I did try to make some strained (Greek) yogurt the other day for the first time. It was fairly good but I am going to work on it a bit more. I might share that later if it works out. And I also had a go making powdered laundry detergent. One small batch is going to last me weeks.
We had a tiny bit of above freezing weather on Tuesday, so I took the opportunity to rearrange the electronet fencing around the chicken coop. We have had too much attention from a hawk lately so I tried to make the area more challenging to prevent an easy kill. We're down to eight chickens (6 girls and 2 boys), but are surprisingly getting 3-4 eggs a day. Go girls!
I ventured out this morning and took a few photos to share.
It was 30 degrees on the front porch this morning around 9 o'clock. |
Not sure what to call these little balls of frozen matter - snow? sleet? hail? |
The tap on the back porch has a tiny little leak. The bucket is solid ice. |
The tiny drip created an unusual ice sculpture that looks like an eagle head. |
The drip was frozen this morning. |
Sad hydroponics - nothing alive except some rosemary and remnants of strawberry plants. |
The strawberries were surviving fairly well in the cold until the goats ate them down. |
I arranged the electronet fencing in a shape of a + (plus sign) rather than square. |
I'm hoping the narrow run will discourage a hawk from swooping in. |
I arranged a small area around the back chicken door for variety. |
View from the end of the run |
Within the last year, I began using essential oils for my family's health and while doing research, found that fennel essential oil stimulates egg production in chickens. SO, I have been adding a few drops to the chicken's water and I went from getting 3 eggs a day to 6-7 eggs a day.
ReplyDeleteLaWanda, thanks for this tip. I have been educating and experimenting with essential oils and will keep this in mind for the chickens. Although yesterday we had 5 eggs, not so bad for the dead of winter.
DeleteI think those frozen pellets are called something like "graupel". That's a pretty cool serendipitous ice sculpture.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I wondered if they might have a name. The ice melted just a few hours later so I was glad I had taken the photos when I did.
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