Are there any images of chickens more charming than those found on mid-century tablecloths? I think not.
Just look at the crazy patterns and colors. Who can resist an avocado green hen? Not me.
Or a lemon yellow chicken squawking about her egg?
I’ve seen this exact same expression on some of my hens!
So much personality!
And drama!
There’s a lot of chicken love on these tablecloths.
As I said, they’re as charming as can be, but even better with goats.
A loaf of bread that looks like this
can either be an expensive splurge from a bakery (if you can find it, as the “artisan” loaves at the supermarket are usually pale knock-offs) or you can make it for under a dollar a home. All you need is five basic ingredients and fearlessness. Yes, sometimes baking takes bravery, and this bread requires handling heavy and dangerously hot cast iron. It also requires a quick, surety in handling. That said, once you get the feel for the technique, you’ll find it fun and rewarding to make.
Back in 2006, Mark Bittman, the New York Times food writer, posted baker Jim Lahey’s No Knead Bread recipe and it went viral. Since then there have been many variations. What follows is mine.
2 cups bread flour (this has a higher protein then all-purpose, but all-purpose will do if that’s all that’s available)
1 cup whole wheat flour (or you can use all white)
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast (this is different than the regular yeast. I use saf-instant)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I use bread salt from King Arthur)
2 cups water
Stir the dry ingredients to evenly disperse the salt and yeast, and then pour in the water. Stir until well combined. It will be wet and has more in common with a sourdough starter than a regular homemade bread dough.
I do the mixing and the raising in a plastic bucket with a lid and marked measurements. The lid keeps the dough moist and I can clearly see when the dough is “doubled in bulk” (one of those admonishments you never know if you have right!)
It starts out looking like this:
Let it rise. Many of these no-knead recipes say to let rise for a full twenty-four hours, and yes, you’ll get more of a sourdough flavor. But on a warm day I start it in the morning and bake it off for dinner. But, don’t rush it. The first rise needs to be at least four hours.
It’s ready for the next step when it doubles,
and looks like this:
Generously flour a board or your countertop. Using a dough scraper, turn the sticky mass onto the work surface. Handle as lightly as possible, dusting with flour now and again to keep it from sticking to the board and your hands, while folding it over until it has some semblance of a round.
Dust with flour and cover with a linen towel that has also been dusted with flour (nothing worse than uncovering it later and having half of it stuck to the towel.)
Let rise an hour or two, until it looks more like a typical dough. It will be springy and still wet, but should have some shape.
Meanwhile, get out your heavy, lidded pot. I use a vintage, cast iron one. The reason that this bread ends up so beautifully chewy and crusty is because for the first half of the cooking it steams while it bakes at a high temp. Cast iron is ideal for this. The pot shouldn’t be more than 10 inches in diameter; too much width and the bread will flatten like a focaccia. Put the pot into a 450 degree F oven and preheat the pot for 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven VERY CAREFULLY. It’s heavy, awkward and dangerously hot.
Once again, dust the towel generously. Using the dough scraper, lift the dough onto the linen, and then roll it off and into the pot. Although the bread shouldn’t stick, once in awhile it will, so I use non-stick baking liner that I cut into a strip to fit the bottom of the pot. This also works as a convenient tab when removing the bread from the pot.
It will look rough with some dustings of dry flour. That’s good.
Cover and bake for 25 minutes.
Then, reduce the oven temperature to 350 and remove the lid WITH CAUTION as it is very, very hot. Set the lid down somewhere safe, like your cooktop. Continue to bake for about 30 minutes until the bread develops a browned crust. Remove from the oven with two sets of oven mitts.
Turn out the bread and let cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!
It’s hot and humid. Record breaking temperatures are expected this afternoon. This stresses the hens. The girls pant and hold their wings out and off of their bodies.
I know they’re okay because they’re eating, drinking, moving around, and even laying eggs. But, still, I’d like to make them more comfortable, and I know just the treat.
Watermelon!
Hydration and electrolytes in one easily-consumed package.
It didn’t take long for Topaz to look refreshed.
Thanks, Chicken Maid!
For more hints about how to keep your hens comfortable in severe heat, check my FAQ.
The large melons at the market cost only a little more than the “individual sized.” Although I can’t eat a whole melon, it goes quickly when I share it with the hens. I saved enough for myself to make a feta, mint and watermelon salad. (No recipe! Just toss together with a little lemon juice and olive oil.)
If my son and husband were home, we could easily go through a whole watermelon and I’d buy a second for the hens. But the boys are off at Boy Scout camp this week. Whenever Steve is away something happens. So far, the first night, the septic pump alarm went off. The next day I had two crews here fixing the system. Today the web sites went down. Tomorrow a severe thunderstorm and hail is in the forecast. It’s shaping up to be an interesting week.
All animals, from crustaceans to humans, are hosts, both inside and out, to multitudes of bacteria and viruses. Kept in check they actually keep us healthy. Some bacteria even do essential body processes. For example, goats need bacteria in their guts to digest grass. New research shows that even the so-called “bad bacteria” have important roles to play. It’s when things get out of balance that health issues occur.
The chickens in our backyards carry around their share of germs and it’s prudent to worry about whether we can get sick from them. The quick answer is that there are very few diseases that humans and birds share. Our biologies are just too different. That said, there are a small number of pathogens to know about, all of which can be neutralized by hand washing and good animal husbandry. The truly scary diseases are not coming from the backyard flock, they’re coming from animal factories (let’s not call them “farms.”) I’m not going to go into a diatribe here about how crowded factory production facilities that rely on antibiotics to keep their animals alive are creating “superbugs” that are resistant to drugs, I’m sure you’ve read this on-going story in the press. Instead, let’s go over what you need to know about the hens in your backyard.
