Building a chicken coop. 

Nick is such a skillful man and so very nice. You could not have a better teacher, also to mention a great mentor regarding living off grid. Iwan and yourself are becoming so knowledgeable and you are hands on people which makes your learning curve very fast. The scenery and blooming flowers are so beautiful. You are making such a beautiful homestead. Frankie is such a sweetheart and loves to cuddle. So cute! a

Nick is amazing! He is so knowledgeable in practical, really useful skills!... besides being a great human being and friend, always ready to share his knowledge!

Loved that opening shot of the chicken coming up the path - all your pet, tree, flower and bird shots is one of the things I enjoy most about your videos. And spring in Portugal does look lovely.

Always enjoy how chill your animals are, even when a certain bounding beast is ripping around so joyously.

I wondered when Uncle Nick would come to the rescue of the chicken coop lol 😂- he’s a total legend ☺️

So happy you were able to help the hen, she must have been suffering . The coop is shaping up well too, good work .

We bought a wood chipper last summer. Brilliant things but one thing we learnt is to wear eye protection, you never know when a branch is going to whip round & swipe your face. Take care 🙂

Aren’t we blessed to be able to live in this beautiful country? So happy we made the move! And you guys are very inspiring ❤

Everybody (2- and 4-legged) seems to be enjoying spring in Portugal, makes me hanker for warmer days in England! Frankie looks sweet with her new hair cut and glad Ali the hen is recovering. Beautiful flora on your homestead.

Hi, Carissa and Iwan. Nick is THE MAN! He’s so kind with his energy. It’s good to see the new chicken coop almost done. It looks like the wood chipper will be very handy tool. I loved to see Frankie snuggling in your sweater, Carissa… she’s precious dog❤️ Albie and Blackie are so cute cuddling together😻 I look forward to seeing what Nick and Andrea help you with next week. Have a good week… see you next Saturday❤️❤️

Your animals are so easy going! Their expressions give me a smile! 💜🌻 cats cuddling are adorable!

You two take such good care of your animals. I'm glad your hen is better. The chickens are going to love their new house.

Hi, glad your hen is better. Epsom salts is very useful. PinkTarmind grows well here, I would love to send you some seed. The chicken coop is looking good. Nice to have handy friends, you could put a sliding door on...just a space saving thought. Your like me with seeds refusing to give up. Love your little green house set up. Save old soil for your nasturtium seeds, the chipper is the best garden item, plenty of mulch and makes the best airreated compost too. I love the daffodil with the apple blossom so beautiful. Spring is here when you see and hear the buzzards wheeling on the thermals. Have a lovely week, excited about the next video. Stay safe.😊

I have that exact model Chipper in Australia. Here the brand is known as Ozito. Try not to chop large dead wood as it blunts the blades very quickly. Blades are reversible & easily sharpened, cutting side changed or replaced. Can clog up after a while but that is no major problem. Best used for 15 minutes at a time then rested for half an hour. If you use it much longer it will turn off & will not run again until it has completely cooled down. For the price it is well worth the money. Not sure what warranty you get there but here we get a 3 year full replacement warranty on all Ozito products & they always honour it without any hassles. Oh & be careful when unclogging as the blades are extremely sharp & can easily take half your finger off.

Great video, good old Nick getting the coop up to height, glad you helped your poorly hen & so nice to see your assorted animal friends getting on so well together.

Carissa I bet you’re art work could be fantastic on the chicken coop! Looks really good!

Looking back on your older video's, trying to catch up still! Well done

So glad the chicken passed the egg I had to help my chicken pass hers it was stuck 😮but after that she was fantastic the weather looks lovely xx

Your videos are adorable . Uncle Nick, instead of giving you a fish, gives a fishing rod and teaches how to fish.😄

All appreciation for off griders like us

You both work so hard! Glad "Uncle Nick" is still rescuing his friends and neighbors! You look very happy! Every year, you accomplish more of getting the basic necessities of a comfortable life completed! Each year living off grid becomes a little bit easier because of this! I will have to read about "lash eggs". New to me! Keep up the good work!

Carissa, I have been trying to grow sweet potato slips as well for the first time. I tried the three toothpick method in a jar for over a month and got nothing. I also tried placing the potato lengthwise half deep in starter soil mix and it worked great. I must have 30 slips growing from the ends and middle of the three potatoes I used !! I wish I could send you a picture of this great success! Jon.

