Categories
Poultry

Homemade Chicken Treats: 3 Recipes for the Holidays

person rolling peanut butter pinecone in bird seeds to make homemade chicken treats
Adobe Stock/Lori Swadley

Homemade chicken treats are fun to add to our holiday menus to share some seasonal joy with our birds. Making tasty tidbits for your birds not only is easy, but it also allows your chickens to join in the festivities. Furthermore, by making these treats in your own kitchen, you can ascertain that nothing but wholesome ingredients are used.

These three recipes are tried-and-true favorites with our birds. These chicken treats go fast, so consider doubling the recipes. Make them with your family for fun, as a holiday craft or as a new winter tradition.

#1 Mealworm Munchies

These homemade chicken treats consist of two ingredients: beef suet and dried mealworms.

You can purchase suet at your supermarket’s butcher counter. Find dried mealworms at wild-bird and farm-supply stores.

For best results, use a silicon mold, as you can release the treats by simply pushing them up on the bottom of the mold. I recommend the mold shaped like rectangular bars.

Render the suet in a saucepot over medium heat, stirring continually to ensure its creaminess. Once all the suet is melted, add the dried mealworms, blending carefully to keep the mealworms as intact as possible.

Remove from heat and ladle into the molds.

Sprinkle several mealworms over the top of each bar, gently pressing them in. Allow the filled molds to cool completely at room temperature, then place the molds into your refrigerator and chill for 15 to 30 minutes. This brief chilling helps with the unmolding of the bars, since the suet will soften when handled.

Avoid placing the molds directly into the refrigerator, as this will give the suet a grainy consistency. Wrap each suet bar individually in plastic wrap and keep chilled in an airtight container until you’re ready to offer these chicken treats to your flock.

Read more: Get a gumball machine for a fun, easy treat dispenser!

#2 Peanut-Butter Pine Cones

To create these homemade chicken treats, you’ll need several pine cones, chunky peanut butter, unsalted sunflower hearts, and several lengths of sturdy ribbon or cording.

Wrap the ribbon or cording around the stem of each pine cone so that it can be hung. Use this cording as a handle to hold the cones as you spread peanut butter over their surface.

Pour the sunflower hearts onto a paper plate, then roll each cone in the hearts to coat the cones. Set the cones on wax paper to dry slightly, then hang them on the fence of your chicken run at a height your chickens can reach.

Be sure to take the pine cones down at dusk so that they do not attract nocturnal predators.

Read more: Here are 5 more recipes for chicken treats you can try out!

#3 Cornmeal Fruit Cakes

These fruit-studded homemade chicken treats look so good, you’ll be tempted to try one.

Melt a cup of lard in a saucepot over medium heat. Add 1/2 a cup of raisins, 1/2 a cup of blueberries and 1/4 cup of chopped unsalted peanuts.

Mix in 4 cups of yellow cornmeal, 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 to 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Spread into a baking pan and let set, then cut into squares.

Set these out in your coop or in your run and watch your birds gobble up these delicious chicken treats.

This article about homemade chicken treats was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

Chickens in Winter: How to Prepare Your Coop

chickens in winter walking in the snow
Adobe Stock/LUGOSTOCK

Keeping chickens in winter means there is a day I dread every single fall. Peeking through the blinds, I’ll see a field full of crystalline glimmers sparkling in the morning sun. Oh, sure, it’ll look very pretty … pretty frosty!

My dramatic groan will awaken my husband, Jae. He’ll turn away and pull the covers over his head when he figures out why I’ve suddenly become upset.

“This happens every year!” he’ll grumpily remind me from beneath the blankets.

Chickens in Winter Woes

Autumn may be my favorite season. But as a Michigan poultry farmer, I can’t say that the subzero temperatures, bone-chilling winds and drifting snow it heralds are favorites of mine.

As much as I’m averse to winter, our chickens in winter dislike it even more. During the winter months, our chickens rarely leave the comfort of their coops —I can’t blame them! —unless we physically take them out and plunk them down on paths we’ve snowblown for them. The ducks will venture out of their house, only to spend the day hunkered down in the snow.

Over the years, I’ve had to defrost duck wings, treat frostbitten chicken combs, and revive a seemingly frozen-to-death hen. Our family has learned that proper preparation at the first sign of frost paves the way for an easier winter for humans and birds alike.

Recently, the kids joined Jae and me in prepping our poultry farm for the weather to come. If you live in the northern United States and/ or have a small or backyard flock, perhaps the steps we take can help prepare your birds — and you — for the months to come.

Set Up the Winter Brooder

Our pole barn is home to a large wooden brooder that we use during the spring and summer for broody hens, baby chicks and injured birds. For our chickens in winter, however, it is home to our more delicate breeds, the chickens we feel or know wouldn’t survive our severe winters.

In years past, the brooder has housed our Seramas and Japanese Bantams. For the past 10 years, however, it’s been winter quarters for our Silkies.

