Bare butts

I should apologize for being absent without leave, all I can blame is a busy month of June and a heat induced apathy during the month of July. We spent weeks fencing; repairing, renewing, dividing into smaller lots and herding sheep and goats from what we considered the wrong side of the fence back to where we felt they should be. Lambs creeping through small gaps encouraged mothers to  rub and poke at fence clips till they could join their offspring in a daily walk around the boundary fence. They could escape but they seemed to need a gate to return from whence they came, which of course, required a bipod with opposing thumbs to manipulate the chains. 

We built the bachelor pad for all the boys and relocated them in June. Nigel and Fred, the sheep, seem appreciative of the rest and luxurious surroundings but helped prove, yet again, that sheep in no way resemble goats. Randy missed his family, he was lost without Daisy to tell him when and what to eat. Four foot cattle panels and electric fence were no problem for him, by next morning we found him laying in the arms of his women folk! We decided we can cope with two kidding goats in winter and gave in to his demand to stay.....I agree we followed the path of least resistance and demonstrated our total lack of moral fibre! 

The last post was about our newly arrived chicks and I have attached a short slide show. They have passed the ugly stage and are beginning to show signs of their gender, some time in October we should start seeing their first eggs.

  

This blog is titled Bare butts, so I should start talking about our mature chickens; they suffer from bare rear ends. It isn't due to mites as we give our chickens wood ash to dust themselves and we see no signs of mites or other parasites. The girls are healthy and happy. They lay plenty of eggs which are large and have a sturdy shell and rich colourful yolk. They free range and alter their own diet as they move from the pasture to the barn and out into the front yard. They are not pecking at each other and we do not have too high a ratio of roosters to hens. Other than their bare butts there is nothing wrong with them and truly, it seems to be more of a problem for us than it is for them.

Apparently this is a more common problem than we had first thought. Online chicken forums, homesteading sites, vet sites all have questions from small flock owners about this problem and it seems there are all sorts of views on how to deal with it. We have researched extensively and eliminated what we considered silly, unlikely or illogical remedies. Even in the first week of us taking action the chickens are starting to get fluffy areas rather than bald red patches.

We now give four separate feeds, allowing them to decide for themselves just what they need, rather like a chicken buffet.

1. 20% protein hog feed from our local grain elevator. They mix it for us but I think you could use high protein layer feed in bags if you can't get hold of healthy hog feed.
2. Cracked grain. We use cracked corn but you could use wheat if that is cheaper
3. Oyster shell
4. Grit

Effectively their buffet gives the chickens a choice of high protein/ low energy food (Higher cost) or high energy/ low protein food (lower cost). They ration themselves, also free feeding on oyster shell and grit as they need it. Of course, while they free range at this time of year they also eat whatever bugs they may find, which also reduces our feed bill. In winter our chickens stay cooped up and we anticipate that the new style of feeding will reduce our overall costs as well as cover their butts.

The new Chickies arrived

Take a look at the video below:

New Baby chick video

26 Black Australorps, 26 Buff Orpington, 26 Giant Whites and 26 Barred Rocks........ as well as one Exotic Mystery chick!

So You Want To Make Caramel Rolls? Guilt is no object!!

In recognition of my younger sister Deb's 60th birthday (tomorrow on the 6th of May), AND in response to popular demand, I am so pleased to share my recipe for the caramel rolls that Edith taunted and teased you with a few days ago.
 I mention Deb simply because she shared the recipe for the dough with me so many years ago.  I am not exactly sure just how long ago it was, but I do know that I was still living in Florence and that, since we moved from there back in 1977, I have been using this recipe for more than just a couple of years.  It is called "Two Hour Rolls" and it is, literally, that.  You may certainly use the dough for other things than caramel rolls, but it is a sweet, gentle dough more suited for a sweet roll than for a more 'bread-type' roll. I think that Debbie told me she herself had received the recipe from a member of the 'other side of the family' but I am sure she will forgive me for having forgotten exactly who it was!  I am not ashamed to say that I love knowing the 'history' behind recipes, as well.

Two Hour Caramel Rolls

Dissolve 2 packages (or 3 tsp.) yeast in 1 cup of WARM water (about body temperature).  Set aside. 

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. shortening (Crisco or other vegetable fat like Spry) 

2 eggs

 In a large bowl, cream sugar and shortening together, add eggs and beat well.

Add 1 cup of boiling water to above mixture.

Mix 1 Tbsp of salt with 6 cups of flour. 

Add flour mixture and yeast mixture to sugar/shortening mixture and mix very well.  You will have a rather sticky dough.

Cover the bowl with a light towel and set in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour.

While the dough is rising, melt 2 sticks (1/2 lb or 1 cup) of butter or oleo in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 lb of brown sugar to the melted butter and stir in well.  When the mixture is starting to bubble, pour in a few tablespoons of either half-and-half or milk.  This will serve to loosen up the caramel, but also to give it the creaminess that makes it SO good!  Set aside.

Beat down the dough, and form your rolls.  This dough will be quite soft, so you will want to make sure you have your counter-top well floured.  There will be no rolling this dough!  You will need to gently push the dough into a long oblong shape that is about 8-9" wide.  Gently (again!) and generously dot the dough with soft butter.  Sprinkle the dough generously with either white or brown sugar and then top with cinnamon to taste.  Roll the dough length-wise by gently turning a portion the full length and then again until it is all in a roll.  Seal the edge by pinching it to the roll along the full length.  

You may choose to use either a 9x13 pan or several smaller pans to make your rolls.  I advise against anything much bigger as the rolls tend not to bake well in the center.  I like to use smaller pans so that I can wrap and freeze rolls for later.  Since the caramel has so much butter in it, you won't need to grease the pans much....if at all!  Pour a nice layer of caramel in the bottoms of the pans.  It doesn't need to be too thick as it is going to want to run off later anyway!

Slice your rolls approximately 1'' thick and arrange them in the pans so that there is space between them for rising.  Let rise for 1 hour.  

Bake no more than 2 pans at a time at 350 F. for about 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven, let set for about 5 minutes and then turn out on cooling racks.  Be sure to use a rubber scraper to get every bit of the caramel out of each pan and onto the rolls!  Yes, the caramel will be running off, but again, feel free to use that rubber scraper to return it to its rightful spot on the rolls.  

You may also choose to simply bake the rolls without caramel and frost them with a powdered sugar icing..I'm not sure of any really good reason for this, though!

This recipe will make about 18 rolls.  They freeze nicely..just wrap in foil when they are completely cool.  After you defrost them, they warm up so nicely in the microwave that you would almost think they were fresh!  These rolls are NEVER dry or 'bready'...they are the most delicious I have ever made, so I see no reason to try any other recipe!  I think you will agree!