All Nicks are angels

If Allie is a cross between a leghorn and rhode island red, as they get older they do seem to have laying issues. They are production birds and the amount of eggs they lay over the course of their lives is stressful on their bodies. Tha5 said, they have amazing personalities and are wonderful birds!

I can’t say it enough how much I enjoy your background music. Big day on the homestead. That Nick’s a keeper.

I wish that all the Portuguese you tubers could put 90euros in each and buy aBig Bertha of a shredder that is on wheels and you could just tow from place to place. It would fix up all your eucalyptus!,olive and fruit tree cuttings and make the best compost heaps in Portugal. Love all your content from Aus

Yeay!!! A woodchipper!! Now you can start spreading wood chips in your garden and not have to weed so much, after a while, nor have to get permission to burn branches👏👏🙂

I'm sure that I cut the end off the sweet potato, (ate the centre) let the cut dry before placing in ground when I grew them in Far North Queensland!

Hey guys. I watch, but have never commented. You asked about calcium. Like us chickens needs vitamin D to utilise and convert calcium. Like us, in winter natural vitamin D is in short supply. During Autumn, winter and early spring I supplement our chickens with a tonic, which can be diluted and put on food (I've trained our chickens to eat breakfast from us, usually various grains, few pellets, and a little fruit) this enables me to medicate them if and when necessary). During winter, when they aren't free ranging outside of their winter garden, they get an occasional boost of vitamins, Nettex poultry power drops and I always supplement with Johnsons poultry tonic, which goes in their water and also on their breakfast. I don't use it every day, but it does help with keeping them fit and healthy and in ensuring they get enough vitamin D during the darker months. Calcium supplementation is vital or they will take calcium from their bones, and giving free access to grit and oyster shell is perfect, but they need the vitamin D. The lumps you're seeing are not unusual after winter, their bodies are kicking in to laying again with the longer days, it just takes a little while for everything to work properly. The egg you mentioned is not unusual either, again it can be a hen, often an older hen kicking back in, to laying again. I'm glad that she passed that egg, finally, if this happens again give her olive oil, or liquid paraffin, it will lubricate and oil and facilitate passing the egg along with the warm bum soak. She's lucky, this could easily have resulted in peritonitis. It can be difficult with a poorly hen, especially when we change something, any stress can be difficult for a hen, they generally don't like change. Hopefully you can find the poultry power and Johnsons poultry tonic, both are good to have in the medicine hen cabinet.

I just found your channel and am really enjoying it. You two are quite amazing and so down to earth- it's really refreshing. Must be the Welsh in you both...me ancestry is Welsh, my maiden name is Williams, which I hear is like Smith, here in the states...lol. Back to watching your awesome vids 👌

good morning your such agood couple animals god bless you all

Glad all is well with you all, frankie looks great,and what a welcome home Iwan got

Frankie looks like a puppy with her new hairdo , good that you planted those floating seeds , I would have done it too 😄 happy easter 🐣❤

🤗 Frankie Taking Refuge In Sweater 🤗 Albi and João cuddling, Diogo napping, Simeãow stalking, spa treating Ali🐓, Uncle Nick, Iwan being a machine pruning strimming building, Catissa nurturning everything.

That wood chipper is a great tool. Makes it easier to fill raised beds and compost. I'm glad Nick popped around to get the chicken coop structure to the point where it can get finished. I wonder if there is a feed mix that would help. Great vid.🙂👍👍🇨🇦

Good job with the poor hen. She was really trusting you when you were soaking her, maybe already feeling some relief. You don't need to use a whole sweet potato to produce slips for planting. You can just cut off about 2" of the top end (where some stem buds may already be showing -- the root end will not have any buds and may have a few thread-like rootlets). Cut nice and flat and clean and then just place it in a bowl of water, covering maybe half the piece of potato. It's much easier and you can still eat most of the potato. The slips should be snapped off once about 4 inches long and allowed to grow roots in water before planting in the garden. I've grown Ipomoea batatas in my veg garden many times, both in Canada and in the Azores.

PS I think a small 4 wheel platform might be handy for your power battery. Something like a small child’s wagon. I saw you lifting it and wished I could gift you one. 😊

The animals are fun to see. I like how you have fresh flowers sitting around various places.

Also, for the sweet potatoes, you could lay them on their sides in a tray of soil and bury them only 3/4 deep. Keep moist. they should sprout slips.

