Thursday, April 28, 2011

Make your own tallow


For my soap project I got a 5 gallon bucket of beef fat from Maine's restaurant supply store off of route 13. They sell the stuff for 50c a pound, but that's before rendering and I was pretty curious how much tallow would be rendered and how long it would take! Well, it took me two days to cook it all down, first boiling it down in a stock pan, then frying it in a cast iron skillet to get it all... The house reeked of frying for days (kinda pleasant/unpleasant) and the stove needed a good cleaning as well, but the (pet sitted) dog and chickens loved the cracklings left over!

Quite a few of my soap making books referred to getting tallow for free from supermarket butchers (leftovers) but after asking around town no-one seemed willing to do so. Maine's was the only one willing to separate and store the fat (not just for me) for a small fee and he told me with the fda cleanliness rules anything that leaves the cutting block and hits the garbage can is therefor contaminated and can not be sold/given away ever, even for animal food or soap making. Maine's has food grade buckets they sort the beef fat into before tossing, which is extra work, and not something everyone wants to do.


From the 25 lbs of fat I got about 12 lbs of tallow, which is about a dollar a pound. Still better than pig fat at $1.75 a pound, but that's already rendered :)

some winter pics...

I thought this looked so funny in the shallow sprinkling of snow last winter! All those ducky footsteps - the chickens don't come out as soon as it snows, but the ducks don't seem to have any issue with that, and they sure love hanging around outside in the rain!


My privy project turned out such a success and then a big wind blew the door right thru the hinges... both black hinges are bend at a 15-20 degree angle (which is why the door doesn't close) and that tongue & groove board of the door is badly cracked. I took the door off recently, took it apart and glued the board back together - next time I'll also add an outside lock (way out of reach of little kids hands) just in case!

Friday, April 22, 2011

DIY cat pee remover

Yep, I put the cat in the livetrap in our sunroom, not thinking livetraps don't come with kitty bathrooms and our sunroom does come with carpeting...

From the DoItYourself Forum:

Get rid of cat pee and dog pee smells forever - Recipe

Ingredients
Baking Soda
White Vinegar
Dishwashing Detergent
3 % Hydrogen Peroxide

Directions:

1. If the cat has recently urinated on the carpet, first absorb as much of the cat urine as possible using paper towels or an old towel. Place clean paper towels over the cat urine area and tread on them so as to absorb as much of the urine as possible. Repeat with dry towels until no more moisture can be absorbed.

If the cat urine has dried and you are not sure where the soiled area is you can use a black light to detect it. In a darkened room the black light will pick up urine and other stains. Hand held black lights can be purchased for between $15 to $25

2. Next, wet the area with a solution of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Make sure you use enough of the solution to penetrate the fibers deep down. Allow it to almost dry. You can assist drying by blotting with paper towels as described above. If you own a wet and dry vacuum extractor use that to remove excess moisture.

The acidity of the vinegar will neutralize the ammonia in the cat urine.

3. Apply a liberal amount of baking soda over the affected area and drizzle it with a quarter of a cup of hydrogen peroxide mixed with a teaspoon of liquid dishwashing detergent. (not caustic detergent that you put in a dishwasher) Work it in with a scrubbing brush or your fingers (be sure to wear rubber gloves) to dissolve the baking soda and work it down into the carpet. Allow it to dry. Then vacuum.

The vinegar will neutralize the ammonia and hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidizer capable of killing bacteria which cause the urine smells. Baking soda is a well known deodorizer which absorbs odors. Sprinkle it on your carpet monthly then vacuum up to keep your carpet smelling fresh all the time.

Important. Never use ammonia or ammonia-based products on the carpet. One of the ingredients of urine is ammonia and your cat may well be encouraged to re-offend in the same area if it detects the smell of ammonia. Many household cleaner cleaners contain ammonia so be sure to read the label.

If you don't have hydrogen peroxide on hand you could substitute it in an emergency for a spray laundry stain remover. Check the bottle. If it says 'Oxy' anywhere on the label then it probably contains hydrogen peroxide.

Caution, you should test your carpet for color fastness in an inconspicuous area.
Use only 3% Hydrogen Peroxide.

For peed on Laundry:

Remove cat urine odor from laundry. Use this method on your clothing, bedding, rugs or anything you think you can stuff in the washer (not including your cat). Simply add ¼ cup apple cider vinegar along with your normal laundry detergent, start the washer and VOILA!

>>> tried it, and it works! Does still have soda crystals coming up in the carpet (sort of a cloudy stain that vacuums out) and locally the carpet is really clean - but - NO SMELL!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

SPCA feral cat program

With the new goat barn and multitude of rodents I was thinking of contacting the SPCA to rehome a feral cat - they have the ads in the store at the mall. And while I was thinking about the pro's and con's someone moved in :)

For the past couple weeks a slender grey very shy cat has been prowling our perimeter and sleeping with the girls (hay stacks are sure a cat magnet, Greebo loves to sleep over in them too). I was not really planning to mess with it, but after catching it by mistake in the livetrap - someone is tunneling big time thru the shed and barn - I figured might as well have the feral cat program look him over.

So he went today and turns out it's a boy and already neutered! So most likely a dumped pet, tho for us he's been real snappy and hissy - our "pet" name has been "enge kat" (scary cat) and Simon wanted to leave him at the SPCA and take the beagle in the window back home!

Why I am posting all this? Turns out the SPCA has a program for feral cats where when you catch one and bring it in (and I presume then take it back to your barn) they'll spay/neuter and vaccinate it for free! You can contact them at 257-1822 and they operate on Tuesdays.

Monday, April 11, 2011

baby goats - oh my goodness!

We have baby goats! Last Friday the 8th in the late morning Thirteen delivered triplet girls, all by herself as she had not given me any (for dummies) signs she was ready! The girl with beige head was chilled and off in a corner when I found them, so I gave her some extra attention and a teat to herself since they needed some help nursing the first day or so as Thirteen's teats were pretty swollen. Right now she's running on empty most of the day as they suck the milk straight out the moment it's available - good thing we have a couple extra gallons in the freezer for ourselves :)

Our toddler Simon likes to go down to the baby goats at least once a day and check them out, though he's still pretty shy and careful with handling them. Thirteen is not too fond of him, he moves unpredictably, and keeps me between him and her at all times... guess she does trust me, at least a little.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Make your own chicken feed

10 pounds mixed grains - Farmer Ground Flour has everything from soup to nuts in the "waste" grain mix Tom's been using--corn, wheat, wheat bran, buckwheat, oats, rye, spelt, etc.; texture varies from flour to meal to whole grains.
1 pound organic fish meal - from Fertrell via Hilltop Organics in Dundee, NY; made by International Protein Corp., Minneapolis, MN
4.15 oz (1/2 cup) Fertrell Poultry Nutibalancer - from Fertrell via Hilltop Organics in Dundee, NY

recipe from Tom Shelley,
Compost Educator and Sustainability Scion
Learn more about the Sustainable Chicken Project at steephollowfarm.wordpress.com
and on facebook www.facebook.com/129295929#/home.php

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