What To Do With a Picked on Chicken

What do you do when one of your chickens starts to get picked on? In every flock of chickens there is a pecking order and sometimes the weaker smaller birds will start to get bullied, mean old chickens. We have not had any issues with this until just recently when we started noticing a lot of feathers scattered around the run and coop.

I started to investigate a few days ago and witnessed one of the larger chickens chasing the smallest one around and literally pull its feathers right out! Not just one at a time but bunches at once. I hoped that it would just lay low and heal up and all would be well in the SSL flock. I could not have been more wrong, by the next day there were more feathers and more bald spots on the hen.

I was starting to get concerned especially since it is winter here in Michigan and temps were dropping into the teens at night. Each day I would check on the hen and see that it had bunkered down in one of the nesting boxes; basically hiding from the rest of the chickens. I tried to feed it some scraps of food and gave it water.

Last night I went out to put the chickens in for the night and I opened the box to check on it and noticed blood all over the tail and wings. It was time to do something to help this little egg producer.

After some research and based off of what I have seen once the flock draws blood they will not stop until the hen is dead. There is something about the look or smell of blood to them that makes it irresistible and they will actually eat the chicken alive basically. Now, I know what some of your are thinking, take it to get slaughtered or put it out of it's misery. Well, no, not going to happen here. Number one I live with 4 girls in this house and if I wanted to continue to sleep inside I don't think that is an option. Number 2, the meat is no good at this age and this chicken still has a year or two of egg production left so I want to save our investment. And, oh yeah, I don't like to see the little runt chicken suffering!

At this point the only thing you can do is separate the chicken from the flock in some way. In our case, the easiest thing to do is to bring it inside our basement or garage and let it heal up. I had and old dog crate that will work just perfectly. Since our garage is a mess right now the basement seems like the logical choice.

Is it weird that I now have a pet chicken in the house? The answer is, yes! But, it is nice to be able to go down and collect an egg without having to go out in the cold so there is that to think about. Maybe I should move the coop inside too! Don't tell my wife that I said that or seriously, it will happen.

I will give an update on this little hen down the road after a full recovery. My only further concern is will it happen again? I may have to separate the bullying chickens for awhile when I reintroduce this one but either way I will take you along and let you know how it turns out. Good luck to all you chicken owners out there and as always let me know if I can help anyone out there in anyway. Have a good one!

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Preparing Barrels for Grow Beds- Aquaponics or Hydroponics

Every aquaponics or hydroponics setup needs to start with a good set of grow beds. But, what should you choose? Cement mixing trays, PVC pipe, gutters, pond liner with wood boxes, troughs, feeders, waterers; there are so many options! The best option in my opinion, for an aquaponics system especially, is these 55 gallon plastic barrels. They are cheap, durable, food safe, and generally come with food products in them so they are easy to prep. Below is a method that I have developed to get these cut perfectly in half and ready for your setup.

I have used both the white and the blue 55 gallon drums but I prefer the blue ones. These generally come with food materials in them and are easiest to clean. In my first system I used the white ones and they had some type of cleaner in them. A quick trip to the power washer took care of it but I was always unsure if I had removed it all well enough. I have had the best luck on Craigslist finding these and pay between $10-$20 depending on how far I want to drive to get them.

 There are a couple of different types of plastic that you should be aware of when working with anything you are growing food in. Some  grades and types of plastic are safe while some are not.

HDPE, Vinyl, LDPE, PP, and PS are some of the labels that you will see, most commonly HDPE, which is High Density Polyethylene. All of these listed here are considered food grade or food safe plastics. I have also seen the label above "PE-HD" with the same recycling symbol (2). I can't say why it is labeled differently but it is also supposed to be High Density Polyethylene and food safe.



 Now down to the fun part, cutting stuff! For a perfect grow bed you need two perfect halves. There are two methods to accomplish this. the first is to just follow the seem with a circular saw and cut the barrel in half. The only problem with that method is that the seam goes right through the bung on each side of the top lid rendering them useless. This is fine if you do not plan to use them and I have actually done this for some of mine. However, the best way is to leave them intact. So how do you cut a cylinder perfectly in half? Well, the easiest way is to first make yourself a larger square. I screwed these two pieces of 2X4 together at a perfect 90 degree angle to use here. You could also use a large carpenters square.

