Chicken Or Egg

Which came first? Although ancient philosophers debated this dilemma and we had talked about where to begin for years and studied books and magazines on self-reliant lifestyles, we had "no clue" when we began our great adventure to simplify food;  we took a stumbling baby step. There were still many things to prepare — to experience — to learn & do. And that is the purpose of this life!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Mabel McKnight Mitchell, High School English teacher in Boulder City, Nevada in the 1960s, shared her talents and taught me many, many years ago to never assume the responsibility of proof when debating that type of causality dilemma. But each of us must eventually ask ourselves how life in this universe began?

What comes next? Research it! Expand your knowledge. Through honest inquiry, study it out in your own mind. Transitioning into self-sufficient living requires research and planning! After we had researched which chicken breeds would consistently provide large eggs and grow well in our climate, we then had to decide if we wanted to buy from a hatchery and ship our chicks or shop local pet and farm supply stores. We decided to trust the local farm supply stores, knowing that the key to making our final selections would become apparent when we could eyeball each chick! Hundreds of peeping chicks were available; we brought our chicks home in a box; our grandchildren were so proud.

Baby chicks are sold as "straight run" where sex is not determined and could theoretically have become 15 male and 15 female chickens or sexed, then sold as "pullets" and "cockerels" but since we wanted our chickens to lay eggs, we paid the extra money for pullets. Pullets (after several months of intensive care) will lay eggs with or without a male around but our eggs would have never been fertilized without a male. 

Grandchildren helped us in the selection of each chick — upon arrival home, each chick was given fresh water by gently dipping each beak into the water; chicks were then placed under a heat lamp.

Adjust your heat source, it should neither be too close or too hot nor too far away or too cold. Watch your baby chicks. If your heat lamp is too close, the chicks will huddle as far away as possible. If the lamp is too far away, cold chicks will huddle together directly under the lamp and not move, needing their combined body warmth to survive.

It is essential that each chick recognize the water source before introducing medicated crumbles. Several times each day, every chick was handled with love and checked for "pasty butt" or "poopy butt" that can occur around the vent when young chicks are stressed. Always wash your hands BEFORE & AFTER handling your chicks!

Although potentially serious — pasty butt can be easily eliminated with lukewarm water, nitrile gloves if desired or if a latex allergy exists, and patience. Excellent in-depth information on "pasting in chicks" can be found posted March 13, 2013 on ScoopFromTheCoop, another blog:

http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/pasting-in-chicks-causes-prevention-treatment/

By the time our chicks had grown most of their feathers, the weather had warmed enough and these pleasant but very different personalities had each acquired a name; they needed room to exercise.

Lion One-Tail by trampoline

Ameraucana Pullet

Blue Egg-layer

Self-reliant living can take many forms. We used what we had; an old trampoline frame was repurposed and enclosed with chain link. 

On cold mornings, warm oatmeal was hand-fed and before nightfall, each chicken was brought back inside to roost. Every morning, they were each taken back outside and eventually freshly-picked dandelion greens became their first green food for cellular growth out of our thawing soil.

Worms were dug, dandelion greens, shredded carrots, oyster shells or properly cleaned (then crushed) egg shells, and black-oil sunflower seeds were also added to their poultry pellets, since medicated crumbles are not necessary after the first several weeks. Leftover PB&J (peanut butter & jelly) sandwich crumbs and various other chicken-edible food was given.

Neighbors shared their home-grown carrot peels and surplus, too. Though our Savior's love is generally experienced through the actions of others, I had never truly understood and had never worked so hard for that first dozen eggs we shared! Fresh eggs from free-range organic chickens are not cheaper to produce, or faster or easier — just healthier and self-sustainable! 

Exceedingly glad, I am grateful for not only an eternal family but also for the Christ-like help of my neighbors, friends, and family. When deciding on your initial baby chick purchase please remember that chicks become chickens, who like humans, are social and need friends. Never buy only one baby chick and expect it to be happy or healthy BUT 30 chicks grow up and generate lots of eggs each day. However, we fought predators: owls, dogs, and raccoons. Over time, those original chicks became eleven hens and one rooster. The cycle of life continues!

