Sprouting Beans and Seeds for You and Your Chickens

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I know I did this before but made lots of mistakes at the time.

So here is my second try (in a smaller scale!)

Last time, (which I think there is a post about it awhile back), I tried to make a large flat container of wheat grass.  Well, it stayed to wet,(too hard to drain) and it got moldy and had to be tossed.

This time I am doing some organic lentils in little mason jars.

Just big enough for me or treats for my chickens.

These are organic mung beans.

1. First step, rinse the beans, lentils or seeds well.

Then soak for 8 hours.

2. drain well and rinse again, then drain well again.

3. Set in a darkened area till beans start to sprout.  (rinsing and draining twice a day.)

3. When beans start to sprout well, put into a light area.

They should be ready for your salad etc. or for treats for your chickens in about 5 days.

Mine started to sprout by the 2nd day.

These will be ready in another day.

When seeds, beans or lentils are sprouted they contain more nutrients than just the beans or seeds.

Beans and lentils have always been known as the best source of protein.

When sprouted they also contain more Vitamin C and B vitamins, more thiamine, niacin and riboflavin compared to the seeds.

Beans and legumes are also easier to digest when sprouted.  They don't produce as much intestinal gas because the complex sugars are broken down when sprouted.

So there are many, many advantaged of sprouting!!

Give it a try.

I have done scopes about this subject the past couple days on Periscope.

You can get to them on my Twitter page here:

https://twitter.com/hoofprints

also here where all my scopes are stored:

https://katch.me/hoofprints

Shirley

Periscope!!

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Find me on my landing page.  periscope.tv/@hoofprints
       Scope only lasts 24 hours.  But you can "katch" older ones on my twitter page @hoofprints


Shirley

Some Interesting Facts about Chickens

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This is one of my hens named Dottie.

I came across a lot of interesting facts on chickens this week.

This post sort of goes along with some of my previous Periscope broadcasts.

I just recently started using "Katch" which captures your live broadcasts on Periscope and puts them on Twitter for more the the previous 24 hours.

Anyway . . . .

Here are some chicken facts.

(these are from the "My Pet Chicken" handbook.

#1  Chickens make good teachers.

           Mother hens teach their baby chicks what is good to eat and what is not.

#2  Chickens have prehistoric roots.

           Chickens are thought to be the closest living relative of the Tyrannosaurus Rex!!!!

#3  Chickens have their own language.

            It's thought that chickens have about 30 distinct vocalizations that they use to communicate                 with each other.  For instance, the warning cry for a predator that is coming on the ground is               different from the cry that is warning a predator coming from above, like a hawk.

#4  Chickens sometimes model their behavior on other chickens.

            The special way a broody hen clucks can encourage other hens to become broody too.

#5  Chickens begin communicating before they are hatched.

            A mother hen "talks" to her chicks when they are still in the egg and the chicks begin to peep               back right before they are hatched.

#6  Chickens are more docile at night.

            Chickens go into a passive, trancelike state when they sleep at night.  It is the easiest way to                 pick up a chicken, when they are in this sleepy state.

#7  Chickens learn who you are.

            Chickens can recognize up to 100 faces!!

#8  Chickens lay different colors of eggs depending on the breed.

            Different shades of brown, green, blue, pink and of course white.

#9  Chicken eggs are nutritionally about the same regardless of the color of the shell.

            Brown eggshell colors are deposited on the outside of the shell, while blue goes throughout                 the shell, even on the inside.

#10 Chickens signal when they are ready to lay.

            Before a hen begins to lay, her comb will get larger and redder, and she may begin to squat                down submissively when you reach down to pet her.

If you catch my scopes on Periscope I talk much more on the subjects that I post about here.

I usually scope on Periscope at least once a day, sometimes more.

Usually my "chicken scopes" are in the evening.

On Twitter @hoofprints
There is a link at the top of the right sidebar.

Thanks

Have a great day.

Shirley

            

How To Prepare For Your First Chicks

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Read, Read, Read!

I can't stress this enough.

Heaven knows, there's enough information out there about raising chickens.

And it's not hard to find.

I researched for about a year before I ordered my chicks!!!

But that's just me.

I'm sure most people don't do that much!

I was so afraid I'd do something wrong and my little ones would die and it would be my fault!!

They are fragile at first but most of the time they survive our blunders if those tiny ones have the essentials of heat, water and food!