Start by measuring out and marking the center point on the top of the barrel lid. Then use a square to draw a perpendicular line across the top of the barrel. This will give you your references to draw down the sides. Now, use your large square placed on the lid to match up to the line on the top and transfer it down the side of the barrel on each side. You can then transfer the line onto the bottom on each side and connect the two together. You now have a perfectly straight line to follow with your saw. You can cut these anyway that you would like but I have found a circular saw to be the easiest. You could also use a reciprocating saw, saber saw, jig saw, hand saw, router, dremel, angle grinder, etc.

What you end up with is two perfectly neat and equal halves with the threaded bungs intact and centered at the bottom of each barrel. These are very useful for connecting barrels together, external bell siphons, water supply piping and other things I am sure I have not thought of yet. I will talk more about installing these and building a frame for them in a later post and video, until then, thanks for stopping by!

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Sanding and Finishing Plywood Flooring + Cost Estimate

Plywood flooring is complete!  I could not be happier with  how this turned out and may end up doing the other rooms in our home with this same process. If you have not seen the process of creating the plywood flooring please check out the article here or the full video here.

Before I got started with staining I chose to run over the entire floor with a 150 grit power sander. I did not spend a whole lot of time on it just enough to take any dings, dents, and scuff marks out that I most likely added while installing the flooring. Once this was done I cleaned the entire room as best as possible with a vacuum and damp towels and we were ready for stain.

I chose a Minwax dark walnut stain to give the floor a dark old farmhouse kind of look. You can apply this stuff many ways but what I found to be the best was a homemade creation as usual:) I used an old Swiffer mop handle and head and stuck a cotton t-shirt to it. I dipped the contraption in the stain using a paint tray and then spread it on the flooring. This saved my back, a lot of time, and applied the stain fairly evenly.

  After the first coat things were starting to look really good but a little bit lighter than we had hoped.

 Two coats of the stain were applied about 24 hours apart which gave the floor a deep rich color that we absolutely loved. It was really starting to come together now. This is the point at which I began feeling relieved that this project was going to turn out exactly  how we wanted it to.

Once the stain fully dried we were ready to start putting on the final protective coating. We chose a Minwax flooring polyurethane to seal the floor.  This seemed to be the best, most durable, and easiest to apply option.

I started applying the poly one coat at a time with a small paintbrush. This method worked very well and although a bit slow, this stuff goes on very easily. I applied 4 coats of poly allowing each coat to dry for 6-12 hours before putting on the next. This is a quick drying poly so you can put it on in as little as 4 hours if you would like.  I did not sand between coats; as directed this stuff is supposed to dry pretty flat without needing to sand each coat.

 After 4 coats were applied I chose to do one round of sanding to knock out a few bumps I was starting to notice and some dog hair that somehow floated into the room and had dried into the finish, stinkin' dog! I used a power sander with 220 grit paper and I did not push very hard at all while sanding. I just let the weight of the sander float on the floor until it was smoothed over very lightly.

Next I cleaned the floor with a damp cloth and applied the final coat of poly. I applied this final coat a bit thicker and let it dry over night.

After the final coat was dry the floor was safe to walk on and inspect and it looks awesome! It turned out much better than I could have imagined and the poly makes the flooring so durable. Even though this is a "soft" wood (pine) it is now very hard and resists scratches and scuffs very well. I will do a follow up on this project next year and update on how well it holds up to the changes in seasons and wear and tear or a 9 year old:)  

How much did it cost? The room that I was covering was about 165 square feet and the total cost was about $253. This works out to about $1.50 per square foot and is much cheaper than traditional hardwood flooring.