"Roo," did not grow up to become a pullet and tried his best to fertilize every egg; however, we never had a broody pullet who would sit on a nest long enough to hatch baby chicks that first year. Further research indicates this is common; most chickens will not sit on a nest when they are young. We ate a lot of eggs!

Although our grand adventure began with what seemed at the time a small box containing 30 baby chicks, those remarkable chicks grew up and shared their love, producing eggs each day throughout the late summer, fall, winter, and spring. 

I believe that we must Simplify...take that first step today and scale back in order to achieve balance in our lives, our families, and our world.

Consciously or unconsciously, we give more than our L-O-V-E and a little know how when we share eggs, but each colorful, fresh, free-range egg— when combined with long-term food storage ingredients makes all the difference!

One Boiled Egg

HOT or COLD

Fast, Easy, and Nutritious!

Eggs provide a complete protein (amino acids); eggs are nutritious, and our chickens, like my family, love to share their joy.

Many of our children pay more in taxes than we earn, and our grandchildren all live comfortable lives and are loved, so what unique experiences, memories, or recipes using food storage did we have to offer them?

Grateful for this cycle of life, my musings attempt to share my life's experiences and encourage others that the good life is the best life after all, though many — even within my own family will argue egg-laying species pre-date the existence of chickens. I believe that my life is part of a grand plan; I am a child of God.

To gain experience, I have come to Earth but our loving Heavenly Father did not send us here without guidance and a perfect example...Our Savior... Jesus the Christ, His Only Begotten Son.

I am a Mormon.

http://www.mormon.org/people

If you want to know more, go to a theater, "Meet the Mormons" opens 10/10/14.

Incredible Egg

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us."

Henry David Thoreau probably did not mean the incredible EGG but in our effort to produce healthy food we began this great adventure with 30 assorted day-old pullets (baby chicks). These sweet little pullets were loved from the beginning and diligently watched over by the watchful and thoughtful Molly the cat. Our grandson also kept Molly and the pullets in check.

Months later "Roo," who was our one surprise and did not grow up to become a pullet but a Silver-laced Wyandotte "Rooster" and each of the remaining 29 pullets (all named and loved) started producing two dozen fertilized eggs. That's 24 eggs daily. That's a lot of eggs!

The grandchildren took quickly to the chickens, especially ROO!

Each grand child felt like a pirate with hidden treasure whenever a double yolk was found. Not all chickens will lay double-yolked eggs!

Every hen’s reproductive system consists of an ovary and an oviduct.  The ovary contains undeveloped egg yolks — the number of yolks (ovum) are the total number of eggs this chicken will lay during her entire life. One hour after the previous egg was laid, one ovum is released into the oviduct and develops.  Young pullets — a chicken that is less than a year old is called a pullet — who lay double yolks release TWO ovum within a couple hours, and these became our treasured double-yolked eggs.    

Heredity can cause some hens or breeds to have a higher number of double yolks in pullets just beginning to lay.  As our hens matured, they no longer produced double-yolk eggs BUT an abundance of single-yolk eggs approximately every 25 hours, and we ate eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner: 

1) scrambled,  

2) poached, 

3) baked, 

5) fried, 

6) boiled as in plain or served hard-boiled with foods as varied as Japanese Miso Ramen or as traditional as Cobb Salad, and of course our family favorite...deviled eggs,

7) eggs make the best sauces, batters, doughs, custards, and more.

We gave eggs to family and friends, who made frittatas, omelets, breakfast burritos, pancakes, crepes, waffles, quiche, homemade bread, soft-boiled egg salad sandwich  —  and ice cream  —  this list could go on and on because we love eggs!

Jacques Pepin said, “I think that the egg is probably one of the greatest foods that we can have in the kitchen, whether we cook it by itself or combine it into a souffle or custard, or other type of thing. For me, I can’t live without eggs.”

We can't live without ice cream! 

Basic Goat Milk Ice Cream Recipe:

2 cups raw Nubian goat milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon extract

The variations of this recipe are endless, but a good base is the perfect starter!

i.e.

