Matt's new toy

Meat grinder has just arrived. Now he just have to workout how it works... then find something to mince

How do you know if your chicks will be roosters?

Roosters to re-home 3m/o

This week I have advertised our 2 young roosters for re-homing. These were the 2 birds we kept from our first hatchlings. And as our first hatchlings I admit that I am making a bit of an effort to re-home them, as opposed eating them. Yes this is a fact of raising chickens, but as our first I guess on some sentimental or emotional level I just want to give them a chance.

The Sussex should going to a new home on Friday- thanks to Facebook and a page Mackay Poultry & Waterfowl for sale. The other, being a cross may not be so fortunate.

My efforts to re-home them meant a friend asked, how can you tell a rooster from a hen? As we have identified ours as roosters, although they are not crowing yet.

So I thought I'd share my experience on this.

Now there are plenty of people who have given us advice on this. And suggested ways to determine the sex of younger chicks, but most seem to be old wives tales.

1st hatchlings

Some such as males are bigger, show their combs and wattles earlier. If you pass a foreign object over the birds the males will stand up, whilst the hens will duck and hide, all sound reasonable or to have some merit. Though to be honest it’s still guess work! I am not convinced they are truly accurate.

Unless you vent them; which can be dangerous to the bird (if performed incorrectly), and this still has a margin of error- hatcheries employ professional to do this. Or are breed from sex-linked stock; which appears to be more effective, but not useful if you’re not cross breeding ( see links) then the answer is (like us) you just have to wait.

Sussex Rooster (being re-homed) 11w/o

When they are older 6-8 weeks onwards; some may need to be a little older, as some are easier to distinguish than

others. Then I look for the following;

Pointed neck feathers, hens have rounded feathers.

 

"Pointed", long think feathers are visible
on our Sussex Rooster (approx 8m/o)

Where the female sussex has rounded neck feathers

Curly tail, again females have small upright tufts, males develop a more flamboyant display. Males also tend to be more colourful, this is common amongst many birds, though again this can be hard unless you have something to compare with.

Indian Game/ Dark Cornish- Rooster closest, hens behind
Male has; curled tail, more colouful, larger comb & wattles.

Larger wattles and combs are a good guide, but a female will also develop these. And if there is no male in a flock, one may be more prominent than others, they sort of assume the alpha role.

Hens, Sussex & Wellsomer (approx 6m/o)
You can clearly see thier feather patterns

Males will also fight with other males, young males may live together for a while, but eventually they will need separating. But even hens have their pecking order, so the odd squabble is normal. This sort of throws a spanner in the works, if this was your only evidence.  But this may be useful confirmation if supported by some of the other identifiers and you’re still not sure.



Add caption

Or you just wait until he starts to crow!

A reminder to move the tanks

After 2 days of getting all those jobs done around the house that had been neglected recently, we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. Reminded of the benefits and rewards this lifestyle offers. Only for it to remind us of the challenges it poses its inhabitants.

5.30 on a Sunday evening, I’ve just transferred my veggies and am watering them in. The animals are all cleaned out, with fresh bedding and have just been fed and watered. With the freshly prepared coq-au-vin is simmering in the slow cooker, about an hour to go. I’m beginning to think about the working week ahead- setting aside uniforms and getting ready to jump in a well deserved shower, but there’s nothing. Look out the window to see my sprinkler fading…no water?

Neither of us expected to have used  the 2, 11,000l tanks (fed off and connected to the house). We still have a 48,000l tank attached the shed, which is brimming. It was probably this that fooled us. At least it was still dusk with some daylight left, these things usually happen in the dark!

As these tanks are now empty (well their still probably water in them), this brings us to another major project we need to undertake- move the 2 smaller tanks. This is something we had planned to do this dry season, as soon as the tanks ran out. So Matt permanently disconnected the down pipe connections. Rendering them useless until they are moved and new connections are bought and attached. Guess this adds some sort of urgency to the project. As we do not want to be without 44,000l of tank capacity come the wet season and my family are visiting for a month over Christmas. Given these tanks alone have provided our water supply for this calendar year (so 6 months), we need them back online.