OK then!

Here are the research books that I have.

Most of these you can also find in the library.

But it's good to have some on hand to answer your questions when you first start or if a problem arrises.

If I were to have just two, they would be:

"The Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens"

(It's like the bible for information)

And

 Lisa Steele's

"Fresh Eggs Daily"

I go to it all the time because it stresses raising chicken naturally and organically and has a lot of natural remedies and things about herbs.

Of course there's so much information on line too:

These are 3 really good blogs (besides mine : ))

Fresh Eggs Daily

She's the one who wrote the above book

http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/p/new-landing-page.html

The Chicken Mama

http://www.thechickenmama.com/

and

The Chicken Chic

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/

And of course there's always Google!

She knows everything!!!

Also if you look on my Pinterest page (link on the right side bar)

I have a board for Chickens and Coops

So, get some info on coops, start building this winter and read, read, read!

I promise it's easy after you have your chickens!!

Shirley

I have started to broadcast on Periscope.

I try to correlate a blog post with the subject I am talking about on Periscope because I am trying to promote my blog.

Periscope is a new app of live broadcasting.

It's connected to Twitter since Twitter owns it.

I sort of picked the niche of "raising chickens" since no one else was talking about it.

I "scope" on other things too like showing when I cook or bake.

And I've scoped when I've been out to the barn with the horses.

The scopes only last for 24 hours and you can find them on Twitter.

Since I scope everyday, there's always one or two on there.

Find me on Twitter.

Shirley Corwin @hoofprints

(There's a link along the right side bar.)

Blueberry Scones

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Today I did a Periscope broadcast on baking Blueberry Scones.

It will only be on for 24 hours after I broadcast it.

You can see it on  https://twitter.com/hoofprints

So here's the written recipe for whoever wants it.

It's from Allrecipes.

It says the flour they used was spelt flour but I just used regular unbleached flour 

because that's what I had.

Here are mine coming out of the oven.

Some little hints about these scones:

Don't over bake or they'll be too dry inside.
Scones aren't real sweet so you can add more sugar if you want them sweeter.
If you're making them for tea time.  I cut them each in half again so they are a little more dainty!
These are a little big for tea : ))

If you're looking in from Periscope, thank you so much for visiting.

And for sure, the best thing I ever made from blueberries are these muffins!!
http://shirleys-world.blogspot.com/2012/08/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins-repost.html
Try them too!!

Shirley

OK, Who Hasn't Heard Of Periscope??

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If you haven't heard of Periscope and you are even a little social media savvy, you must be living under a rock!

Periscope is an app that is owned by Twitter.

It is a free live broadcasting app that you can put on your IOS or Android device.

You can listen and watch live broadcasts from all over the world.

Or YOU can broadcast yourself!

People are doing live broadcasts about every thing possible.

It's fun and interesting.  Sure there's a lot of nonsense on there but some really good and educational things too.  You've just got to sort it out.

People are finding it's a wonderful media to promote their businesses.

If you want to broadcast, you type in a topic that you plan on showing or talking about, then hit "Broadcast" and you are live all over the world.

No editing.  It's just like live TV!!

After the broadcast, it is kept on replay and on your Twitter page for just 24 hours.

Then it's gone unless you upload it to YouTube.

Warning!

It is very addicting!!

It's the reason I haven't been blogging since June 22nd!

I've done about 6 or 7 broadcasts!

Yes . . . me!

73 year old ME!

I think I hold the honor of, for sure, being the oldest one on there!!

I don't care, it's fun.

I'm promoting my blog.

(So I guess I'd better keep writing!)

So far I've "scoped" about gardening, chicken keeping, my other animal routines, and 2 cooking programs!!  I'm still trying to find my niche.

You are getting live feedback in the way of comments the whole time you're broadcasting.

Don't worry, you can block any mean people or idiots immediately and they can never come back onto your broadcasts. 

So give it a try.

Let me know if you get adventuresome!!

By the way my Twitter name is hoofprints.

Shirley Corwin @hoofprints.

Some good people to follow and watch to find out more about how you can use Periscope:

Alex Pettitt

Mark Shaw

Scott Williams

Robert C. Stern

Alex Butler 

(young and hilarious especially if she's cooking!)

That's just a few to get you started.  There's hundreds more.

Periscope is only 16 weeks old.

It's going to be BIG!

Go get your free app from the app store.

Shirley