Join us on our journey towards building community, increasing our resiliency, and generally trying to figure things out. I'm pretty sure that's what you call homesteading.
I have seen people do that for a fixed coup, but since ours is a tractor that gets moved often I'm looking at running a strand of electric wire instead.
awesome work, but a more permanent way of protecting your birds of course would be an electric fence, but another layer of defence would be giving your birds access to a higher up more fortified roost, as racoons, opossums and such cant jump as high as chickens can. it seems to be working good, we've had the system for a little more than a year now with 0 casualties.
The electric fence is definitely going in soon, but I hadn't thought about raising their roost. I'm going to see how I could do that in my setup. Thanks for the recommendation!
You're not wrong! 🤣🤣🤣 I quickly realized that, although it is possible, it's probably not a good idea. That's why I made sure to include that bit at the end.
They’re crowded and bored. What do you expect? They live in a torture device. Shame on you. That’s not even minimally humane! May as well Live at Foster Farms. 😢😢😢
We have been waiting until we have a little larger/more secure property before getting a dog (1/2 acre without a fence isn't ideal 😀), but I have been rethinking that lately. As for the bare feet, didn't really give any thought to it. Just like to feel the ground sometimes.
Good video - I've processed some quail before but a few days I ran a "test run" and processed three roosters. My setup was a bit different and I skinned vs plucked because of what I have available to me, but there is that moment leading up to it where it's like "ehhh do I really have to do it?" I told my wife, it makes us appreciate the food we eat much more versus going to the store and buying it off a shelf without thinking twice about it. Told each fella thank you as we processed them. Plan to do more this weekend. They will give us meat in our freezer (plus cut down on the crowing haha - we got 10 roosters from a straight run of 10 we got...talk about BAD LUCK)
Man, yes. There is definite appreciation for what you get. Good luck this weekend. I hope everything goes smoothly for you. Also, that really is some bad luck on the straight run!
For all the nonsense.. every once in a while the YT algorithm does work. I'm glad it brought me here. Great video. You have a new subscriber. Looking forward to more from you.
I fed mine in the morning and in the evening, they free ranged for the rest, in the tropics we feed them coconut and banana leaves to help fatten them up.
Thanks for the comment! That's really interesting. I don't have access to banana leaves here, but we might try supplementing something else to help fatten them up next time.
This is why most people feed them on a 12 hour timeframe, 12 on, 12 off. Then they eat more during their 12 hours on. They put on weight a lot quicker and can be harvested a lot sooner.
Thanks for the feedback! I've heard various opinions about the 12 on, 12 off schedule (imagine that, contradicting info on the internet) so we opted for continuous feeding; however, after this experience we'll definitely re-evaluate that.
My Thoughts. If they are getting continuous feed, is that they are using more energy than they are eating - common reasons can be cold I doubt it in your case since you are in the northern hemisphere, or eating other lower fat and protein food - grass. Moving them daily keeps them clean, but if they are eating grass they may not be eating enough feed to keep up the nutrition for weight gain. Of course, other reasons can be worms or vitamin deficiency from low quality cheap feed .
Thanks for the comment! The grass could be a consideration. We're trying to figure out how to changes things up the next time around and we might do them in woods with an electric fence instead of in the tractor. Also, we ruled out feed (bought the good stuff), vitamins (supplemented with Fertrell's Nutribalancer), but there could have been some sort of worm that we never identified.
Don't tip trees over with equipment. Obviously the roots and stumps are a real problem. Cut the trees down, then cut the stumps as close to the ground as possible. Use a stump grinder to cut the top off of stump. Or use a chain saw to cut the edges of the stump down so that they won't snag equipment passing over them. Drill some large diameter holes in the stump to promote rot. Cover the stump with a bit of dirt. Work around the stumps whete you can, remove only the you need to.
Where can I start my comments? I guess kudos to you for involving 3 (and sometimes 4) of your young children in this project. This is exactly how children learn AND gain confidence in accomplishing a task. Secondly, and just as importantly, what a novel idea to build your compost sifter. I am sure your idea will be replicated by others. Using the Saw-zall was certainly thinking outside the box, but you realized the negative affect on the power tool using it to move the sifter. With 3 little big helpers to operate the sifter, the job should get done manually in a short time. I really like your idea!
I agree about the premier 1 fencing helping with hawks. We have a mobile coop on pasture with the fencing and haven’t had a single attack in two years. We have tons of hawks and owls on our property. Best of luck!
New subscriber. Looking forward to seeing where your journey takes you. I know you didn't ask but highly suggest following Jess at Roots and Refuge Farm and Morgan at Gold Shaw farm. Not sure where you are located?
I'm in the north part of Mississippi (so no where close to those two). I'm a huge fan of Jess and Morgan puts out really solid content. Oddly enough, I had the chance to talk with Jess at Justin's Homestead tour and that conversation shaped how I think about my content. I might do a video on that at some point.
I am a brand new subscriber, with the bell rung, also. I wish you well in your journey. I'll go back and watch from the beginning of your RU-vid channel's videos. I thought you had very recently visited the Rhodes homestead, but your video doesn't reflect the current condition of the remodeling of the main barn/home. I have an abundance of questions about you and your family.
Wow, thanks so much for the sub! You're spot on about the timing. That was shot back in Jan/Feb of '23. Being new to content creation, I wanted to have at least 10 videos ready to go before launching the channel. Thought it would take 3-4 months. Ended up taking well over a year! Had a lot to learn, but I've gotten much quicker so it definitely won't take another year to get 10 more videos up.
I probably would have gone the other way and asked if you could sign a lease for the land, which would be immediately revocable by his heirs on death or if he decided to develop it, also give you first right of refusal on future transfers. That way, you're not a squatter, you're a renter with a solid document. Of course I wasn't there.
That's a good point. We've been actively looking for land and are prepared to move at any point so we decided to take the easiest way to pacify his concerns. Other than this isolated situation, he's been a really laid back neighbor and we've got a good relationship.
Nice too see a fresh "new" (to RU-vid) face. Good to hear the receiving side of what Justin Rhodes is trying to build within the homesteading community. I'll subscribe to your channel and see where you're going. Good luck on your journey!