The tanks need moving as they are actually on and not inside the property boundary. An oversite (and naivety) on our part when buying the place and ignorance on the part of our neighbour. It was only discovered late last year when the neighbour  went to erect fencing between the paddocks (something that had not been done by the previous owners).

So initially we disconnected, moved and redirected the stormwater connections to the largest of the 3 tanks, that was/is connected to the shed. As this one was half used, having run the other 2 low and then filled them with bore water. This was then followed closely by the wet season, so it was discussed that we would move them once they ran out this year.

Moving the last 2 will not be as straight forward as the first. As the downpipe supply from the house to the tanks are all underground and the tanks themselves, unlike the bigger one are semi-submerged.  But it has to be done, and now we’ve made a start- so watch this space.

Candling eggs

We currently have a few duck eggs and chicken eggs in the incubator. No this is not an expensive (we picked it up from EBay for a little over $60)and yes we do turn the eggs manually. However we have successfully hatched 2 rounds of chickens, so since our ducks have started to lay, we’re attempting them too.

So I thought I’d just take a few pics of the ‘candling process’. Essentially after approximately a week (for chicken or in this case duck eggs) we take a small (hand sized) LED torch, place it close to the egg shell, in a darkened room (or corner) and you can clearly see the actively inside.

Now anon-fertilised egg will remain distinctly fluid and you will be able to identify the yolk, it will bob to the top of the egg as it is turn. We remove these (allowing more room for the eventual hatching chicks/ducklings).

In these pictures (although their not great quality- I’ll try and get better ones next time) you can clearly see a solid form developing, and veins. These eggs have been fertilised and are growing little birds!

Place these back in as soon as possible and replace the lid, as they need to be kept at a consistent temperature and humidity. Too long out of the incubator could destroy their development.   

Sourdough Starter

Meet the most recent addition to the house. Apparently I should build a relationship with this and treat it as a pet. Well it should be with us for some time and I have to nurture and feed it- so I can see the comparison.
 This is my sourdough bread starter. We are following the recipe/instructions from our favourite series/author Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall and River Cottage. (We have follwed this from the first series on Channel 4 in the UK, and is available on lifestyle on Austar for anyone in Oz. I actually booked Matt into a day course at River Cottage HQ, on our visit home last year.- but now I'm going off track. But basically if you get chance to look this up; there's a website, books, DVDs TV series I recommend it!)  http://www.rivercottage.net/

Anyway, from the series and the Bread handbook (3), we have started our own sourdough bread starter.

Basically this will produce live yeast that we will use for our bread in the future. With each batch you use half your starter and then feed it, to replenish the stock for the next.

To start we have used 150g of wholemeal flour and 250ml of warm water, whisked and left to develop. Cover with a lid or Clingfilm (this isn't clear initially in the instructions, so ours took 2 days to start developing). Then when you can see some action (bubbles and the beginning of a fermenting smell) add a further 150g of flour and 250ml warm water, whisk then recover. On the 3^rd

day you now discard half the starter (or use it to start a second) then add 150g flour and 250ml of cold water. This process is continued for the remainder of the week. At this stage it should be ready to use for baking.

At this stage we are at day 5. Am hoping to use this starter on Sunday, if not then I should have time next Friday, so it should be beginning to develop its own flavour and aroma; As each starter will be individual to its environment.

I was initially concerned (as we live in the tropics- not that is an

 issue at the moment, as its winter) that the starter would become too active or smelly, but if your only planning on using it once a week or less, then the activity can be reduced by keeping it in the fridge (you can even freeze it). So I am hoping this system will work for us. As a batch (or ½ the starter) should produce 2-3 loaves (depending on their size etc), which would be ample for us.