Check out the full video here

Dark Walnut Stain - http://amzn.to/1jxBmnY

Polyurethane - http://amzn.to/1O2bSHJ

Porter Cable Brad Nailer - http://amzn.to/1O2chdh

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DIY Plywood Flooring - An inexpensive hardwood alternative

Plywood flooring? Check out this inexpensive alternative to traditional wood flooring that you can do for less than half the cost. Although plywood flooring is not as durable as a solid wood floor it is by far less expensive and with the proper treatment can last many many years in great condition.

I started this project in order to give some relief to my middle daughter who suffers from allergies and asthma. The carpet was old and when you walk on carpet, no matter how clean you think you get it, it kicks up dust and allergens. It was time for something different for her. Although this was a priority we didn't have the  money in the budget for a new hardwood floor and after looking into other options (reclaimed wood, laminates, etc.) we decided to give the plywood flooring a try. I have seen a few other videos and posts around on the net and it seems most have pretty good results.

So, with a budget in mind I was off to our local building store (you guess which one). Our room was 165 square feet so I needed to get about six sheets of plywood to cover the area. That is based on 32 square feet per sheet with a little bit extra. I ended up going with a thicker plywood than I had originally thought because I really liked how flat the sheets laid and also for long term durability. I chose 23/32" pine sanded plywood for $29.98 per sheet. There are lots of choices here and you can go with a hardwood plywood or a thinner softwood to cut cost even further but I would recommend spending the extra money and at least getting the sanded ply that is about 3/4" thick.

Once I had the plywood chosen I loaded up with the help of some of the associates there and asked if they could hook me up and cut some of the plywood for me. After all, who wants to cut 6 sheets of plywood into stripes:) I was going for 8" planks since this divided evenly from 32 and it seemed like a good size for that farmhouse look. They said they could cut it into 16" stripes for me but no less due to safety concerns. ( I went back for more on a second trip and they did cut it down to 8" except for the last cut on each piece of plywood).

Back home I had already removed that nasty carpet and padding and also took out the moldings along the floor. I then laid down some roofing paper or tar paper that I had left over from another project to cover the subfloor. I used a staple gun to secure it to the floor. This will provide a sound barrier and also liquid barrier for the OSB subfloor below.

Out in the garage I used my $5 super fancy table saw to rip the boards that were not cut at the store into 8" strips. I then carried them inside and placed them in the room for a day or so to acclimate to the humidity and temps inside.

I wanted each plank to be a bit pronounced from it's neighbor and my wife came up with the idea of rounding the edges. The thought of rounding the edges of all of those planks was a bit overwhelming at first but it actually didn't take that long at all. I made a quick sanding block from a piece of 2X4 and sandpaper and quickly knocked the edge off of all of the top edges. I went through first and picked out the best sides and stacked them accordingly to make things easier.

 Now the fun part, nailing! I started by using a chalk line to mark a line long ways down the room at close to the middle of the floor. This gave mea  good starting point to work outward in both directions with the planks. I didn't want to just start on one side and work all the way across fearing that I might be off by too much for the molding to cover once I reached the other side. I am using a pneumatic brad nailer to secure the planks with 1 1/4" nails.

I chose to use a random pattern with everything. So no two seams will line up and no two nails are right next to each other. This was easiest to layout, looks the nicest, and has the least amount of waste.

I did not leave any gaps between boards either on the sides or at the ends. Most of this wood is fairly "wet" still and will shrink a bit. Also, plywood by design does not expand and contract much vertically so I am hoping for no real expansion and contraction issues. Only time will tell and I will keep you updated on that.

 I couldn't be happier with the first stage of this process, it looks like a real old school farmhouse floor. The boards lay nice and flat and the sanded edges make them look like hardwood planks. In the next phase I will go through sanding and finishing the flooring to give them a classic hardwood look. Stay tuned for that article and video soon. Thanks for checking it out!

 Check out the full video of this project here

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Winter Chicken Watering System - No cleaning, easy to fill, cheap, and efficient

Are you sick of cleaning out those traditional water dispensers? For years when I was a kid my least favorite part about having chickens was that I had to go out in the cold and clean out their water dispenser and even though we had it on a hot plate it seemed to freeze anyway. Check out this watering system from the SSLFamlyDad that addresses these issues and saves money on energy.