We adore our sweet-natured fluffballs. Their loose feather structure, however, doesn’t help these bantams retain body heat when faced with freezing temps. When frost arrives, our Silkies become snowbirds and move to the warm, cozy brooder. There they’ll stay until the temperature consistently stays above 40°F overnight, with occasional excursions to their run on those rare warm-weather days.

To prepare the brooder for winter, we completely scrub out the interior and line it with a heavy-duty tarp. Then we add 2 to 3 inches of flaked shavings.

Next come the freshly sanitized feeder and waterer, elevated on stands that Jae built to keep the chickens from kicking shavings onto their water and rations. We check that the ceramic heating panel we installed on the brooder wall directly behind the birds’ perch is functioning correctly, to keep the Silkies warm at night.

Finally, we hang a caged heat lamp with a fresh bulb over the brooder’s hardware-mesh food panel. We use this on those nights when the temperature plummets below negative 10 degrees.

Our Silkie flock spends a great deal of time in the brooder during the summer, hatching and raising chicks. So moving in for the winter is like coming home for these chickens.

Put Up the Winter Panels 

Jae designed our smaller coops with hardware mesh wall panels to allow for maximum ventilation during the spring and summer months. If we left these mesh walls uncovered for the chickens in winter, our birds would become chicksicles in no time. Instead, when the frost arrives we cover the hardware mesh panels with exterior siding panels. These keep the inclement weather out and the birds’ body heat in.

The coops still have long mesh strips along the tops of the opposing side walls to allow for cross-ventilation. This prevents the build-up of moisture within the coop during the colder months. Once the danger of frost is gone in the spring, the panels come off and get stored until falls rolls around again.

Install Electric Waterer Bases 

None of our henhouses are equipped with electricity. During the summer, electricity is unnecessary. The coops’ vents keep the fresh air circulating and the birds spend most of their time outside.

For our chickens in winter, however, our coops need electricity to power the heated waterer bases we use to keep the chickens’ waters from freezing solid. We learned early in our poultry-rearing careers that we truly despised hauling five-gallon buckets of hot water out to our coops every winter morning to thaw out the waterers.

Our electric base heaters are a solid investment that keeps the birds’ water from freezing. They also keep me and my son Jaeson from having to play the haul-and-thaw game every day.

The catch is that the waterer bases require power. When the frost hits, Jae runs heavy-duty outdoor-gauge extension cabling from our house out to the coops. The cables are woven through the run fencing to keep them off the ground and away from the coming snow.

Their connections illuminate at night so we can tell at a glance that the power is indeed on.

Bring on the Shavings 

Because the birds spend so much time indoors during winter, their litter becomes soiled much more quickly than during the summer months. We use the deep-litter method to help heat our coops naturally. So an important part of keeping chickens in winter and our prep is to stockpile sacks of flaked shavings.

We also put down more litter —about 3 inches instead of 1 — to help insulate the chicken coop floor against the chill. We used to carefully spread the shavings out in each coop, creating an even floor surface to help prevent bumblefoot. (This occurs more frequently during the winter.)

However, we stopped doing this after our second winter, when we discovered that the chickens would scratch and dig up the entire layer of shavings the moment we finished and left them alone. Now we’re not so exact with how we put down the shavings. And we sprinkle some scratch grains in so the chooks have something to find after all that scratching.

Chickens in Winter: Other Tasks

None of these preparatory steps for keeping chickens in winter would amount to much if we didn’t make the basic repairs necessary to get our coops through the cold months. We check each structure for drafts, putting down fresh caulk as needed. The lids to our nest boxes take a beating from constant use throughout the year and are often ragged around the edges by fall. Jae replaces these battered lids with newly cut panels. He also cuts fresh perches if we discover that any are splintered.

The pop and human-access doors to each coop are inspected to see how tightly they shut, since the last thing we want is a gappy door that for allow the cold, snow and predators access.

Last but not least, we check our feed storage containers. These are kept inside our pole barn. We’d rather not feed the chipmunks and other furries that bunk down in there for the winter.

This article about keeping chickens in winter was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Farm & Garden

How to Dry Citrus Slices to Enjoy Year-Round

dried orange, lemon and grapefruit citrus slices
Fotografiche/Shutterstock

Winter is the perfect time to know how to dry citrus slices since citrus fruit around the country is at its prime. This is the time of year to make citrus curds, limoncello, infused alcohols with dried citrus slices, preserve citrus in salt, make marmalades and dehydrate citrus slices.

My preferred method for how to dry citrus is to dry it in my food dehydrator. But you can also dry fruit in your home oven.

Dry time varies depending on the humidity where you are located and the size and thickness of your slices. But here is a general guide to drying your own citrus.

Supplies

Yield: As much citrus as you’d like to dry

  • Citrus of your choice—oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes
  • Cutting board
  • Sharp knife
  • Food dehydrator or oven (ideally with convection setting)
  • Baking sheets and parchment paper (for oven only)
  • Jar for storage

Read more: You can grow indoor citrus plants from seed. Here’s how.

