Author: Caryn

Nursing Magic

On By CarynIn chickens

Well, she has done it again. Magic the hen has hurt her right leg to the point that she can’t move around well. We seem to be in a cycle. She hurts her leg, heals enough that the limp goes away, then hurts it again. I think she feels better, then goes and jumps off a high perch. Maybe. Anyway, the first time I isolated her with food and water. That didn’t do much but make her lonely, so now I just make sure I go out twice a day to see that she eats and gets water. We have a routine: I carry her out for distribution of grubblies, then we go over to the food bin, then to the outside water, then back to the waterer inside the coop. She tells me when she is ready for a station change by clucking and looking around. As long as I catch her wings when I pick her up, she is calm and lets me help her gain her balance when I put her down. I am a chicken minion.

Grubbly time, Magic is the one with her tail tucked at about the 9 o’clock position. She tucks her tail when her leg hurts and her balance is off.
Holding the feeder open for Magic
Keeping the ravenous hoard busy while Magic eats at the feeder

I think she quite likes the pampering. I keep the rest of the chickens away while she eats. She can get around a little on her own, and somehow manages to get up to the perch every night. I did make a ramp of shavings so she doesn’t have to launch herself far, and the perch is only about 18” tall without mulch. I think it might be a tendon thing, or maybe I’m just thinking of my own healing tendon. Since the chickens are in laying mode I should be going out twice a day anyway to gather eggs so I have less of a chance of one going broody, so it really isn’t intensive nursing.

Easy lace stitch

On By CarynIn Craft

I found a knitting pattern for lace that basically uses two stitches, a yarn over (increase), and a purl two together (decrease). These two alternate and every row is the same. It results in an open weave with dimension and vertical stripes. What? Vertical stripes in knitting? Unusual and intriguing. I made up a couple test swatches with some wool sock yarn with size 4 and size 6 needles. The magic of the lace comes when the pieces are blocked, and the pattern opens up and changes dimension.

Unblocked swatches
Blocked swatches

I shall be experimenting more with this pattern.

New pet!

On By CarynIn Bread

Meet “Legion” our new sourdough starter. (My husband suggested the name.) I’ve been resisting getting into sourdough since it really is like getting a new pet. You have to have an appropriate habitat (yes, just a crock or jar, but still), and you have to feed and water it (I really should say “them”). And you have to deal with the “leftovers”, the waste starter each time you feed. All this considered, I finally caved because I read that sourdough has a lower glycemic index. Ok, we’ll give it a go.

Starting the dried sourdough starter

This particular strain of sourdough starter is over 100 years old and is originally from Italy. I came by it as a freebie from Sunrise Mills for buying Heritage Wheat flour. They also sent a very nicely formatted instruction sheet with a sourdough bread recipe. I’ll be following their instructions before branching out with other recipes.

Bubbles on day 2! It’s alive!

Fun fact, sourdough starter has many organisms in the colony, and each colony has a different mix, which gives rise to the different tastes of sourdough. This colony is supposed to be less sour. It will be interesting to bake with it!

Day 5 of reconstituting sourdough starter

Screen change

On By CarynIn chickens, Coop

Ultimately, I hope the crossvine will grow up the sides and across the top of the chicken runs, providing shade in the summer (and a whole host of orange blooms). Several times last year I had to redirect trailing vines away from the man made shade sail I put up. Rather than have warring shade makers, this year I put the sun sail inside the run to keep the afternoon blaze off their food dispenser (which is metal and gets hot).

Shade sail fabric hung up inside the run

The hens were not happy at first; having me rustle around their enclosure with a huge scary cloth was not appreciated. To keep the cloth from flapping too much in the wind, and scaring them further, I used cable ties like a stitch to hold the fabric to the poultry wire.

Cable tie pretending to be a stitch

The next afternoon, they were all clustered happily in the shade in front of the coop. Mission accomplished.