Monday Morning and Gift Pictures

Good Monday morning! The sun is rising, and it is going to get HOT today...high of 90! Doesn't feel much like Fall. Thank goodness the weather guessers are predicting a cool down for the end of the week. We have plans to go to the Georgia National Fair at the end of this week. I had Ian print out a livestock schedule from thier site to see what will be there when. Last year we didnt get to see any llamas as they weren't scheduled to be in yet. This year we are going to be sure to be there when they are. I just love alpacas and llamas. We have a farm not too far from here I visited a while back. They had about eight alpacas. They were all so beautiful. I wish I had a few of my own. Maybe one day.

I have some good news about Derby. Those hoof supplement and vitamin supplements we have been giving him are kicking in. He is feeling pretty good apparently. The other evening after Shelby had come in from brushing him and giving him his supplements I caught a glimpse through the blinds of some feet and tail flying around. I raised the blinds and Shelby and I watched Derby race around his little fenced area and out into another small fenced area..kicking his heels up, bucking like a little wild horse...he was huffing and puffing when he was done, but no horse with sore feet would have tore out and around like that. I was so glad to see it. His white lines on his front feet still look stretched, but I am hoping we are going to see some healing after a couple of trimmings. He is also feeling so good he is mouthing Shelby again. We don't like that, and have to get him away from doing that again. I think he us just feeling good and testing his boundaries again. Shelby will have to be the one to fix it, I told her to be firm with him and tell him NO. She did end up having to get out the driving whip to remind him to back off. All he has to do is see that thing and he does just that, backs off. He used to drive cart, so he knows what a driving whip is.

The end of the year it seems to get so hectic around here. Seems like there is something going on almost every weekend. I am seriously contemplating putting my oldest Serama rooster in a show in Hamilton, Georgia. He looks picture perfect, not a flaw in a single feather. I will have to decide pretty quick though, the deadline for entries is October the 12th. Even if I dont enter, I still think I would like to go for the day. If I enter though, it is proper to stay the whole show until everyone has been judged and given their awards, even if you didnt win anything. I usually jump in with both feet with things like this, but I am just not sure if I want to stay all day.

Shelbys birthday is coming up soon, hard to believe she is fixing to be a teenager! Where did the time go? She is going to be 13 years old. Practically grown. We will take her out to eat and she can have some spend the night company...the cake, icecream deal you know. She is wanting a perm for her birthday present. I remember getting perms...I loved mine.

Oh I wanted to answer Lisa's egg washing question on here, in case anyone else was interested. If eggs are too dirty I do just throw them away, but I try to get out there twice a day to collect so they dont get stepped on and messied up. You know if its been raining those muddy chicken feet in and out of the laying nests will dirty up eggs pretty quick. Anyway, I get the eggs in and fill a bowl with lukewarm water and a splash of dish soap. I do use antibacterial. I dont let them soak but just a minute...then I take a clean dishrag and put a dab of dish soap on the corner of it. I run lukewarm water and wash the egg and rinse. Then I set it on a clean dish towel to dry for a few minutes.

Now, with that being said, I will tell you what else I know, and my experience with that. I have been told that when a hen lays an egg there is a natural protective layer on that egg to keep bacteria out. Eggs are in fact porous and bacteria can get into the egg. This layer helps prevent that. That is one reason I do not let them soak in water. Some say not to wash your egg, that it removes that protective layer, and it also shortens the shelf life of the egg.

I am always very careful and have never had a problem with bacteria, or getting sick from eating any of my eggs, and neither has any of my customers. Maybe it is because I am using the antibacterial dish soap, I am not sure. I dont keep eggs for very long anyway. They get sold or eaten within a week of them being laid. I would not keep any eggs over three weeks old anyway.

Did you know that store bought eggs can be up to six months old and still be Grade A? Ewww..huh. I read that on MotherEarthNews.com a while back. You can always tell a fresh egg by the yolk. When you break it open into a pan if the yolk stand up firm and tall, it is really fresh...if it goes flat, really flat, it is old.

I got some pictures loaded up of thegiftsthat Sherry gave me on our visit. Believe it or not, this is not all of them. I still have a few things in the truck I need to get out. So, here they are...

My favorites are the two chicken purses...she pulled those out first...and shoot, I would have been happy with just that! Here are the purses.

 

I hope everyone has a great Monday...I am sure going to try to have a good one myself.