Directions

Wash the citrus and remove any dirt, wax or spray. Dry thoroughly. If you intend to cook or eat the dried citrus, you may want to opt for organic fruit versus conventionally grown.

Trim off the ends of the fruit and slice it into 1/8- to 1/4-inch slices and remove seeds.

Lay fruit on a dehydrator tray in a single layer (or a parchment paper lined baking sheet if using an oven), leaving space between each slice so they are not touching. Dry at 135°F if using a food dehydrator and at 175 to 200°F (depending on how low your oven will go) if using an oven.

A food dehydrator will take six to eight hours to dry, maybe longer if it’s humid in your home. An oven will take three to four hours. It is recommended to check on the slices periodically and to even turn them occasionally through the drying process to help them along.

Once the citrus is dried fully, it will have no signs of moisture. The skin should be tough and crisp. The colors will have intensified.

Allow the citrus to completely cool before storing. Store in an airtight, dry place. I keep mine in a clamp jar in the pantry.

Side Notes for How to Dry Citrus Slices

  • Organize fruit slices of like-size together on drying trays, since smaller slices will dry out sooner than larger ones.
  • If fruit slices still seem tacky after their drying time, return them to the dehydrator or oven and dry longer. Periodically check on them so that you do not overcook them. Very humid atmospheres can take up to 15 hours of drying time in a dehydrator.
  • Dried fruit for consumption lasts years if kept in dry, airtight containers. If for décor, it can last many years. I’ve had citrus fruit garlands hung for several years in our house and they still look as fresh as day one.

Read more: Enjoy this orange blossom cocktail as you sit out with your chickens on a sunny day!

Uses for Dried Citrus Slices

Once you know how to dry citrus slices, you can use them for the following:

  • Infuse soups and teas
  • Infuse alcohol
  • Grind into a powder to use as a seasoning
  • Make ornaments or garlands
  • Cocktail garnishes
  • Snack on in their dried form
  • Add to potpourri
  • Craft

This story about how to dry citrus slices was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

Are Christmas Plants Toxic To Chickens?

holly is among the Christmas plants toxic to chickens
Steve Bidmead/Pixabay

When decorating for the holidays, it’s good to know are Christmas plants toxic to chickens. Traditional seasonal flora such as mistletoe, poinsettia and holly, of course, have adverse effects on cats and dogs. However, these plants aren’t poisonous to chickens. They’re perfectly safe for our feathered friends. Here’s a rundown about this trio of festive natural trimmings.

Read more: These 14 toxic plants, however, can poison your chickens!

Holly

American holly (Ilex opaca) is a visual standout come wintertime. With its handsome gray bark, its distinctive green leaves and its bright red berries, this ornamental evergreen is almost synonymous with the holiday season.

Due to the way the boughs drape, holly provides winter shelter for many songbirds including cardinals, titmice and chickadees. Besides protection from the elements, holly provides birds with accessible nutrition—its berries—at a time when the ground is frozen over and insects are impossible to find.

Ingesting holly berries (and, to a lesser degree, holly leaves) can cause vomiting, diarrhea, drowsiness and dehydration in humans and pets. But these juicy berries serve as essential forage for birds.

Planting American holly trees for your flock—you’ll need one male and at least one female—may not be practical, as they can reach a height of 50 feet. However, one of the shrubbier cultivars may make an eye-catching addition to your chicken yard.

The Red Sprite cultivar of the deciduous Michigan holly (Ilex verticillata) ranges from 3 to 5 feet in height and grows grapelike clusters of juicy red berries.

Angelina Ho./Pixabay

Poinsettia

Cultivated in Mexico for centuries before becoming an iconic Christmas plant, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) was introduced to the U.S. by Joel R. Poinsett, a botanist who served as the U.S. minister to Mexico under President James Monroe.

For decades, this beautiful plant suffered from a bum rap: the widespread belief that it was dangerously poisonous.

A 1971 research study at Ohio State University, however, concluded that its test subjects—who ingested unusually large amounts of poinsettia parts—suffered no ill effects. Furthermore, the POISINDEX® Information Service (the primary resource used by poison control centers) states that a 50-pound child would have to eat more than one pound of poinsettia bracts to feel any adverse affects.

Pets who nibble or swallow poinsettia leaves might experience mouth irritation or vomiting due to the plant’s milky sap, which contains latex and can affect those with sensitivities.

Chickens might experience digestive discomfort from munching on poinsettias, but you wouldn’t consider the plants poisonous to them. However, you may wish to avoid surrounding your coop with these festive red and white flowering plants. Their beauty will undoubtedly suffer at the beaks of your inquisitive birds.

Susanne Jutzeler/Pixabay

Mistletoe

The Christmas kiss plant, mistletoe has a long and colorful history. Accounts of this plant date back thousands of years, where it was responsible for the death of the god Balder in Norse mythology and considered a magical plant that granted fertility and luck by the Celts.

