Kaarina Kreus

Use almost boiling water. Then hang into sun to dry.
But what disease are you afraid of?? Unless they have leprosy or plaque, I wouldn't worry about operating theatre level of hygiene.

Chicken Feeder Design - What do you use?
Timothy Norton , Steward of piddlers staff
Feb 08, 2025 18:14:26

https://permies.com/t/273893/Chicken-Feeder-Design

Throw the food on the ground. They will enthusiastically spend all their waking hours pecking up every crumb!

I have lived quite frugally and tolerated quite cold lodgings in the winter.
I find that there are two things I really really need: salt and matches.

It needs to have tiny holes only. Chickens throw things sideways.

I feed my chickens mainly grains and seeds +treats from the kitchen. I just scatter the grains around. They have four feeders in the henhouse, but they still spend eons pecking seeds from the ground! I suppose that browsing gives them pleasure. Sometimes some grains or seeds are not eaten and they sprout. And get promptly eaten.

Several years ago, when I was still living in the city, I used to worry about self-sufficiency.
Now that I have lived almost four years on my farm, I am absolutely relaxed. I have lived four years without electricity (apart from my mobile),no car, no running water, woodstove heating, outhouse, carrying my water from a well, doing laundry by hand.And
I grow most of my food.

Things are just fine. I am not lacking anything. And actually I work very little. Somehow, I have loads of free time.

Maybe we think we need all kinds of conveniences when actually we do not?

I did about twelve gallons of pickles last year and I am still eating them. They are perfect.

I just lacto-fermented them. Put them into jars with 5% saltwater and some herbs thrown in. My root cellar was under construction so the jars stood in the woodshed for months. The only important thing is to keep the cucumbers underwater.

I think we have a tendency to overthink. Fermenting is so simple.

It typically takes two weeks for the body to acclimatise. So the sensible thing to do would be exposing yourself the cold every once in a while.

When my sauna was being constructed, I rode my bike to a lakeside for my daily evening wash. As the autumn progressed, the water got colder and colder, but I sort of got used to it. When the sauna was finally readu, the lake was 54 degrees!!

That is why professionals always use latin names..Laypeople may find it bragging, but honestly, only Latin names are exact. When I order a plant from a wholesaler in another country, only Latin names will guarantee I get what I wanted.

My compost is a disaster..It only has weeds I dig up from the garden. Chickens eat all kitchen scrap, and the outhouse produces surprisingly little manure. I have a bucket for my night pot so some urine can be splayed on it. But ithe compost just sort of sits there and doesn't compost at all 😳