Chocolate Raspberry Ice cream

2 cups raw Nubian goat milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon raspberry extract

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Place the goat's milk, heavy cream, and sugar in an ice cream maker such as our Cuisinart compressor ice cream/gelato maker and set to a 60 minute cycle. Allow the mixture to mix for approximately 1-2 minutes then add the extract and cocoa powder. Check flavor and consistency at approximately 35 minutes. The ice cream at about 50 minutes should be ready to transfer to an ice cream container and thus the freezer. For best results chill your storage container prior to putting the ice cream in it so to not shock and melt your chilled ice cream.  

Lemon Ice Cream

2 cups raw Nubian goat milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Zest of half a lemon (optional)

From our kitchen to yours. <3 

Hawk Girl the ultimate survivor and rebel of our bunch. 

Contributors Karen/Diane

Heritage

Just realized I will be gone before my family realizes HOW MUCH I LOVE them if I don't make time to share my gratitude and memories.. priceless heritage!

Memories become priceless heritage only if they are shared. Our eight children are grown, some married and now raising their own families, some single; all busily engaged in a good cause. By sharing not only my memories but also those of family and friends, we become more than a cluster of individuals. We become a family committed to sharing the good life, which is the best life after all.

All families have memories of shared meals and time together. Thelma Ruth Wylie Brown was my paternal grandmother.  While I have many fond memories of my Great-Grandmother Bertha Hardy Wylie and Grandmother Thelma Ruth Wylie Brown, none of my children met their Great-Great-Grandmother Bertha and most of my children never met their Great-Grandmother Ruth. These women, who were both "Grandma" to me, share a treasured place in my memory. We are never too young to learn and never too old to change. Record your priceless heritage, today! Here's a wonderful memory for our family to share entitled "Nicknames" written by my cousin

Avis Shreve.

Story to follow....

Easy Goat Cheese Recipe

This summer we were inundated with goat's milk from our TWO wonderful and sweet dairy goats, Topaz and Quartz. We quickly had to find ways to use the milk other than just cereal and basic cooking. Thus the search began. In this household there are two things that make a happy house....CHEESE & ICE CREAM. For father's day the previous year the kids had gotten their father the Cuisinart ICE-100 Compressor Ice Cream and Gelato Maker, which I would highly recommend. 

http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-ICE-100-Compressor-Cream-Gelato/dp/B006UKLUFS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1411147039&sr=8-3&keywords=gelato+maker

On the cheese front we started with simple Chevre cheese (soft goat cheese). We tried two recipes for this, distilled white vinegar and lemon. This is an acidity way of curdling the cheese vs. using a culture. Cultures can be expensive when you don't have access to a mother culture. Since we also were just "testing" the waters we went with the easy route. I learned things the hard way...Lemon is in my opinion a disgusting route. It was way way too lemon flavored. So here is my easy and fool proof way. And yes I completely mean FOOL proof. I have on more than one occasion let the milk get beyond the recommended temperature and still had no problem.

4 quarts raw goat milk

1 cup white distilled vinegar***

Yes! It is really that simple. Place the gallon of milk into a large stock pot on low heat. Occasionally stir the milk, but allow it to reach a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The milk is beginning to simmer at this point. Turn the burner off and remove from heat, quickly stir in the white distilled vinegar. Allow to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. Then pour through cheese cloth or a linen towel. I found that linen towels were more effective. I then hung the cheese up and allowed it to drip the remaining whey out for 30 minutes to an hour. Because this was not made with a culture the remaining whey cannot be used for making ricotta, but it can be retained for giving to pigs or other animals. Or if you like the flavor you can drink it; some people think it tastes similar to buttermilk. 

After the cheese has drained dump it into a plastic container and add your desired spices. My go-to was granulated garlic and salt to taste with a dash of pepper. You can really do anything though. Jalapenos, strawberries, blueberries, with those variations you can use the cheese in the stead of a cream cheese spread onto toast or even crackers if you are feeling fancy. 

Keep posted for more from the Edward's Crazy Farm. 

- Diane

***I suggest buying gallon containers of white distilled vinegar from Costco. They have a higher acidity despite the fact they claim to be the same as a generic wal-mart brand.