Over the centuries, mistletoe has been used to treat such conditions as epilepsy, gout and—ironically—poisoning.

This parasitic plant grows on the trunks and branches of deciduous trees. It’s recognized by its small, silvery-green oval leaves and its pearly white berries. It also has the habit of growing in balls called witches’ brooms high up in its host trees.

Mistletoe berries serve as a winter food source for wild birds. And birds return the favor by excreting the seeds and helping the plant spread. The name “mistletoe” comes from the Anglo-Saxon term for “dung on a twig,” a direct reference to the plant’s relationship with birds.

Besides being a source of nutrition, mistletoe also serves as a choice nesting spot for such birds as house wrens, chickadees, spotted owls, Cooper’s hawks and pygmy nuthatches.

Read more: Check out these recipes for homemade holiday treats your chickens will love.

Variety Matters

The same plant that nourishes birds has a dramatically adverse effect on humans … depending on the variety of mistletoe. Many are unaware that two varieties of mistletoe commonly exist: American mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum) and European mistletoe (Viscum album).

The European variety has a documented history of being highly poisonous to humans and pets. (The plants aren’t poisonous to chickens, of course.) Ingesting the leaves or berries of European mistletoe can cause vomiting, difficulty breathing, shock and even death.

Research on American mistletoe, however, indicates that it is far less toxic than its European cousin.

How poisonous is the ingestion of American mistletoe? One study examined 1,754 American mistletoe exposures. The majority of the people who ingested mistletoe had no symptoms and there were no fatalities. Another study, based on poison-control centers’ response to 92 cases of mistletoe exposure, concluded that the most serious symptom experienced was digestive distress, experienced by three patients.

Most Americans, however, can’t distinguish between American and European mistletoe. So the safest bet for humans and pets is to use artificial mistletoe indoors. Leave the real mistletoe outdoors for the birds who very much depend on it.

This article about are Christmas plants toxic to chickens was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Farm & Garden

3 Homemade Gifts: Easy & Inexpensive Ideas

homemade gift of stovetop potpourri
Adobe Stock/MyLove4Art

Homemade gifts are made with love, straight from the heart. They are a cost-effective way to share your crafts with others around the holiday season. I’ve compiled a list of the top three trends for homemade gifts that I’ve seen this season, with full instructions on how you can make and gift your own.

3 Easy Inexpensive Homemade Gifts

1. Stovetop Holiday Simmer Pot Potpourri

Dehydrated fruits and seasonings jarred up and paired with a bow make a thoughtful gift that everyone is certain to enjoy.

Just add the contents to a simmering pot of water and enjoy the scent throughout your home. The ingredients included are up to your discretion but consider the colors included and how the scents will blend once heated. During the holiday season, scents of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and citrus are fan favorites.

Directions:

To dry citrus of your choice (orange, lemon, lime grapefruit), slice into ¼” slices and dry it in a food dehydrator (135°F for 7+ hours) or in your oven (lowest temp it goes, ideally under 200°F for 2+ hours) until completely dry. Once dried, allow the fruit to cool completely to room temperature before jarring.

We use pint-sized canning jars when gifting. You can add as many ingredients as you’d like, but we try to fill the jars completely so they do not look empty.

Add cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, dried cranberries, dried rosemary, bay leaves, thyme or other dried herbs of your choice.

Include spices of choice such as whole allspice, dried ginger, whole star anise, whole cinnamon sticks, whole nutmeg, whole clove, or whole cardamom pods.

Once you’ve jarred your potpourri, add the canning jar lid and tightly screw on the ring. Apply a cute bow or tie on some ribbon and you’ve got a beautiful homemade gift.

Note: When simmered, it’s important to set a timer so that you do not forget to check the water level so that the water doesn’t evaporate and the simmering ingredients burn on the bottom of the pot.

2. Ranch Seasoning Blend in a Jar

Ranch seasoning is delicious and yes, it’s available in the packets at the market, however, those packets sometimes contain ingredients that I try to avoid, or frankly, just aren’t needed. Making this giftable jarred blend makes a thoughtful homemade gift for your fellow ranch lovers.

This recipe is from MyBakingAddiction but it is the very best homemade blend that I’ve found to date.

homemade ranch dip
Adobe Stock/5ph

Yield: One 4-ounce canning jar

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dry buttermilk powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. dried parsley
1.5 tsp. dried dill weed
1 tsp. dried chives
1 tsp. fine sea salt
½ tsp. white granulated sugar
½ tsp. dried tarragon (optional)
¼ tsp. fresh cracked black pepper (to taste)
¼ tsp. ground yellow mustard powder

Mix all ingredients, pour into a small canning jar, add the lid and tightly screw on the ring. Label and add a bow.

This ranch seasoning makes a great dried rub for chicken and seasoning for roasted vegetables. It also makes a delicious dressing for salads/vegetable dip.