I have tried different things with other watering systems for the chickens and had mixed results. Although I am probably not done experimenting with different ideas, this is the latest:) This system is made of a small 2 gallon Coleman cooler and a few PVC fittings and small sections of pipe.
I started by removing the spigot that comes installed in the cooler. You can then use a 1/2" male and 1/2" female threaded PVC adapter to connect through where the spigot was. I would recommend using some silicone around the fittings to ensure a good seal.

On the inside of the cooler glue in a 1/2" street 90 and point it upward. This will allow some water to always stay in the bottom of the system so that the heater does not burn up. Next, on the outside or the cooler, you can attach any configuration of piping and the chicken nipples that you would like but I chose a basic spilt setup.

I attached a short piece of pipe to the outside 1/2" fitting and then a tee. One short piece of pipe on each side of the tee with a cap on one side and a 90 on the other. On the side with the 90 I ran that up to another 90 at the same height as I want the highest water level to be in the cooler. This will hopefully prevent overfilling from the outside. This section will be run out through the coop wall so that I can fill it from the outside.

For the chicken drippers you can size up a small bolt that matches the thread size of the drippers for pre-threading the holes. I used an 11/32" drill bit to drill one hole in each side of the pipe coming out of the tee on the bottom. You can then thread in the appropriate sized bolt and back out to create some threads to start the plastic drippers. Use some silicone or thread sealant and thread in the drippers, one on each side. I also wrapped the piping in 1/2 foam insulation and some electrical tape. 


The last things is to mount the 50 watt aquarium heater to the bottom using the included suction cup. I also put a dab of silicone on the suction cup to hold it down firmly to the bottom. I also cut a small notch in the lid threads on the cooler to feed out the cord for the heater as well.

You are now ready to install it in the coop. I made a small shelf for mine inside the coop for the winter but I am not sure if I will continue to keep the system inside the coop as it tends to make a mess. I will update on that later. I routed my fill pipe out the back wall of the coop and placed a small threaded fitting there so I can attach a homemade PVC funnel to it for filling. You could also omit this step and just open the lid and pour in some water that way as well.


Once you are all setup you can just plug in the aquarium heater to electric however you can (extension cord, hardwired electric box, etc). I also use what is called a thermostatic electric outlet in my setup. This outlet only powers on the heater when the temp reaches 32 degrees or below and stays on until it gets up to 44 and then shuts off. This prevents me from heating water when it is warm outside and thus saving on electric costs. I have used this same outlet for a heat lamp in the past and it works great.

Full Video Walkthrough here

All you need for this project below

2 Gallon cooler - http://amzn.to/1MsHgAY
5 Gallon cooler - http://amzn.to/1QyXBZ5
ThermoCube outlet - http://tinyurl.com/qz5aa9c
Chicken Drippers - http://amzn.to/1uQ8PIM

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Thoughts From The SSL Family Dad - What's This Place All About?

New subscriber? Been around for awhile? What is this channel all about and why do we do what we do? These are a few of the questions that I hope to answer in this video.


A few years ago my wife and I decided to move into this small subdivision in small town America. Having both come from country roots it was a bit of a compromise for us to be in a community type setting. As we settled in those country roots began to take hold of our small suburban homestead.


We started thinking more about what we ate, how we got our food, how to save money and live a more simple life. We decided to have the SSLFamilyMom at home full time working on raising and caring for our family of five. Many decisions began being made that slowly turned this city lot into a small backyard farm.

During this transition we needed lots of information, repairs, cooking, gardening, aquaponics, chickens, and anything else you can think of. We started reading blogs, researching we articles and how-to's, and watching a whole lot of others on YouTube. We learned so much and used so many ideas of others. It was time for us to start giving back, it was time for us to share our lifestyle and our ideas with others. This was the beginning of the sslfamily blog and YouTube channels.


