Aack! We Are Being Invaded by Giant Green Caterpillars! (Video)

There are large Yellowish-Green Caterpillars the size of fingers everywhere! They resemble a tomato worms with their coloring and horned tail end, but the markings are different. 

I looked them up and they are 'White Lined Sphinx Moths' and common to the desert her in Arizona.  I was hoping they might be Monarch Butterfly caterpillars but no such luck. I must admit, I'm more than a little disappointed about that.  We have so many moths already, you can't even go outside after dark because if there is a light on anywhere near you then you get flogged by moths. I keep a bug light in the chicken run, so at least the girls can feast on the pile of dead bugs every morning.

Here is what they will look like when they become moth's.  Pretty, but so pesky.

Image from Wikipedia

These caterpillars suddenly appeared just a few days ago and now they have just about taken over the outdoors.  If you look at the ground it looks like it is moving because there are so many of them.  They are crossing the road by the thousands!  It makes me feel so bad when I drive over them, but even on my motorcycle I could not avoid them.  It is really kind of gross.  I tried giving some of the caterpillars to my chickens, but they wanted nothing to do with them.  Darn!

Here is a video of a small section in front of my house...you can see how many there are in the 12" wide screen shot area, now imagine 2.6 acres worth! 

 [Watch in 720p or better to see the caterpillars best.]

When you get near these guys they rear up their heads in an effort to try and look intimidating.  (You can see them do that in the video when I get close to them.)   If you don't heed their warning then they will squirt a green liquid at you.  Some of them did that when I got the camera too close to them.


They are not poisonous, which is good because Miss Hollywood has eaten a few of them.  As you can see here by her 'green paw'...she has been pestering them today.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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My first Fried Zucchini of the Season ~ Recipe

Today I harvested my first zucchini (and a few more okra) and fried it up for dinner!

I love zucchini just about any way that you cook it and even uncooked too!  My favorite way is fried.  I don't make it that way too often because of the extra fat from being fried, although I use olive oil to cook it in.  It is my summer time guilty pleasure.  If you have never tried it, you should!  Here is generally how I make it.

I usually have an entire zucchini to myself, but since I only had one so far I had to share this one with the hubby (so double or triple as needed).  I sliced it into thick slices (almost 1/2 " thick).  I placed the slices into a small Ziploc back and added 1 beaten egg.  Roll the back around a bit to thoroughly coat the zucchini.  In a separate bowl I mixed 3 parts flour with 1 part cornmeal (corn meal is option but I like the flavor).

I dropped each egg-covered slice of zucchini in the flour mixture and turned to coat all sides.

While doing this I was also heating a little olive oil in a frying pan.  When the oil was good and hot I dropped each floured zucchini slice into the hot pan of oil and allowed it to sizzle for a few moments.   It is important that the oil be hot enough to actually sizzle when you drop your zucchini in.  This locks in the juices and prevents the zucchini from soaking up the oil.  To test the temperature, sprinkle a pinch of flour in your oil -if it sizzles instantly, then it is hot enough.

I added a little salt and pepper on top, then peeked under the zucchini to see that it was sufficiently browned, then I turned them over to fry the other side.

Once both sides were sufficiently browned I removed them from the oil, placing them on the serving plate.  The heat softens the zucchini so it is tender and juicy.  I served them up with a little light ranch dressing on the side.  Oh My Goodness these were Good!!!

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Fruit and Veggie Freezer Cake Treats for your Chickens

When I can make a healthy snack for my chickens, I feel good about that.  When I can clean out my freezer and get rid of all of those last little bits of veggies and fruit left over in a multitude of nearly empty bags, or toss the ones that are all frostbitten (and therefore not edible by me), I food good about that too.  But when I can combine those two things, I feel really good!

Yesterday I did just that.  I read a post at Homgrown on the Hill where Mary was making 'Confetti Treat Ice Wreath' based on a recipe that she got from Kathy at Fresh Eggs Daily.  Basically you use a bundt cake pan to make frozen fruit and veggie treats for your chickens to eat on hot days.  It helps to keep them cool plus it's nutritious too.  Kathy suggested that you go through your freezer looking for those little bits of frozen veggies and fruits left over, and if you don't have enough now, start collecting little bits of veggie left overs in a bag or bowl in the freezer until you do have enough to make this frozen treat. 

