Q and A: chickens pecking, removing air from jars, Hopi Pale Grey seeds, and wood ash for the garden

Chickens pecking

I am having a problem with one of my Buff Orpingtons plucking all of the other birds in the flocks feathers. Do you have any helpful ideas on how to get her to stop? I always wait for the chicken that is getting picked on to get up or peck her, but they just seem to take it. Have you ever heard of pinless peepers, or ever used them? If so, are they helpful and safe to use?

Your friend Holly

All chickens peck somewhat. But when they peck so much that feathers are missing in bunches or blood appears, it’s a good thing to put a stop it to. Often you can do this by just getting vegetable/fruit scraps from a grocery and feeding that to them daily. Chickens need to pick on something and when they’re bored, they start picking on each other. By picking on the veggie/fruit scraps, they satisfy their need without denuding their mates. If this doesn’t work, you can use the pinless peepers which don’t hurt the chickens and do work well to stop the picking. Often if you leave them on for a month or so, you can remove them and the habit has been broken.

For those of you who don’t know what these are, pinless peepers are lightweight solid, sunglass-type appliances which fit into the nostrils and block the straight-ahead vision of birds. Therefore they can not easily pick on each other. They can see below to walk/eat/drink and to each side, just not straight ahead. Good luck with your girls! — Jackie

Removing air from jars, Hopi Pale Grey seeds, and chickens

I have been following your blogs since time began and have always felt a kinship with you. Here are my questions: As a child my grandmother use to take the air out of glass jars full of grains or such by lighting a small wick or twisted paper and then capping while it burned; I haven’t heard or seen this done in many a year. Is this a viable means of getting the oxygen out of a jar?

Next, I would love some of your Pale Grey squash seed and will send a stamped envelope if you have some available this year? I have been gonna ask for several seasons and get side tracked.

I wanted to thank you for answering my question about Best breeds for homestead, foraging chickens; we decided to go back to the Dominiques, which I raised for many years previous to this last bunch & added a couple Black Australorps and a couple Buff Orpingtons for good measure. A suggestion that I would love to pass on as far as homestead poultry is concerned is the Muscovy Duck. My grandmother raised them many years ago and I began again with them about 6 years ago. They are tremendous for keeping the rodent, snake, and other small nuisance critters at bay and aren’t as fatty tasting as other breeds of ducks. However they are very hard to artificially incubate, But no mind as Mama’s Muscovies are very, very PROLIFIC.

V. Ginger Borgeson
Johnstown, Colorado

Yes, you can remove air from jars using this method but it really isn’t necessary and can cause the food to retain a smoky taste. Remember when you were in school and the teacher sucked a hardboiled egg down into a narrow mouth bottle by lighting a piece of paper and dropping it into the bottle then quickly placing the egg on top? The lack of oxygen causes a vacuum and sucks the egg through the seemingly impossible opening. I know I was impressed.

Yes, I still have Hopi Pale Grey squash seeds. I had to cut open a new squash so I could dry seeds to send folks. (If you recently sent a request, your seeds are drying now!)

Thanks for your comments on homestead poultry. I’m sure many can use your tips. — Jackie

Wood ash for the garden

Many of us burn wood during the Winter. I know that wood ash is good for the garden. How much is too much? I have a few new raised beds. They are 8 inches tall and 4 by 8 feet in size. How much ash may I put on those? Are there some vegetables that do not like wood ash? Also, I read an article that told about putting ashes in a container inside the chicken coop. It stated that the chickens would “dust off” in the ashes and that it would keep down mites. Your thoughts on this, please.

J from Missouri

A light coating of the soil is fine but don’t overdo it. And don’t use wood ash if your soil is alkaline as it intensifies the alkalinity. We have acidic soil and sprinkle wood ash over it every year as well as our compost pile each fall/winter/spring. Most plants do well with ash but a few that like more acid soil, such as blueberries, don’t appreciate it. Yearly testing of soil pH is always a good idea, especially if you are adding lime or wood ash to your garden soil to make sure your pH level isn’t over the optimum level of 6.5-7.0.

I don’t like using wood ash in the chicken coop as ash is very fine and can be inhaled and cause respiratory problems in your birds, especially when they are in an enclosed coop. — Jackie