We are a family of five, often going in many different directions at once. Cooking, knitting, auto repairs, wildlife, hiking, aquaponics, chickens, DIY projects, home improvement, recipes, bible crafts, science experiments, inventions, sustainable projects, computer repair, and the list goes on and on. We decided on three YouTube channels to spotlight the kids, my wife, and my own projects individually and one blog to tie it all together.


We have been blown away over the past year at the response we have gotten, the lives that have been touched and the stories and projects that have been shared back with us. Our family has been truly blessed over the last year and much of it in part to those of you watching or reading this now.


So if you are a new subscriber what can you expect here? Well, just about anything! I try to release at least 1-2 videos per week on relevant topics ranging from home and auto repairs to gardening and sustainable living projects. Product reviews come around from time to time if I have a product that I feel would be good for that kind of thing. I always review honestly and never with a product that I have not used. I focus on aquaponics videos throughout much of the winter and to the outdoor garden in the summer. I also release computer repair and technology tutorials whenever they present themselves around the home as this is my profession. I always provide an honest outcome if I am trying something new and share the experiences I have had and what has worked for me or share what I have learned from others. Oh, and you may see a few bible verses shared on my channel, this is something that is important to us and our faith in Jesus is interwoven into everything we do here on our little homestead.


What not to expect? One thing you will not see here is us asking for money from you. We are not here to profit from you or ask for donations of any kind. It is always a turn off for me when I watch a YouTube channel or subscribe to someone's blog to see them asking for money and that is not something I am interested in doing here. We also do not do unboxing videos. I will go ahead and open my own boxes off camera! I have not done anything in the way of Vlogging and do not really plan to do anything under this title (I hate the word myself). I may however, offer an opinion on a video or article if I feel it is relevant or feel the need to share with you.


What is coming up next? This is a long-winded answer so I will get to the point. I have so many things that I want to do that I will never be able to catch up. I may post an interactive list at some point for you all to be able to add things to as well but for now I have the following in the immediate works:


Improve the wood burning pool heater and the garage heater
Chicken coop watering system redesign
Fish "Pondaponics"
Indoor aquaponics redesign
Rain collection system
Automatic garden irrigation
Tire rotation
Cast iron seasoning
Chicken coop scraps feeding door and trough
Wireless network tips and tricks
Shop computer
and the list goes on............


How can you support us? This is a simple answer, do what you are already doing. The best way to support the SSL Family is to follow along with us and share your stories, your pictures and your feedback with us.  We couldn't do this without you!


Thank you for following along, have a good one!

The SSL Family Dad

 

 

 

 

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Chicken Coop Sliding Door

I have had  a few questions about the sliding door for the chicken coop and so I thought I would do a quick video since I have not really shown the details previously. The design I came up with for the door is very simple and easy to setup and can be done with scrap wood left over from building the coop.

For the door itself I used some poster board to free hand a egg shape that was of suitable size for the door. I then traced it into place on the chicken coop siding and used a jig saw to cut out the opening. Once we had your hole I screwed in 2 2X4's on each side of the framing for each side of the door on the inside of the coop.  This will act as the guide for the sliding door. These guides protrude about 1/2" out from the framing. I used some scraps of 1/2" OSB and nailed them to the front edge of the 2X4's to keep the door from being able to swing inward. I then cut a piece of left over OSB to fit in the track I had created and screwed in two eyelets tot eh top edge.

I am using some nylon rope I have lying around but you can use whatever you have available I tied off the rope through the eyelets in a triangle to leave one main rope centered on the door leading straight up from the center of the door. Directly above the door on the ceiling I screwed in another hook (better to use a full eye here)  this servers as the lift point for the door and routes the rope over to the side top edge of the coop. I drilled a hole through the siding between the framing and roof joists and routed the rope through. The outside of the coop has a small hook and the rope has a loop tied in it to hold the door open.


This setup has been working pretty well for the past year and a half but there are a few improvements I will probably make. I wish I would have used larger gauge hooks and eyes for this project since I have had a couple of the bend and pull out. Not a big deal but just something I had to fix. I would have left a larger gap on the tracking so that the door had more room for expansion and contraction depending on the humidity and temperature as sometimes it can get a little stuck in the summer months. I also would have left a gap at the bottom of the track so that any bedding or chicken mess could not get stuck in the track.