I love this idea!  Who doesn't have something left over in the freezer that really should be tossed.  Or the last spoonful of veggies left over after dinner -not enough to put away, but too much to just throw away (not that we would do that since we have chickens who love leftovers), but you get the idea.

I used this idea as the motivation to clean out my fridge and freezer yesterday.  I had a surprisingly lot of fruits and veggies tucked away here and there.  I had one bag of California Veggie Mix (cauliflower, carrots, and broccoli) that I never even opened.  It was an off brand so I didn't recognize the bag and apparently ignored it for a long while.  The contents were a bit frosty, but perfectly fine for the chickens to nibble on.

So I tossed all of this into a big bowl and let it thaw out enough that I could mix it up.  I could have put it into a large bundt cake pan as Kathy and Mary did, but my chickens are young and just learning about fresh foods, so they tend to be afraid of whatever I give them the first time or two, then they look forward to it by about the third time I offer it, so I didn't want to waste a big block of frozen goodies.  Instead I used my Giant Muffin Pan with 6 giant cups that will hold about two cups each.  Then I added a little water to bring the level up just below the tops.  And I popped this into the freezer overnight.

Here's one of my frozen cakes ready to be served.  It looks good enough to eat myself...well almost.

I tossed the remaining 5 frozen cakes in to a one gallon Ziploc to be served up later in the week.

I can offer one (or more as needed) on hot days to help the chickens stay cool, while dinning on healthy treats.  Just place the frozen treat (no matter which size you decide to make) onto a dish and place it in the shade where the chickens can enjoy it longer.

My mix included broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bananas, cooked potatoes, apricots, peaches, celery, and diced apples.  Who knows what my next batch will have, that's the beauty of this treat...its whatever you have in your fridge.

Now lets see what the chickens think of it... Big Red and Barry are always the first to check out any new treats I bring.  Big Red quickly discovered that if she pecks at the colorful spots on the side she gets a cool, tasty tidbit.

Big Red and Barry checking out the new Frozen Treat.

Once Big Red and Barry have given it a few pecks everyone else comes to check out this strange new treat.  There was a little bit of bickering after everyone got in a few pecks at the treat.  Then Big Red ran everyone off (as usual) so she and Barry could have it all to themselves.  But the others are pretty quick so they kept coming back and pecking on the sides (using Barry as a shield between themselves and Big Red).   Big Red finally took a break and the others went to town on it.  I think she got a brain-freeze from eating it so fast.  I would say it was a hit.  They ate most of it before it even had a chance to thaw, so tomorrow I'll bring out two of them.

Do you have some old fruits and veggies in your freezer or refrigerator that you could use to make a Freezer Cake for your chickens?  Go take a look, I was surprised by how much I was able to come up with...and it made so much more room in my freezer too!

Check out the Cool Treat Christine at "A Fly on Our (Chicken Coop) Wall" created.  Thanks for sharing this post Christine, you are a sweetie! 

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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Does it make me a Crazy Chicken Lady if...

Okay, I think I am officially Chicken Obsessed!  This week we were having some really HOT days.  And although I have done a lot to cool down the chicken run for my chicks, I was still having a problem keeping the inside of the coop cool enough.  This would not normally be an issue since the little chickens don't usually go inside during the day.  But I do have one layer, Big Red, who seems to go inside to lay an egg when it is at the hottest times of the day.  She is probably baking her brains in there, sitting in that nest box when it is easily 100 degrees inside, even with the fan circulating the air.  Her egg production has had a few issues this week and I think some of it is because of the heat in the coop when she goes inside to lay.

So while I was hanging out inside my air conditioned house, trying to figure out how I could possibly cool it down for her, I got an idea...

