Monday, June 27, 2011

Nibbles, Mojita and Bubbles eating watermelon.

Its official Mr.B is Bubbles!


Today she layed her first egg! Not bad for a free duck. We got Bubbles from someone moving and they couldn't take the duck. They thought it was a male. We were just happy to have a beautiful Pekin duck, and to find out that its a female is even better. Now all we need to get is a REAL male duck and we can have cute little duckies. :-D

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Homemade Cottage Cheese-Your chickens will love ya for it!

Homemade Cottage Cheese

All utensils should be cleaned very well before beginning.

1 quart (1 liter) whole milk
4 drops liquid rennet
½ teaspoon of salt, plus more to taste
6 tablespoons heavy cream (or half-and-half), or a mixture of heavy cream and buttermilk

Heat the milk very slowly in a medium-sized, non-reactive saucepan. Use the lowest heat possible and if you have a flame-tamer for underneath the saucepan, now’s a good excuse to use it.

Insert a thermometer into the milk (I use a chocolate thermometer, which is easy to read) and heat until the milk reaches 85 degrees F.
Turn off heat and stir in rennet. Stir gently for 2 minutes.

Cover the saucepan with a clean tea towel draped over the top and put the lid on. Let stand at room temperature for 4 hours.

After 4 hours, the mixture will be very softly set and marvelously jiggly. Take a sharp knife and cut the mixture diagonally 5 or 6 times, then do the same in the opposite direction.

Sprinkle in the salt then set the pan over extremely low heat and cook, stirring gently, until the curds separate from the whey. It will take just a few minutes.

Do not overcook it at this point or your cottage cheese curds will be tough.

Line a strainer with cheesecloth or étamine, and set it inside a large bowl. Pour the mixture into the cloth and stir it gently to drain off the copious amount of whey. (You can use it in bread making or in soups in place of water.)

Fold the ends of the cheesecloth over the cheese and chill the strainer (keeping the bowl underneath) in the refrigerator. Let drain for about 1 hour, stirring once or twice.

Spoon the cottage cheese from the cloth into a bowl and stir in the cream, or cream and buttermilk. Taste, and add more salt if necessary.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Bed Spring Hangers

I used the springs from the twin beds as plant hangers.


And the U nails, too!


Quacker Keys

Used another wooden play set, plastic shed doors & wooden bed slats.

Used wood slats to fill up the gaps & make walls.

Here's the door way.

The windows.

Chirp, the Foreman.

Framed up the roof & added the door.



Screened the windows and ease.

Finishing touches, painted the door, put up the sign, added
some Key West decor.


Ducks & Geese in! And Chirp guard chicken!

Siesta Key

Turned a twin bed frame & wood playset into a chicken tractor.
Two twin bed frames.

Took off some slats to use else where it construction. Used 4
4X4's from play-set as light weight frame. 

Used slats to built frame for the nesting area.

Used spare wood from the Key West Koop.

Boxed up.

Other side.

Fenced in and added the ladder, made from the bed slat.


Added the handle.

Painted it.

Our baby African geese inside.

Fancy Pants

This is Fancy Pants a Silkie Bantam, our mascot.

The Koop


Friday, June 3, 2011