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Easy to Clean Suburban Chicken Coop - FAQ

Over the past year I have received overwhelming support and feedback on my chicken coop design and construction. There have been so many wonderful comments and so many have copied this coop and made it one of their own. During this chicken coop building season (yes there is a season for these things) I have received quite a few questions on various aspects of the coop and so I thought it would be nice to run through and answer a few of the ones I hear most frequently.


Does the feed get stuck in the feeder? Does the feed spill on the ground? The feed has no trouble gravity feeding down the center pipe and into each trough on the sides. While the chickens eat they shake it a bit and the feed gently falls down where they can get to it with no trouble. Some feed does spill out, especial when the feeder is full. This has not been an issue as they scratch and peck and get at it off of the ground and also get some needed grit in the process.


Does a lot of water drip on the ground? In short, yes, however this has not really been an issue outside the coop as I have sand under it and it drains right away. Inside the coop I have a deflector that direct the extra drips into the cleanout pan and bedding.


What about ventilation? I have a small window above the nesting boxes that was not shown in the construction video. This provides good airflow in the summer. In the winter, we have the door open tot he coop all day and there are enough cracks and gaps in the siding to allow for decent air to get in.


Why don't you let them free range? We have tried letting them out in our yard a little at a time and they just do too much damage too quickly. They tear into the garden, scratch through the mulch around the trees, poop all over the grass, and eat anything we have growing in the garden. We designed the chicken tractor to move them around and let them scratch through the grass in a contained area. We also let them loose in the garden in fall when we are done growing.


How do you prevent freezing? This year we used heat tape and insulation to wrap the outside portion of the watering system. This was not sufficient to keep the inside portion thawed as well when we had sustained temps below 0 degrees. I will redesign and only heat the inside portion this year. video to follow.


What would you do differently? First I would make the cleanup tray access door about 2 inches larger to allow for a heaping pile of bedding to fit out on top of the tray when I pull it though (suggested by a subscriber, thanks!). I would also have used larger door latches instead of those cheap bolt locks on the chicken run door. Lastly, I would have raised the nesting boxes up about 4 inches from the main coop floor.


Is the cleanout tray needed and worth it? This is completely up to you. I personally love it and I think it makes it so easy to just pull it out on the wheel barrow and take it back to dump it. You can just leave it out and pull up the wheel barrow next tot he coop and sweep the bedding out. Either way it is still super easy to clean.


I hope that helps answer some of the common questions. If you have any comments or questions I did not answer please let me know!

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Farm Fresh Eggs - Storage and Cleaning

Do you have to wash your fresh eggs? Do they need to be refrigerated? These are some of the questions I get most often concerning the handling of eggs from our suburban coop. The fact is that the nature God-given coating that is on an egg provides an amazing amount of protection and the less we do to mess that up the better we are!

There is a big difference between the eggs you pull right out from under one of your backyard chickens and one that you purchase at the store, a BIG difference. The chickens that you raise, feed, and take care of are no doubt (well if you take good care of them) healthier than those found crammed in some giant factory farm cage somewhere. The eggs from the factory farms are immediately washed and then packed and refrigerated to prevent bacteria from growing in those eggs. This process takes the natural protection away from the eggs and exposes all of the tiny pores of the shell to outside contaminants which makes refrigeration a must. However, with your farm fresh eggs this does not need to be the case.

When you collect your own eggs they can be cleaned and put into the fridge and stored for several weeks this way with no problem but it is largely not necessary. The coating provided by the chicken is the best defense from bacterial growth in the first place. Washing that coating off is the equivalent to pulling of the eggs protective respirator in a disease infested world. It won't survive long without the protection given naturally by good old' mama hen.