The biggest fear that many have is of Bird Flu. The first cases of H5N2 appeared in North America in December of 2014. This is highly pathogenic to poultry, but at this point is not a concern to humans. Cases in the news of people getting sick are almost always in situations in which many dead and diseased birds are handled in close and unsanitary conditions. Even in those situations, the symptoms are mild. There are no cases of human to human transmission. However, our backyard flocks are in danger of contracting H5N2 – and it will decimate your flock. Wild waterfowl are the main vector and so it’s prudent to keep your chickens away from ponds and other areas that migratory birds congregate.
Another disease that you might have heard is zoonotic (transmissible from animal to human) is Newcastle Disease. Rest assured that it isn’t of great concern for backyard chicken keepers. In chickens it causes respiratory ailments. Transmitted to humans it triggers mild conjunctivitis, but even this is usually only seen in people who administer the Newcastle vaccine to poultry, or are lab workers who do necropsies. Two other zoonotic diseases are erysipelas and chlamydiosis, which are mostly hosted by turkeys, and only affect humans who work in slaughterhouses, and farmers of large flocks. Avian tuberculosis is another one that is quite rare (it’s more prevalent with parrot fanciers) but possible to contract.
Internal and external parasites are species specific and as nasty as lice and worms look, they’re not going to infect your gut if you somehow ingest them. The three bacterial pathogens that are of concern are Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., and E. coli. Generally, people get sickened by these bugs after eating improperly cooked and handled meat and eggs that have been contaminated with the germs, not by handling live and healthy chickens. Yes, poultry harbor these pathogens in their systems, but simply washing your hands after holding your hens is generally enough to prevent disease transmission. One exception that occurred recently involved chicks from large hatcheries. Children who kissed the chicks came down with salmonella.
Other issues that might come up, but that aren’t transmissible diseases, are allergies, and respiratory irritations due to mold and dust. Some people are allergic to the dander that chickens are constantly making as they grow and shed feathers. Chickens also create a fine dust out of bedding material and manure that they shred to bits as they scratch the ground. Sometimes bedding or feed will become moldy, especially if there’s been a long rainy period. Any respiratory and allergic reactions to these irritants can be minimized when one practices good manure management, and has a well-ventilated and dry coop.
An article published by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences put it well. People should not fear close association with poultry as a significant human health risk. So, enjoy your hens. Handle them and spend time with them. Just don’t kiss them.
All animals, from crustaceans to humans, are hosts, both inside and out, to multitudes of bacteria and viruses. Kept in check they actually keep us healthy. Some bacteria even do essential body processes. For example, goats need bacteria in their guts to digest grass. New research shows that even the so-called “bad bacteria” have important roles to play. It’s when things get out of balance that health issues occur.
The chickens in our backyards carry around their share of germs and it’s prudent to worry about whether we can get sick from them. The quick answer is that there are very few diseases that humans and birds share. Our biologies are just too different. That said, there are a small number of pathogens to know about, all of which can be neutralized by hand washing and good animal husbandry. The truly scary diseases are not coming from the backyard flock, they’re coming from animal factories (let’s not call them “farms.”) I’m not going to go into a diatribe here about how crowded factory production facilities that rely on antibiotics to keep their animals alive are creating “superbugs” that are resistant to drugs, I’m sure you’ve read this on-going story in the press. Instead, let’s go over what you need to know about the hens in your backyard.
The biggest fear that many have is of Bird Flu. My readers in North America don’t have to worry about this. We’ve never had a case of Avian Influenza here. For those in other parts of the world, it appears as if actually coming down with the disease requires close contact with the dead bird (such as when people stripped the feathers off of deceased swans.) In Asia, avian influenza shows up in people who are living in close contact with large numbers of birds, usually waterfowl, not chickens.
Another disease that you might have heard is zoonotic (transmissible from animal to human) is Newcastle Disease. Rest assured that it isn’t of great concern for backyard chicken keepers. In chickens it causes respiratory ailments. Transmitted to humans it triggers mild conjunctivitis, but even this is usually only seen in people who administer the Newcastle vaccine to poultry, or are lab workers who do necropsies. Two other zoonotic diseases are erysipelas and chlamydiosis, which are mostly hosted by turkeys, and only affect humans who work in slaughterhouses, and farmers of large flocks. Avian tuberculosis is another one that is quite rare (it’s more prevalent with parrot fanciers) but possible to contract.
Internal and external parasites are species specific and as nasty as lice and worms look, they’re not going to infect your gut if you somehow ingest them. The three bacterial pathogens that are of concern are Salmonella spp., Complyobacter spp., and E. Coli. Generally, people get sickened by these bugs after eating improperly cooked and handled meat and eggs that have been contaminated with the germs, not by handling live and healthy chickens. Yes, poultry harbor these pathogens in their systems, but simply washing your hands after holding your hens is generally enough to prevent disease transmission. One exception that occurred recently involved chicks from large hatcheries. Children who kissed the chicks came down with salmonella.
Other issues that might come up, but that aren’t transmissible diseases, are allergies, and respiratory irritations due to mold and dust. Some people are allergic to the dander that chickens are constantly making as they grow and shed feathers. Chickens also create a fine dust out of bedding material and manure that they shred to bits as they scratch the ground. Sometimes bedding or feed will become moldy, especially if there’s been a long rainy period. Any respiratory and allergic reactions to these irritants can be minimized when one practices good manure management, and has a well-ventilated and dry coop.
An article published by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences put it well. People should not fear close association with poultry as a significant human health risk. So, enjoy your hens. Handle them and spend time with them. Just don’t kiss them.
