Category: Homesteading

Reverse Osmosis Maple Sap Stats

We collected nine gallons of sap with SG of 1.009 = 2.3 Brix

We ran all of the sap through the reverse osmosis system at 60psi and had sap with SG 1.011 = 2.8 Brix

We ran the concentrated sap through the reverse osmosis system a second time, this time at 80psi and had sap with SG 1.022 = 5.6 Brix.

The “pure water” output SG was about 1.003 — we re-ran this through the RO as well.

At the end of the day, we have about 4 gallons of sap at 5.6% sugar, another gallon from the “pure water” run that’s a lower SG, and four gallons of water that’s removed.

Notes for the future:

  • We want to see what a single pass at higher pressure does — is it multiple passes that farther concentrated the sap or the higher pressure?
  • We took SG readings and converted to brix using an online converter. Next time, we should just take the readings in Brix 🙂
  • We might need a different refractometer to get accurate readings near 1 … not sure how accurate our tool is at the low end of the range.

Incubating Eggs

We’re about to start incubating eight duck eggs, so I wanted to record the temperature and humidity settings that I’ve found for the chicken, duck, and turkey eggs (well, future turkey eggs! We managed to get five male turkeys last year)

DUCKS
Start End Temp Humidity
1 25 99.5 55-58%
26 28 98.5 65%
28 hatching 97 70-80%

 

CHICKENS
Start End Temp Humidity
1 18 99.5-100.5 45-55%
19 Hatching 99.5 65-70%

 

TURKEYS
Start End Temp Humidity
1 24 99-100 50-60%
25 Hatching 99 65-70%

 

A Good Ducky Day

It was something like 72 degrees today — which made for a good ducky day. I’ve been breaking the ice on the pond, and it was finally warm enough for them to go swimming. I’d filled a tub with warm water a week or three ago so they got to splash and clean up, but this was the first time they’ve been able to swim around since everything froze over in January.

 

Duck Loss

We lost a duck yesterday — the first prolapse we’ve experienced. She didn’t lay a large egg, and the shell was not soft (we started giving them calcium a few weeks ago). She didn’t seem to be in distress, and we tried everything the Internet said to do to reduce the swelling and get all of the insides back on her inside to no avail. The other ducks were enjoying splashing in puddles of snow melt, but they would come over to the sick duck and give her ducky hugs — putting their neck across the top of her neck and draping their head down. Eventually, she put her head down, fell asleep, and passed away.

The five remaining ducks seemed pretty down today — they didn’t eat much and spent a lot of the day napping.