We generally collect our eggs mid-morning and then bring them in and place them in a dish or cartoon near the sink. We do not wash them right away or refrigerate them. They just sit right there until needed by one of the SSLMom's awesome recipes or for one of our famous breakfast egg sandwiches. Once we are ready to use an egg we simply rinse it off with warm water (don't want to accidentally drop poopy eggs shells in breakfast do you?) and throw it in the skillet or mixer. We have left the eggs at room temperature like this for over two weeks at times (although I would probably not let them sit much longer than that).

If we start to get a stockpile of eggs that we cannot eat fast enough then we may wash off a batch and put them in saved egg cartoons for friends or family. We try not to give away eggs with chicken mess still on them:)

The bottom line here is that the natural way the chicken eggs was made by our creator allows for us to store them without worry of bacterial infection at room temperature without the invention of the refrigerator. How do you think people use to store them for the thousands of years before the refrigerator?

There are also other ways for long term storage at room temperature that I will not get into here today but may talk more about on a later discussion.

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Why Everyone Always Has Room For Dessert

I've been a stay-at-home mom now for about two and a half years.  When I worked, I never really thought of myself as a cook but more of an assembler.  I bought pre-packaged meals, processed food and lots and lots of frozen food.  We also had carry-out several times a week as well.  With me being home and not working, that way of life just wasn't sustainable anymore.  We spent almost three times the amount on food each month that we're spending now and I cook all of our meals at home now.  I went from dreading cooking to actually enjoying it.  I love it that I can help us save money, and at the same time, provide my family with healthier food.  I get great satisfaction from cooking now, and to be honest, it's shocking to me that I cook almost every single one of our meals from scratch.  If my friends and family are surprised, I would have to agree with them.  It really surprises the heck out of me, too, that I'm cooking as much as I am now.

With all that said, my dear children finally solved a great mystery for me.  I've always wondered why, even though they are completely stuffed full with dinner (yeah right), they ALWAYS have room for dessert.  My girls explained to me that their stomachs have a "dinner side" and a "dessert side".  Can you believe it?  All these years I've been starving their poor dessert sides.  Because it took all I had just to put dinner on the table for the past couple years, I rarely made them anything for dessert.  Their "poor" little tummies.  Although not the most accurate explanation, it got me thinking.  And I decided it was finally time to start including a dessert into my dinner plans. 

And not just once in awhile, I wanted dessert to be required just like their vegetables. 

You see, everybody LOVES dessert.  It's special.  It is always the highlight on those rare occasions when we get to eat out.  Dessert tastes GOOD.  I want my girls to remember how special it is when we all sit down for dinner together.  I want them to know how special they are to us.  I want to create memories and traditions they will want to share with their own families someday. 

About three weeks ago, I told everyone we were going to have dessert after every dinner.  I cannot tell you just what that small change has done to our dinnertime.  Everyone, including me, looks forward to that special treat afterwards.  And it's a great motivator to get everyone in the "clean plate club", especially our three year-old.  It has also given me the opportunity to venture out and try new recipes I've never tried before. 

Some of our favorites that are super easy to make:

Ice Cream
Apple Crisp
Cinnamon Rolls
Cookies
Frozen Organic Blueberries and Milk
Greek Yogurt with Granola

After only three weeks, I think this tradition is a keeper.  And desserts can be healthier if you try to keep them organic and made from scratch.  To make it easier, I also try to make enough to feed us for a few days.  No one ever complains when we have dessert leftovers!

This post has been shared at:  HomeAcre Hop, Homestead Blog Hop, Country Fair Blog Hop

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Do Chickens Lay Eggs in the Winter?

Check out this video to learn more about raising chickens in the winter. Will they lay eggs when it is cold? Do they need a certain amount of light? How warm should it be? How will they get water in the winter? These are many of the questions that I had going into this first winter with the chickens and I couldn't be happier with our coop, watering system, feeder, and heat lamp. The chickens have been providing us with plenty of eggs for a family of five throughout this very very cold winter.