To use this dried seasoning for a pourable dressing or dip, mix 2 tablespoons of the dried seasoning with ¾ cup of sour cream, ¾ cup of buttermilk, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise (salt and pepper to taste – optional). Allow the flavors to meld in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

3. Sugar Scrub Hand Scrub

Sugar scrub homemade gifts are so simple to make! They make great gifts over the wintertime because we can all use a little extra exfoliation this time of year. You can get really creative with the ingredients so here is the basic recipe for the sugar/oil blend.

homemade gifts of sugar scrub
Adobe Stock/Africa Studio

Yield: One 8-ounce jelly jar

Ingredients:
½ cup coconut oil
¼ cup white granulated sugar but you could also use brown sugar if you prefer

Optional ingredients:
Organic essential oils of choice (sweet orange is my favorite)
1 tsp. jojoba oil
1 tsp. vitamin E oil
1 tsp. organic olive oil

Directions:
In a bowl, combine coconut oil with the sugar. Use a fork to mash and stir the ingredients together well until it can easily be stirred.

At this point, add in as many drops of essential oils as you’d like, or stir in the additional oil options. Once blended well, transfer to an 8-ounce jelly jar. Wipe the rim with a dampened cloth to remove any spillage, add the canning jar lid and tightly screw on the lid.

Slap on a label and tie on a bow, and you’ve got a great and practical homemade gift to give this season!

Note: This scrub is also an excellent lip and foot exfoliant over those dry winter months.

This article about homemade gifts was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

What Are the 12 Days Of Christmas Birds?

partridge 12 days of Christmas
dennisjacobsen/Adobe Stock

What are the 12 Days of Christmas birds in this carol commemorating the dozen days from Christmas Day to Twelfth Night on January 5, the eve of Epiphany (or Three Kings Day)?

This carol was first published as a poem in the 1780 book Mirth Without Mischief (composer Frederic Austin only penned the music in the early 20th century). Most of us can at least list several of the presents that our true love gave to us. And many of those were gifts of poultry!

Music historians believe that the partridges, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, geese and swans cumulatively listed in the song were not intended to be ornamental, nor were they presented to a soulmate with a sizable barnyard. Back in Elizabethan times, the 12 Days were the most anticipated and celebrated festival season, with much revelry including wassailing (going from one house to another, caroling and toasting each other’s health with mulled spiced wine, ale, or mead), dancing, and jokes and amusements overseen by the appointed Lord of Misrule.

How did all those birds fit into the merrymaking? They were the highlight of the feasting. In other words, they were dinner.

These days, not many celebrations call for a roasted swan or doves braised in wine. But geese and chickens definitely do make the holiday dinner table in many households. Here’s a look at how the 12 Days of Christmas birds were truly feted back in the days of Christmas past.

Partridge

This European game bird was introduced to the United States in the early 1900s. Unlike the drawings of large majestic birds perched atop a pear tree, partridges—both the chukar and gray varieties—are compact, reaching about 1 foot in length and weighing about 1 pound.

Hardly a mouthful individually roasted, the partridge was typically served boiled with nutmeg, clove, bread and either sack (a fortified Spanish wine) or muscadine. Add pears if you wish!

Turtle Dove

The tiny European turtle dove is a harbinger of spring, its turr-turr-turr song associated with the return of sunshine and warmth. Turtle doves mate for life, which is most likely the reason that our true love presents us with a pair of these pocket-sized birds.

Since two doves weighed in at approximately 10 ounces, Elizabethan cooks made the most of this ingredient by baking them in pastry. Doves are still raised as a food source today. This modern recipe gives some insight into the dove-stuffed pastries from centuries ago.

French Hen

The trio of chickens memorialized in the 12 Days of Christmas birds list were not necessarily French. France’s historic geographical name was Gaul, and the people of France were called Gallic or Gauls (consider France’s beloved 20th-century statesman, Charles de Gaulle).

The scientific name for chicken, Gallus gallus, led people in past centuries to refer to these birds as Gallic roosters and hens and, eventually, French, even if the birds in question did not originate in France. During the Elizabethan period, however, all things French were considered fashionable, so it is quite possible that breeds of French chickens were raised and served up as part of the holiday feast.

Chicken was as versatile then as it is now. Cooks served it roasted, fried, fricassee and baked in pies.

Read more: The yule goat is a caprine-themed holiday tradition!

Calling Bird

When I was little, I thought calling birds were birds that called, like mourning doves or finches. As an adult, I decided that calling birds were actually call ducks, the adorable little loudmouthed duck.

I was wrong on both counts.

“Calling” is actually a distortion of “colly,” meaning as black as coal. Calling birds are in fact blackbirds, which we know from nursery rhymes were baked into pies and presented to royalty. These days, blackbirds are protected migratory birds, but in Elizabethan times they were simply another game bird to catch and cook for dinner.

