The Return of Eggs

 Last year my first group of chickens started laying right after the winter solstice--January 2.  I've read elsewhere that the trend of day length matters as much (or more than) the day length itself.  Charting my birds' production this year reveals that their peak was actually in late May, a month before the summer solstice.  Then they slowly declined throughout the summer, still producing at 80% of their max as late as the end of August.  Shortly after the fall equinox I sold off the "Reluctant Egg Layers" (and brought in the Delawares), and the remaining layers went into molt, shutting down completely in early November.

Then in late December, actually a couple of days before the winter solstice, I got the first egg.  For the first week, I think it was just one chicken that had rebooted, because I found three eggs, all the same size and shape.  Now there may be a couple of them going.  It looks like I will end up with about eight eggs the last two weeks of December to finish out the year.  The Delawares may come online in late February or early March. Hope springs anew!

Transformative Kraut

 As I have mentioned before, more than once, I have made sauerkraut and it has worked pretty well.  This was true even last spring, when the temps were warm.  Holly at makesauerkraut.com indicates that the flavor is better when temps are lower (she says below 72, which I have often hit, but I now think it might be below 70).  All of my past batches have turned out about the same, but this fall I made some that was different.

I didn't start it until late November, after temps had crashed in the house and I was using the wood stove.  This time, the temperatures were solidly below 70, not just for the first few days but throughout.  The only caveat is that I initially located the crock in the same room as the stove, where temperatures hit 80 for brief periods when the stove is in use. Holly specifically warns about this.  I thought the increases were too short to matter, but maybe not: I had extreme sauerkraut tides to deal with; the moat would be almost dry then overflowing.  When I moved the crock to another room the situation improved, but on a day when the temp was lower indoors, the moat completely dried up.

When I carried it into the kitchen, some water did flow back in, so it was being sucked up.  On opening, things looked pretty normal.

And I got about the normal amount of kraut (eight pounds went into the crock, pretty much the standard amount).

The flavor was different, however, and much improved.  It has a nuance and subtlety that I haven't noticed before.  Maybe the cooler temperatures did allow different bacteria to work and leave their imprint. My other sauerkraut has been okay, and even good.  But I'm going through this so fast that I'm going to need more soon.  I've downed the two quart jars in less than a week, minus a half pint I've given to someone else.

Maybe this is a one-time thing, but I'm hoping I can replicate it.  Whatever I did this time worked out very well.

When Roosters Go Bad

My first Barred Rock rooster was sometimes a little ornery. But I could usually deal with it.  The second Barred Rock rooster, which I still have, is a definite punk.  I've renamed him Psycho.  He's never absorbed the age-old wisdom of, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."  So I have to deal with him periodically.

 

 It's a challenging situation.  He's fairly fragile, but also pretty big.  And I have him for exactly this reason--to defend the hens.  He couldn't take on a bobcat or a fox, but I would expect him to charge a cat or hawk.

With both roosters, I have occasionally employed the tactic suggested in this YouTube video.  Unlike SSLFamilyDad, I have not found it to be a permanent solution, but after I engage in a correctional session with either one, I have peace for a while.  The first Barred Rock would behave himself for months, but Psycho is only good for about three weeks before he's apt to start acting out again.

Hopefully a solution is to work with the roosters when young.  I have a cockerel with my new Delawares, and he's first to the door of the tractor every day.  I'm spending some time stroking him a little and feeding him weeds.  Hopefully, that will pay dividends in coming months.