We have six ISA Brown breed chickens and every day we go out to the coop (well maybe not every day) and there are six eggs waiting for us. This year we have had a very cold winter, I mean, really cold! For the last couple of weeks it has not been above 10 degrees Fahrenheit (-12c) and the chickens have kept on laying! The only issue we have had is if we don't get the eggs in 24 hours they will freeze in the nesting boxes. This could be solved with some extra pine shavings or paper shredding I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

The other issue that I was curious about was lighting. I had installed some solar lights in the coop but since the little solar panels are covered in snow and the batteries don't seem to charge very well in the cold; the light s have not really been working much. The only extra light they get is from the heat lamp when it is on. It is hooked up to a thermostatically controlled outlet that turns it on when it gets to 32 degrees (0c) and then turns off once it warms up to 45 degrees (7c). During the coldest days they pretty much don't come out of the coop except to eat then quickly get back into the warmth. I feel that the addition of the heat lamp in this case is helping them to lay more by creating a nice warm nesting area for them (no science here just opinion).

The only other issue that we have had was with the watering system during the coldest periods. When it was down well below 0 degrees (-17c) with wind chills close to -25 (-31c) the heat tape and insulation could not keep up. The water pipe froze almost solid but not enough to break the pvc at least as far as I can tell so far. The inside part of the pipe also froze and no water was coming out for the chickens at all. I may do some redesigning on this heat system for next year but as long as it is not insanely cold for the rest of the winter it should work ok.

We have been so happy with the decision to get these chickens. They require minimal upkeep and provide us with so much. It is so nice to always know there is a free breakfast, lunch or dinner waiting in the fridge in the form of recycled cartons full of fresh eggs from our girls.

 

Products mentioned in this video:

Temperature controlled outlet - http://amzn.to/1A9sJRT
Similar heat tape - http://amzn.to/1wRPQzl
Heat Lamp - http://amzn.to/14SnEoH
Heat Bulb - http://amzn.to/1y5HMB4

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the

Simple Suburban Living General Store

 

 

 

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Reflections & Goals For The Coming Year

I really can't believe 2014 is over, I just can't.  It literally flew by!  I cannot remember a year past that was more memorable or more full of blessings.  We just have so much to be thankful for and we recognize it, especially as we've watched some of our friends and family go through a different kind of season in their lives this year.  Some went through true hardships and our hearts and prayers go out to them.

In just a few short weeks, we will be coming up on our one year anniversary of the aquaponics system.  What started as a Christmas present to each other last year (2013) has just blossomed into so much more.  We first heard of aquaponics when we were at Epcot Center in Disney World three years ago.  We couldn't believe how much faster and bigger their plants were growing, and they didn't need dirt!  We knew we had to at least give it a try.

 

 

We also added chickens to our backyard this year and started this blog.  Sharing our knowledge with the online community has allowed us to invite all of you into our home and our lives.  We are so grateful for the many people who have sent us emails, photos and comments.  It encourages us more than we could ever explain when we see someone building their own aquaponics system or a chicken coop of their very own. 

 

 

We keep a list of our future projects and goals and I thought it might be nice to share, in the spirit of the new year and keeping resolutions.

Our goals for 2015:

1.  Build a rain barrel collection system for chickens and the gardens.
2.  Setup a video live-stream of various areas of the homestead on our site.
3.  Add an outdoor fish pond.  Lovingly being referred to as fish "pond-aponics".
4.  Plant more fruit trees (mini-orchard).
5.  Build a homemade wind generator to power parts of our home.
6.  Build the "Ultimate Worktable" for the garage workshop.
7.  Convert our gas generator to natural gas.
8.  Build a greenhouse.
9.  Build a treehouse for the girls.
10.  Add tilapia to indoor aquaponics system.
11.  Add a curbside library to our front yard (www.littlefreelibrary.org)
12.  Tour and partner with local food pantries and churches already growing with aquaponics and educating those who don't.  (This is a passion of ours, we have already teamed up with one, tour coming soon!)

Phew!  Looks like we'll have an even busier 2015 but we couldn't be more excited.  Thank you for sharing in our journey!

Blessings,
The SSL Family Mom

This post has been shared at:  Country Fair Blog Hop, HomeAcre Hop



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