Yes, that is an A/C unit sticking out of my chicken coop window.  Crazy, I know, to install A/C for your chickens, but hey, they are my pets as well as my egg producers.  Wouldn't you provide the very best for your pets?  Well, I would.  I just happened to have a $150.00 gift card I got for signing up for DirectTv service recently, so I took the card and went shopping at Home Depot for an inexpensive, small room A/C window unit.  I found this one for $119.

It's has an energy saver rating and is suppose to only use approximately $42 of electricity per year.  Since my goal is to keep the coop in the 80's and not as low as I have it inside my house, I figured it wouldn't use too much electricity.


So Early on Father's day the hubby and I installed this unit in the window of our coop.  As you can see from my thermostat inside the coop, it was already 91 degrees at 8:35 am!

With the A/C unit we managed to keep the inside temps in the mid 80's all day, running it on low cool, despite the outside temps in the high 90's.  When dusk came and the temperatures dropped down in to the low 70's (and down to the 60's during the night) the thermostat on the A/C unit turned the compressor off.  The next day when the temps began to climb again it turned itself back on.  Nice!


And here is the lovely egg Big Red left for us as a 'Thank You' for her new A/C unit...

So yes, I may be the crazy chicken lady, but my chickens are probably the happiest chickens in the state of Arizona!


I bought these cool tote & grocery bags for myself recently...Now I think it's even more appropriate than the day I bought them, Ha ha ha!!

Click the bag pictures if you would like to buy one too!

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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I shared this post on the following fun Blog Hops:  "From the Farm Blog Hop", "Backyard Farming Connection Blog Hop","Clever Chicks Blog Hop", and "Down Home Blog Hop"

Keeping the Chicks Cool in the Hot Arizona Summer

One of the toughest times on chickens in my area is the heat in the summer.  We live in the high desert of Arizona.  Although we're not nearly as hot as they are down in the Phoenix Valley, we still feel the summer heat.  But thankfully we cool way down at night, sometimes as much as 20+ degrees cooler than down in Phoenix.  Its because we are not covered with pavement.  We have exposed earth (and lots of it) to help cool things down when the sun sets.  In Phoenix the hard man-made surfaces (roads, parking lots, and buildings) absorb extreme heat all day then radiate it back at you after dark so sometimes it can still be 95 degrees after the sun goes down!  I feel sorry for those chicken keepers trying to keep their chickens from becoming 'oven baked chicken' with the feathers on!

To help my chickens stay cooler I have done a few things that I hope adds up to enough to keep them more comfortable in the summer.   First we have a mister that runs on a timer that comes on at about 10:00 am and automatically turns off at about 4:30pm.  By this time of day the sun is on the other side of the chicken run and partially blocked by the hills around us, but the sunlight is still out so it will dry up any water left on the ground by the mister.  The chickens don't like the water to spray directly on them so I have to make sure it is not too close to where they eat or drink because I don't want them to avoid eating and drinking all day.  It is actually placed on top of my grazing frame...so it gently mists the greenery growing in the frame.

Green mister attached to the wire fence, misting over the grazing frame with the wind blowing the cool air towards where the chickens hang out under the coop.

The coop itself serves as a source of shade because it sits on approximately 12" high posts and it's 10 feet tall.  So during the early and late part of the day the coops tall stature provides shade in front of or behind the coop.  And at all times after about 8:00am there is shade underneath the coops 6' x 6' floor.  The chickens love to hang out under the coop during the hottest time of the day because the wind blows the cool air from the mister towards them (we live on top of a hill so the wind is almost always blowing). That wind also makes for a nice breeze when sitting in the shade anywhere in the chicken run.

Chicks chillin under the coop.

Since the coop is a large wooden building with a metal roof and no insulation, it can get pretty warm inside during the day.  When the sun sets, it cools down pretty quickly to a comfortable temperature inside around the low 70's.  The chickens don't hang out inside the coop during the day, but Big Red does go inside to lay her egg.  Big Red seemed to be following the 25 hour rotating schedule (chicken ovulation cycle), she was laying early in the morning, but it has moved back 1 hour each day until now she is deciding to lay in the hottest time of the afternoon.  It can get pretty hot in there from noon to 4:00pm so I needed to move that hot air out so she and her egg don't cook while she is laying the egg.  The side windows are approximately 21" square and has about a 1-1/2" boxed in frame, so I bought a 20" square box fan to fit in the upper window on the side opposite of the most shaded side.  I used wire in the corners to attach the corners of the box fan to the hardware cloth in the windows.

