hope she does that is kinda strange for a chicken, tho to stay away from the flock. I know ya will leave no board unturned in looking for her....

 

[Mike CHS]

We cured some last year but I can't recall if there was any less popping.

 

[Bruce]

I know ya will leave no board unturned in looking for her....

She showed up later in the afternoon. From where I have NO idea.

And the board you speak of? I put a piece of plywood perpendicular to the back wall sticking out over the 2 twelve foot long parallel roosts so Penelope would have to choose a side and be unable to walk the length of them to harass the youngin's then retreat. Hoping they'll decide they can go up on the roosts because ONE side should be safe.

Didn't work yet. She was on the right side with 2 other older girls, Trouble and another young one were on the left side wall with the other 8 older girls. I moved 5 younger ones from the alley (Oreo on the half wall, 4 others on the alpaca stand) to the left side of the new divider.

I also disconnected the auto door so Mint can't get out early and go flyabout again. Hoping that if she gets out with the rest of the flock she'll stick with them. Of course there were 6 other younger ones that could have gotten out to hang with this morning and she was still MIA so I have no idea what goes on inside her chicken brain.

 

[CntryBoy777]

She sounds like our Wild Thang....she is always off to herself and the very last to go to roost at nite. I had to chase her into their area this evening in fact. If we truly free ranged she would deffinitely be a prime target....she even fights with the roos.