The Pekin Bantam invasion of 2014-15

There have always been chickens in my life - as early as I can remember we had a coop in the back yard and we had chickens on and off throughout my childhood.

I can't remember a breed stealing my heart though. In fact, if you asked me what kinds of chickens I've owned I can tell you that I remember having white ones as a kid and that's about it! More recently I ordered Rhode Island Red's from a breeder and instead of getting only Rhode Island's I was supplied a mix - it turned out to be a good thing as the Buffs are in my opinion a nicer chicken and much hardier. I really like the Barred Rocks although my biggest bully is one... The roo that my mom still has is a gentle giant and looks after his ladies like gold!

And that brings me up to today. Quite by accident I decided to add some Pekin Bantams (incidentally the only true bantam breed - meaning they have no full size variety) to my latest order. I actually thought I was getting polish bantams until they arrived and were quite clearly not...  Oh boy I didn't realise what a treat I was in for!!! They arrived much older than the other chicks and the breeder suggested I take two pairs as they're not hardy and she was worried I might lose one in transit (they travelled about 600km by courier service)

These little bundles of feathers are the most interactive chickens we've had by a long way. They're naturally tame and not even the slightest bit scared of the boxer which meant that the other chicks were also safe as the bantams took it upon themselves to teach said boxer a thing or two about confident chickens... Initially I was really nervous as the boxer is the queen of the house and was trained to chase ducks and geese off the jetty (they make more poop that is reasonable and the patient husband banned them...) but these little guys jumped all over her when I turned my back on afternoon and I haven't had to worry about interactions since :)

We just skipped town for a week for a river trip and left the farmyard in the capable hands of an old friend who would have chickens if his space and schedule allowed. We came home to three pekin bantam chicks - the cutest little bundles of fluff you can imagine (think feathered feet - still all fluff). 4 hatched while we were away but we lost one to one of the roo's before anyone realised they'd hatched :(

Fast forward to this morning and we've got two more chicks (the eggs were set quite far apart so I'm anticipating a couple more to come - the hens are still sitting on another 5 or so eggs)

Since we had to remove the chicks from the hens because of the set times it's given us a ton of time to play with the babies... They grow so fast and are providing so much entertainment! I decided to try and get some photos before they start to move too fast. I'm pretty chuffed with the results :)

It's been a while....

Matilda

So much has happened since my last post and it gets to a point where I feel so overwhelmed about posting I procrastinate indefinitely :( 

Anyway I'll  just pretend that my last post was yesterday and be normal!

I added a new member to the farmyard a week ago - she's wiggled her way into our lives and hearts in record time (think girls and puppies and you'll get the idea!) The only relationship that isn't going to work out is that between Matilda (or Piggity as my mom insist on calling her so as to avoid naming her and dealing with the consequences surrounding the naming of a 'farm' animal.......)






The other thing I've done is ban boring salads. Now by boring salads I mean a typical greek salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, etc.). The consequences of this decision have been entertaining :) We've gone from a teenage lad who had to be persuaded to eat fresh greens to one who, if left unsupervised to dish up, cleans the salad platter before anyone else can get a look in...

Roasted Tomato and Feta Salad

Today's salad to go with a mid winter braai for mom's birthday - as usual there are many people at this table!


I've got a very simple yet impressively tasty recipe:


Cos and Iceberg Lettuce (I find the mix is way nicer than a single leaf choice)
Rosa Tomatoes
Feta
Pine Nuts (Toasted in a nonstick pan - but don't let them burn or they'll turn bitter)

Cut the lettuce in manageable chunks and spread on a salad platter (not a bowl as this salad doesn't want to be tossed!) Toast the pine nuts in a pan (if the oven is on for something else you can roast them instead). Set aside in a bowl. Put a little olive oil in the pan and toss in the tomatoes - roast them until they're soft but not squishy (experiment with what you like here). Add the feta and stir in to melt a bit. Pour this gooey yumminess over the leaves, sprinkle with pine nuts and dress vinaigrette just before serving. 

Vinaigrette Recipe

50ml vinegar (you can use pretty much any vinegar but the better the vinegar, the better your dressing!)
150ml Olive oil 
1tsp sugar
Fresh parsley (or any herb of your prefeerence)
White pepper
Salt

Mix all the ingredients in a glass jar and allow to stand for an hour for the flavours to develop. Super simple. Super yummy!

So it's been a while, a very long while since I've managed to post anything, let alone something valuable or interesting... It's not that there's nothing happening in the kitchen or urban farming project, it's actually that there's been too much on the go!