Box fan installed in upper window of the coop on the side with the least amount of shade. Blowing out.

The fan is set to blow the air out.  Since this is the side with the least amount of shade I didn't want to pull that warmer air inside the coop.  By making it blow out, it would essentially suck air in from the opposite side which is in the shade most of the day.

As you can see in the picture above, the window on the inlet side is a lower screened in window so the current of air moving will come in from the lower section of one side and blow out on the upper side of the opposite side, thereby moving more of the inside air around.  If I had opened the upper window on this side I might have only moved the air at the upper level in the coop.  Having the fan blow out, rather than in, also prevented the current of air from blowing the litter around (I use the deep litter method).  The normal temperatures inside the coop on a hot day (when outside temps are in the 90's) would be about 110-120 degrees, but with the fan on I can keep it at about 5 degrees warmer than outside, and of course it is shady in there.  Warm, but not unbearable if you need to go lay an egg.

Another way the chickens say cool is to follow the shade.  In the am they stay pretty much under or behind the coop.  As the sun gets pretty high in the sky the house offers about 4 feet of shade for the full depth (20 feet) of the run.  So it stays pretty comfortable up against the side of the house.  That is where I have the water fountain installed.  The chickens tend to dribble a bit of water when they get a drink from the nipples so this makes for a great place to scratch down to the earth and cool themselves.   Once it starts getting about 5-6:00pm the sun is mostly blocked by the house, height of the coop, and hills around us, so everything starts cooling down.

Chillin around the Chicken Fountain.

One other thing I do to help them stay cooler is bring them cool treats just before it starts to get hot.  Watermelon, strawberries, and veggies scraps from the night before are a favorite around here.  I can eat an entire watermelon in a day...I shouldn't, but I can (and do) so the chickens have a never ending supply of cool watermelon to share with me.

Chicks at 6-1/2 weeks old enjoying watermelon.

Cool Summertime Treats.

When it was cool at night I was giving them some scratch before bed so the corn would warm them up for the night, but not anymore...it is just too hot for that now.  But they have been enjoying the results of my fodder experimentation's...cool greens are always a welcomed treat!  

How do you keep your chickens cooler during the hot summer months where you live?  I would love it if you shared your tips and tricks...we could all learn from each other to benefit our chicks.

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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This post was shared in the Clever Chicks Blog Hop #39

Making a Grazing Frame for your Chickens ~Easy DIY Project

Since I don't have grass (or anything green) growing in my yard, not even in the spring or summer, I thought I would try growing some greenery inside the chicken run using a grazing frame.  You may have seen my grazing from in the pictures in an earlier post about Big Red our new flock member.   A grazing frame is basically a wood frame with hardware cloth attached to the top side.  You can either place it over existing grass to allow the chickens to graze that area and enjoy the grass without allowing them to scratch the roots up or devour the patch of greenery altogether.  Or if you are like me and don't have any greens naturally growing, you can plant them and cover the area with a grazing frame to keep the chickens from digging up the seeds while they grow.  The sprouts will grow up and out through the hardware cloth so the chickens can enjoy the parts that stick up out of the frame, but the plant and roots remain safely under the hardware cloth.

I stole some 2x4's that the hubby is using to build a storage shed...he wont miss three little boards will he?  I left two of the board the full 8' lengths.  I cut one 8' board into four 2' lengths.  Then I attached them like this.

I then stapled hardware cloth to the top side.  Then I trimmed off the excess hardware cloth.

I could have used redwood or cedar instead of pine, but I figured if the wood rotted over the next few years and I had to rebuild it, it was still cheaper then spending twice or three times as much on redwood or cedar...besides, the hubby already had this big stack of pine he bought for the storage shed.

I cleared an out-of-the way area inside the chicken run, big enough for the grazing frame.