Geese

While not as popular as chickens with today’s poultry keepers, geese were once the poultry of choice amongst wealthy landowners and lords. Cultivated since the days of ancient Egypt, geese were inexpensive to raise as they foraged with skill and fattened quite easily.

In addition to their rich, flavorful meat, geese also produced sizable eggs, and their feathers were used to fletch arrows and to stuff pillows and mattresses.

Geese have a long association with Michaelmas, an autumnal holy day that marked the end of the livestock-raising year. On Michaelmas, typically celebrated on September 29, debts were paid, servants were hired at “Goose Faires,” and landlords collected their rents, which often included one goose per tenant. Feasting on roast goose became the custom on Michaelmas, considered one of the English “quarter days,” marking the passage of a quarter of the year.

It made sense that the delicious bird roasted on autumn’s quarter day would also be roasted on winter’s quarter day, Christmas.

Swan

A symbol of luxury and wealth, this beautiful waterfowl graced the Christmas tables of British monarchs from the 1200s all the way through 19th-century Victorian times, when dining on them fell out of style. A 15th-century decree designated that only landowners of a certain elevated income were allowed to keep swans. Owned birds had to be marked with a specific, expensive and difficult-to-obtain beak mark. Anyone caught defacing a swan mark would be sentenced to one year in prison, according to the Order of the Swannes, a 1570 legal document.

British laws also prohibited the sale, hunting and driving off of any swans, with stiff penalties for lawbreakers.

All unmarked swans were designated property of the British monarch, a law that remains in effect today. One of the titles of the British monarch is Seigneur of the Swans. A highly trained team, the King’s Swan Uppers, patrols the River Thames, caring for unmarked swans and ensuring that the cygnets of unmarked females remain unmarked and property of the King.

As the traditional centerpiece of the Christmas feast, swans were served roasted whole, in their skin and feathers. Records show that King Henry III ordered 40 swans for his Christmas celebrations in 1247. Only royalty was allowed to feast on swan. The eating of swan by a non-royal was considered an act of treason.

In 1998, a law was passed that removed the penalty of treason, but it is still illegal to keep or kill a swan.

This article about the 12 Days of Christmas birds was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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Recipes

Turkey Recipes: 3 Traditional Favorites

whole roasted turkey on serving plate made with traditional turkey recipes
Adobe Stock/fahrwasser

Turkey recipes are prevalent at Thanksgiving and Christmas but are perfect any time of year. I have many traditional turkey recipes dating back to my great-grandmother’s days in Scotland. I’ve modified them for more modern times, but they’re every bit as flavorful as their original versions. Here are three turkey recipes to try.

1. Bubbledy Jock

Ingredients

  • 1 12- to 14-pound turkey, fresh (or thawed) and cleaned out
  • 1 cup of plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
  • 1 dozen roasted chestnuts, shelled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 turkey liver, sautéed and finely minced
  • 1 pound pork or turkey sausage, casing removed
  • 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
  • 3 cups chicken (or turkey) stock
  • 1 tablespoon red raspberry jelly
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°F and lower the rack. In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the milk until just moistened. Add the parsley and thyme, blending well. Add the celery, chestnuts and liver, stirring until well mixed. Stuff the body cavity of the turkey with this breadcrumb mixture, taking care not to densely pack the stuffing. Stuff the neck cavity of the turkey with the loose sausage meat, folding the neck skin shut over the top. Place the turkey in a roasting pan and brush with the melted butter. Pour a half cup of the stock into the pan around the turkey. Cover the bird with an aluminum foil tent and roast in the oven for 20 minutes per pound, basting with the butter frequently throughout the cooking time.

Once the turkey is fully roasted, remove it from the roasting pan and place it on a warmed serving platter. Skim the fat from the roasting pan, then add the remaining stock, the jelly, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend well. Pour this mixture into a saucepan, then bring to a boil. Let boil for two minutes, then reduce the heat to medium, stirring constantly, until the sauce is reduced to your preferred consistency. Serve with the turkey.

2. Turkey Puff Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 pound turkey meat, chopped roughly into inch-wide pieces
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 2/3 cup port wine
  • 1 pound turkey or pork sausage, casing removed
  • 1 8-ounce package puff pastry
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1/2 cup chicken (or turkey) stock, warmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Dredge the turkey pieces in the flour mixture, then place in a 2-quart casserole. Pour the port wine over the top of the turkey pieces, then cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours or until turkey is cooked through. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Cover the turkey with an even layer of sausage. Cover the meat with a layer of puff pastry. Cut a dime-sized hole in the center of the pastry to allow the contents to vent. Brush the pastry evenly with the beaten egg, then bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. If the pastry begins to brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil. Once the pie is done, remove from the oven and slowly pour the stock through the vent hole into the pie. Do not overfill; you might not need all of the stock. Gently shake the pie pan to allow the stock to settle into the sausage and turkey. Let set for 15 minutes, then serve.