So meet our sourdough starter, its 5 days old…   

Just bought some more seeds

I am so excited! As I hve just bought another batch of seeds for my veggie patch, as well as a few for the garden and in preparation for the herb garden Matt is planning beside the shed.

I've bought them on Ebay from 2 of my favourite sellers; celebrationvillage (Aneesha) and heritageseeds. These guys supply heirloom seeds, and some rare type within Australia (and not to WA or TAS), so sorry if I just got your hopes up.

And thier really good value and celebrationvillage send really helpful little planting notes (heritageseeds details are on the listings) and both have unusual and rare varieties of plants. Which always makes for exciting meals :)

Where possible I would recommend buying seeds, cutting, seedlings etc locally, as the plants have been successful in that area and are suited to the conditions.
But I have used both of these suppliers in the past with success and am hoping the hierloom varieties willprove fruitful in seed terms too. Then 20 seeds turns into a lifetime supply of fruit/veg/herbs.

This time I bought;

Thai Basil, Dark Basil (opal), Sage, Cumin, Chives, Garlic Chives, Dill, Parsley, Oregano, Bok Choi, Red Pak Choi, Wombok, Rainbow silverbeet, Artichoke, Golden zucchini, Chioggia Beetroot (a stripey variety), Brussel Sprouts, Burdundy Okra, Italian Radicchio mix (12 varieties), Chicory, Celeriac, Kokl Rabi (Purple), Cress, Armaranth (red), Rhubarb & Alyssum (royal carpet)- flowers for ground coverage and hopefully fill in the spaces in the garden path... now I just have to be patient until they arrive!

My Seed Box

Now this may seem a little lame to some, but as a self confessed control freak I felt the only way to manage my planting (and hopefully harvesting) effectively was to get organised. And this should keep all my seeds I generate in one place too. (Instead of finding little money bags and plastic containers everywhere, and trying to guess what they were from)

So for anyone thinking about planting, this is my strategy and I guess time will be the judge, so we’ll see how it goes.
I bought a 'recipe box' from the Officeworks (a shoes box, cd box anything of that size/description would do) and a set of cheap dividers (12- one for each month). I cut the dividers down so that they fitted in the box with their tabs.
I have drawn pencil lines on the back, so I can list seeds as I add them.

I also bought 100pk of 'seed envelopes'; their apparently moisture controlled. Although most of my seeds are in sealed money/plastic bags anyway.

I then wrote the fruit/vegetable, variety and months to plant (off spec sheet and/or internet/book research) on the front, I also noted “heirloom” varieties. As these I can (hopefully) collect seeds from these plants for future planting. I will also add dates to these packets, so I can reuse them every year.

Then on the back I listed the planting instructions- row distance, depth, estimated germination and maturity times and specific notes/conditions, such as soil type, mulching, watering details, when to transplant, if need to start in pot/try etc. Also if a plant has specific companions or plants to avoid. So I know to consider these when planting out.

I then placed each packet in the next month that I will use them. So plants that will grow all year will move into each month at the end of the current one. So I placed them in July, ready for the weekend.

Whilst those that grow from February- June (for example) I placed in February and will then move into the next at the end of each of those months.
 
I have done this as I have 3 reasonable size raised gardens, but not an unlimited amount of space, so for the most productive use of space and planting time, I need to be organised. Also as there are only 2 of us (and animals will get a share, I sure) I try to plant appropriately; we would not use 12 lettuces at once, but if I plant 1-2 seeds each week, I will hopefully achieve a constant and consistent supply.

Also in my box are the labels that I bought from Bunnings at the weekend. As last year I mostly grew veg that I bought as seedlings. I found growing from seeds can be interesting, especially if your trying new varieties… there are a few successful plans in garden at the moment that I am not sure about the identity of! So hopefully I won’t be doing that again ;)

Well I’ll let you know how successful this is when I tackle the veggies patch/ seedling tray this weekend.