I laid the grazing frame over that area and pushed the gravel up against the sides of the frame to help keep it in place.  As mentioned earlier, you can plant your seed in the soil then put the frame on top of that, but I was feeling lazy so I put the frame down first.
 

Then I shoveled my super-soil and manure mixture on top of the hardware cloth so the dirt fell through but the chunks were caught by the tight weave of the cloth.  I tried to make sure the soil inside was some what level but I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it because Perfectionism is something I have outgrown.

 
Then I sprinkled a mixture of equal parts pasture grass seed and wild bird seed (about 1 cup of each) on top of the soil.  Then I added another light layer of soil by hand to gently cover the seeds but not bury them to deeply.  Then I sprinkled water over the entire grazing frame.

A little later Barry and Goldie (my two most curious chicks) did the final inspection.  It met their approval so my work here was done.  Now I just need to water it once or twice a day, depending on the temperatures. 

After 3 days of watering I didn't see any sprouts yet...but on day 4 look what I found!

Day 4 -Spouts appear!

And here are the sprouts on Day 5.  There are several patches throughout the frame like this.  By next week they should be poking up out of the wire for the chickens to nibble on.

Day 5

This grazing frame will allow me to grow fresh greens inside the chicken run for the chickens to eat, while preventing the chickens from being able to dig up the roots or eat the plants down to the roots, so my chickens can 'graze' on their greens throughout the spring and summer months.  I wasn't sure how much seed to apply at first, but now I can see that I needed more.   So I plan to re-seed periodically until this grazing frame is densely filled with green treats for the chicks.

Since this will probably not grow well in to the winter months, I have been experimenting with growing fodder in my mini greenhouse.  I will be sharing what I learn from my experimentation in another post coming up very soon!
 

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

 

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This post was also shared in the Creative HomeAcre Hop #19

My Raised Bed Garden ~Constructing the Bed with Blocks!

I am building a raised bed garden this year.  I have built them before and had great success with growing a ton of veggies in them.  This year I thought I would try a block-walled raised bed.  In the past I have made them out of wood that eventually rots and falls apart so I thought this would be a little more permanent.   Hubby drove some rebar down in the holes to keep the walls in place and lined up together...as if these heavy blocks were going to move!  I built it double height because I have arthritis in my knee and hip so bending all the way down to the 8 inch height is just too hard on me.  The walls are 6" deep and 16" tall so I can even sit to tend my garden when needed.

The area I am placing my raised bed in is not perfectly level and I didn't feel like digging it out any more so I just built it on a slight slant.  I don't think that is going to be a problem because it is not a severe slope. 

I lined the bottom with a thick layer of cardboard to prevent any weeds from coming up inside the raised bed.  Then I tossed some gravel on the cardboard to keep it in place for now and to give a little drainage if needed.   Next I will be filling it with a mix of top soil, compost, and manure.  

I've started my seeds indoors to give me a little longer growing period, and because I am so anxious to get started.  I am using peat pods to grow my seedlings.  I have had great success with transplanting them in the past and they are so easy to use.  I used a toothpick to work the soil loose and make tiny holes for my seeds to be planted.  I planted a nice variety of our favorite veggies including a few varieties of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers, okra, and some watermelon too.  I filled two fill trays with 72 pods in each tray!

I bought this cool indoor mini greenhouse at Home Depot on sale for $25.  I have it sitting near two windows in my kitchen where it is warm but not too hot.   Now I just have to water them when needed and wait for them to sprout.

I saw this cool vertical garden online at the Vegetable Gardener where they have watermelon growing up a wire wall with the melons each hanging from fabric slings to support them so they don't hang down and break the vines.  This also keeps your melons off the wet ground where they can spoil.  And it gives you lots of extra growing space in a raised bed garden.  So I Pinned it (love Pinterest!) and plan to add at least one 'growing wall' in the raised bed for my watermelons and tomatoes to grow vertically.   I will keep you posted of my garden progress and how well the vertical gardening works for me since this is my first time trying it.

Have you started your garden yet?  Have you tried raised beds or vertical growing?  I would love to hear about how it has worked for you.