I dealt with an infestation of lice in the chicken cage - I was away for the weekend and got a pannicked phonecall  from my little boet saying I had to come home immediately... I told him to relax and I'd deal with it after my mini break :-) The solution to lice isn't a fun one and neither is it particularly environmentally friendly... I cleaned out the cage completely and then dusted the ENTIRE thing with some chemical concoction called Karbadust (which nurseries no longer stock as it's a nasty insectacide - I found it at the farming co-op agrimark in phillipi). My internet research said that I'd need to dust the chickens too - the instructions suggested putting the chickens in a plastic packet with their heads sticking out and shaking a little to get them covered in the dust... I laughed out LOUD when I read it. I then called my mom and read it to her and we laughed hystirically together... you see, there is absolutely no way to get a chicken into a bag without injuring it and yourself, not to mention that it'd have to be one flipping sturdy bag not to get shredded by the chicken's kicking claws!!! I worked out a much more efficient method: I simply sprinkled powder onto the chicken's back which resulted in a flustered chicken who kindly ruffled their feathers, thus distributing the dust all over their bodies... I also got covered in the process (and I seem to have read that it's toxic to humans on the instructions) but I had a ball and was absolutely certain there could be no lice on me by the time I was done :-)

We're busy building a compost heap system - three divisions as there's quite a lot of composting material coming out of the garden and chicken cage... I'll post photos and designs once I'm done :-)

There's so much more to share but I haven't put the photos onto my computer yet and somehow photos tell a much better story than my less than colourful words :-)

Reducing the chicken numbers

So there's a post I've been delaying for weeks now... As you know I've got all the chickens - I ordered 20 little Rhode Island chicks, I ended up with some Rhode Island, Plymouth Rock and Australorps. Of the 20 chicks, 10 turned out to be hens (who are laying like champions I might add - please let me know if you'd like some fresh eggs, they're really yummy and with 8-10 new ones each morning I am totally unable to keep up with the consuming part!) and 10 cocks. I'm sure I have alluded to the terrible behaviour of cocks already but once they're mature it becomes impossible to keep too many together... The noise is a problem (I love hearing them but the neighbors aren't as keen on my organic journey!) but worse is the fighting. After a particularly violent day I realise that the time had come to reduce numbers...

I selected the three cocks we were to keep and separated the others out. The intention was always to slaughter some of the chickens (which is why I got 20 to start with rather than just getting 4-6 hens for laying). I researched the best way to do this and I will certainly not go into the details as I still feel completely traumatised. We set a day and fortunately I managed to arrange for someone to come and help (read: paid someone to do it for me...) as I could not manage to have anything to do with the process. My mom deserves all the credit as she was a real trooper. All in all we slaughtered and cleaned 7 rather large chickens and a few weeks down the line they're still in the freezer and we haven't had chicken in a meal since!

As for my part in the day? I cleaned and organised the kitchen, cooked dinner for the family, cleaned the kitchen again, set the table (who does that on a weekend night when it's just our family?!), sorted some old clothes out of my cupboard and felt generally miserable! I can admit that I watched the process (I felt I had to watch at least one) and the slaughtering process is quick and the chickens didn't suffer or get traumatised. 

Life in the chicken run has returned to complete normality although the 3 cocks are still making a little too much noise :-( Our vet has put me in touch with a bird specialist who is able to stop the roosters from crowing (without going to the extreme I had to with the other 7) and I will be taking them through to him next monday. This process doesn't solve the fighting problem so it doesn't mean I can keep more roosters but it'll placate the neighbour who has insomnia at night and only manages to sleep during the day...


I am glad the process  is over and hopefully some day I will manage to eat chicken again.


PS: I am sorry if this post has offended you. That was definitely not my intention and I have been struggling with writing it for a month already...

Self-Sufficiency

A couple of months back I wandered into Exclusive Books (as I do very often!) and a book caught my eye... The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers by John Seymore. The catch phrase is something like for idealists and dreamers (I can't remember off the top of my head now...) I'm not sure where I fall between those two categories - some days I'm the ultimate idealist and others I just have these dreams that run away with me - but I can honestly say that John Seymore's books are nothing short of inspirational! Given that they were written many years ago (he gives instructions for the construction of cold houses as there were no fridges, etc.) there is much entertainment to be found between the covers. I not only purchased The complete guide to self sufficiency but The New Self-Sufficient Gardener too! I have read and re-read them hundreds of times already, drawing inspiration, motivation and skills from their beautifully illustrated pages... Both books cover a very wide knowledge base that has been put into simple words that bring the ideas and concepts to life. I have learned much about planting, looking after my vegetables and trees, culinary skills such as preserving my produce, etc.

The books have pride of place on my coffee table and proudly bear the stains of use as a manual in the kitchen and garden. John Seymore's experience is worth a thousand times what I paid for the books! He's unfortunately passed on but his teaching farm still exists in Ireland and his family is keeping his legacy alive. We could do with more wonderful people like this around today!

Hens please lay some eggs now :-)

With so many hens (10 fit and healthy girls!), I decided I needed to brush up on my list of things to do with eggs… I eat eggs only occastionally but cannot bake without them! Can you tell how anxious I am for them to start laying?! The hens are 6 and a bit months old and I’m expecting the first egg any day now…

The best of the bunch seemed to be this book: Eggs by Michel Roux. I’m expecting my copy by the weekend and will definitely write an update review and share some ideas!

In the meantime though please shout if you have any clever Egg tricks or ideas :-)