3. Stovetop Turkey

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds of turkey meat, white and dark
  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 1 large Vidalia or sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
  • 3 cups chicken or turkey stock
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • salt
  • pepper

Directions

Melt half the stick of butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey pieces a few at a time, ensuring that they are all golden brown on all sides. Place the browned turkey on a platter; keep warm. In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Carefully place one layer of onions, then cover with a layer of potato slices. Cover the potatoes with a layer of turkey meat. Chop the remaining butter into small pieces. Dot the turkey meat with bits of chopped butter. Repeat the layers of onions, potatoes and turkey. Top the turkey with more bits of butter, then top with a final layer of potatoes. Carefully pour the stock over the top of the layers. Place the lid on the pot, then simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the turkey is tender and the potatoes are cooked through. Check from time to time to see whether more stock is needed and (if so) add it. Sprinkle with parsley before serving; season with salt and pepper to taste.

This article about turkey recipes was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Farm & Garden

Herbal Bath Blends: Recipes & Uses

lavendar herbal bath blend salts pouring from wooden spoon with lavendar springs next to it
Adobe Stock/Nitr

Herbal bath blends can be perfect if you’re feeling achy, stressed, sick or if you’re simply just chilled to the bone, sometimes a nice warm bath is the answer.

Baths can offer much more than a soak; by adding some herbal blends to the water, you can actually work toward healing yourself. The skin is the largest organ we have, whatever we put on our skin absorbs into us. That’s why it’s important to be conscious about the ingredients found in our commercially purchased products.

There are a couple of ways to make your next bath much more than just a dip in the tub. I learned of these methods in one of my favorite books, Healing Herbs, written by Dede Cummings and Alyssa Holmes.

Method 1: Bath tea. In a large soup pot on the stove, heat 1 or 2 gallons of water to a boil. Add 3 handfuls of herbs, dried or fresh. Remove from heat and allow them to steep for ten minutes, up to an hour. Strain out the herbs and add this tea to your bath water.

Method 2: Sachet “tea bag”. Using a muslin bag with a tie, fill with herbs and tie shut. Tie the sachet to the faucet, as you run the hot water for the bath. The water will run through the bag and make tea as it fills the tub. Or you can just add the bag to a filled tub and then use the bag to massage your body.

The authors go on to explain that by making a bath blend with healing herbs, you are essentially drinking the herb infusion through our skin. The hotter the water, the more open your pores will be. Cooler baths are more toning and strengthening to the body and are for bringing down fevers slightly and benefit the body by toning and strengthening the skin and organs.

Here are two bath blends that are shared in the book.

Cold and Flu Bath Blend

1 cup equal parts Epsom and sea salt
1 cup baking soda
1 cup yarrow
1 cup elder flowers
1 cup chamomile

30 drops of eucalyptus essential oil

Yarrow is very well known for “sweating out” a fever. Elder eases colds, flus and fevers. Chamomile can be used to reduce inflammation, stress and insomnia.

Lavender Oatmeal Bath Blend for Itchy Skin

2 cups ground dry rolled oats
1 cup salts of choice
30 drops lavender essential oil

Bath Blends: Herb Options

Other herbs that are beneficial for adding to your bath blends over the cold and flu season include:

Boneset: Benefits colds, fevers, flus and aids in liver detoxification.

Calendula: Helps to heal cuts, scrapes, rashes and eases abdominal cramps and constipation.

Comfrey: Rapidly promotes healing of wounds, sprains, bruises, broken bones, sores, and ulcers.

Feverfew: Used to equalize blood flow, effective in treating headaches and migraines, arthritis, colds and flu.

Lemon Balm: Eases digestive problems, nervousness, insomnia, depression, migraines, stress, hypertension, restlessness, hypertension fevers.

Plantain: It helps stop bleeding and promotes healing of wounds.

Red Raspberry: Reduces fevers.

Sage: Benefits sore throats, diarrhea, gas and helps reduce hot flashes/excessive perspiration.

This article about herbal bath blends was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

4 Off-Season Uses For Your Egg-Collecting Basket

egg collection basket
Shutterstock

Your empty egg-collecting basket may signify “closed for the season,”  but even though its chief role is on hiatus, it is perfect for a profusion of other purposes during the cold-weather months. Try one of these four seasonal suggestions for your egg-collecting basket to brighten your home. Note: make sure to thoroughly sanitize your basket before use.

1. Make a Greeting-Card Organizer

Hanukkah. Christmas. Kwanzaa. New Year’s. Whatever you celebrate, an influx of greeting cards will soon populate your side tables, fireplace mantel and other household surfaces. Keep your cards tidy by tucking them into your collection basket. I grew tired of moving our Halloween cards when I needed to clean and also of standing them back up every time one of my sons ran by and blew them down. Fed up, I gathered the cards up, tucked them into my collection basket and loved the result. Keeping the greeting cards contained lets me display them anywhere I wish—and it makes dusting much easier.

2. Make a Table Centerpiece with an Egg-Collecting Basket

egg collection basket
Shutterstock

A collection basket makes a fantastic focal point for any holiday table. Line it with crepe paper, thread it with ribbons or use it as is, then fill it according to the occasion. Miniature pumpkins and gourds are great for Thanksgiving, while glass-ball ornaments and pine cones create a cheery Christmas mood. Champagne corks, meanwhile, help ring in the New Year. Blend blue, white and natural-wood dreidels with gleaming gelt for Hanukkah; for Kwanzaa, combine lemons, kumquats and filberts to reflect the harvest. Harness your holiday spirit and be creative when creating your centerpiece. No one will ever guess your basket is anything but a decorative item.

3. Use an Egg-Collecting Basket as a Service Gift Caddy

egg collection basket
Shutterstock

‘Tis the season to remember those hard-working individuals who make your everyday life a little better. I buy a variety of little gifts—handcrafted soaps, movie passes, car-wash certificates, locally made sweets gift cards—and wrap each of these in festive foil. These mini presents go into my collection basket, which I keep on the hall table near the front door. Whenever a service worker comes to our house, I offer them their pick of the basket. Give it a try: Your mail carrier, FedEx courier, UPS driver, pizza-delivery guy, utilities worker—each one will appreciate and remember your kind holiday gesture.

4. Gather & Tote Snowballs

This one is definitely not an indoor use! About eight inches of snow had fallen overnight, and I had chased the kids out of the house, haranguing them about how I used to build igloos, make snow sculptures and go sledding in weather like this. I had started making hot cocoa for their return when I noticed that the collection basket was no longer on top of the fridge. Sure enough, one of the boys had taken it outside and was using it to cart snowballs around so he could pelt his brothers. He got extra marshmallows on his cocoa as a reward for his creativity.

This article about off-season uses for an egg-collecting basket was written for Hobby Farms magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Categories
Poultry

Safe Chicken Coop Decorating Ideas For Christmas

chicken coop Christmas decorations
Arina P Habich/Shutterstock

Need some chicken coop decorating ideas? Giving backyard coops some Christmas flair has become increasingly popular among flock owners in recent years. Search for variations of the hashtag #christmascoop on your favorite social media platform. You’ll find images from around the country of chicken coops bearing evergreen boughs, beautiful wreathes, and, of course, twinkling Christmas lights.

Now’s the time to get in on this new tradition. But before you deck your hens’ halls, review these four tips to keep your coop and chickens safe.

Outdoor Illumination

Even if your coop is equipped with interior electricity, your decorative lights should stay strictly outdoors.

Chicken coops are notorious for dust, from shed skin and feathers, feed, droppings and litter. Dust can quickly coat light fixtures. With dozens of individual lights on each string, the potential for clogging and burning out bulbs—or worse, sparking and igniting the dust and bedding—is high.

Beyond the fire hazard, light strands also provide your chickens with yet another place to perch … and unstable ones at that. If you plan to hang lights, hang them securely on your henhouse’s exterior at a height where curious chooks can’t reach them.

Breakable Baubles

One thing many of us have learned the hard way is that even “shatterproof” ornaments can shatter. Whether they are traditional balls, whimsical figurines or modern icicles, these decorations can pose a health risk to your flock should they shatter.

The jagged edges of broken ornaments can slice poultry toes. Worse, with their inquisitive attraction to all things shiny, chickens might find smaller shards irresistible and ingest them. This could severely damage a bird’s digestive tract.

Reserve these holiday adornments for your tree and your home’s interior.

All Natural Chicken Coop Decorating Ideas

Beautifully draped boughs and wreaths of holly, pine and other evergreens are a hallmark of the winter holidays, evocative of Old World forests and symbolic of the season’s many beliefs and traditions.

While the leaves and berries of these and other ornamental plants have varying levels of toxicity for humans and household pets, they are not dangerous to chickens … unless the needles and leaves have been chemically treated.

Fake snow and preservatives can adversely—or lethally—affect your birds if ingested. And their chemicals can irritate delicate eye tissues and respiratory tracts. If using decorative greenery on your coop’s exterior, make certain that these are natural and untreated to keep your birds safe.

Read more: Are holiday plants toxic to chickens? Turns out, not so much.

Snowy Delights

Sometimes the best winter decorations are the ones right in front of us. If you live in a snowy region, consider adding a festive touch to your coop with snow.

The roofs of chicken coops dusted with a fine blanket of snow and windows frosted with a touch of ice already look like they belong in a Currier and Ives Christmas village. Enhance this winter wonderland by adding a few festive snowmen and snow sculptures around your flock’s run.

For an additional holiday treat, roll parts of your snowman in birdseed before assembling it. As the snowman dissipates, your chickens will enjoy its departing gift.

This article about chicken coop decorating ideas was written for Chickens magazine. Click here to subscribe.