Don't forget to keep making kindling bundles too. I save all my paper, cardboard & twigs all summer for winter... Besides cutting my wood.

I understand that you take your empty eggshells rinse well then bake n the oven about 10-15 min to sterilize. Crush with a rolling pin and put in with their feed. Free calcium for them.

hello friend long time nosee your vlog im happy to see you and your family again god bless you all

I found starting sweet potato slips in the ground much better. Never had much luck in water.

Those commercial breed hens (lohmans, isa browns etc) are renown for egg laying issues and poor health when only a couple years old due to them being breed to pump out eggs. That's why egg laying farms often get rid of them at two years of age. Perhaps try sourcing a heritage breed hen or even crosses of heritage breeds. They will lay for longer (maybe not an egg every day like the commercial breed hens) and won't have the egg laying and other health issues.

Nice bit of dinner jazz to accompany the video....Learnt a few gardening tips, cheers

Nic y hand print has b on soo many helpful projects u are a great guy 😊

So good of nick to come and help. I'm looking forward so seeing your next project 😊😊

I live in a similar climate here in Greece, mmm well not as hot as you guys get. I wanted a quick growing shade tree to keep cool under in summer. My mulberry tree is a treasure, I trim it every winter to keep it low but in summer it gives perfect shade after three years.

😊❤ Loved the video! So calm... 😊

Try those seeds you have in water on paper in a plastic container damp the paper place seeds on put lid on and leave in a sunny place and they might sprout

I arrived in Porto on 3/30 to clouds rain cool weather. Today in Ponte de Barca we're down two chickens and a sheep Visiting my wifesmparnts here for 3 weeks love it here.

The coop is coming along 👍

Great update! The garden looks very promising. Thank you for sharing!

Really really loves your content and the pace of the videos, thanks!!

Congratulations on getting the chicken coop mostly completed. Diogo seemed very excited to have Iwan back home from the strumming. I'm wondering how hot those armchairs in the garden get if they are in full sunshine.

Great, as ever. I am always soothed and chilled after watching your vids. Thanks

Well done on curing the hen I had one have the same problem love to see Frankie she's a treasure the dogs do get excited to see Huan it's so funny chicken house is like a palace crossing my fingers that the seeds germinated for you I've just put in garlic more seeds plants to go look forward to the Next video love the channel greetings from Australia

Great video the chicken coop looking awesome Love all the flowers in spring Blunt end down on the sweet potato’s up to half way they sprout under the water,change water every 2-3 days Thank you for sharing 😁

O “ Tio Nick”é o melhor 👍👏👏👏💪💪💪 🆘 Tio Nick

Uma vida saudável mora na fazenda 👍👍

Very happy for you!

You have been busy on the farm but everything is starting to grow now it’s Spring. Hope you were able o help the chicken.❤️❤️

On the subject of sweet poatoes i watched all the videos on utube and they make it sound so simple.I have only come across 1 comment by accident that was helpfull and that was ....... They can take a long time to produce slips. I tried both methods ie in water and half buried. Red ones and white .I set them off before Christmas and only this week have the red started to produce shoots. Looking forward to see how yours do. Keep us posted.

I am worried that this wood chipper will not last long . Some equipment you need to spend good money to get the quality, but hey let’s hope this work for you.😊😊

Great videos as always, love how we’re all doing similar things on our homesteads. The garden is taking priority, til it’s too warm then back indoors. And other food production, I have duck and quail eggs to incubate, and need to find some hens for our roos! Doesn’t Nick make everything look so easy 😎we are about to attempt a patio and pergola, I will go back and re-watch his vids, but I’d be happy with, in his words “a solid structure” at the end of it 🤣 unless of course he fancies a busman’s holiday to Bulgaria 🤔

Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love and bless you guys.Nick is a treasure always there to help, you could buy a bag of lime plaster and point that whole of your stone building on the outside this is going to make it beautiful and then make a veranda on front of your buildings than you can be outside even if it rains or stay out of the Sun 😎🌞.

Really lovely to see you all enjoyin springtime . 😊 probably to manage the heat , a pool ??

beautiful vibe

Such a chillaxing video

Neighbors don't come any better than Uncle Nick!

You both are doing an amazing job 👌

It occurs to me that you should soak the roots of the avocados overnight before planting them.

Great video, I really enjoyed

Helo o Awstralia. Your videos are so calming to watch - simply love them! Your chicken coop is definitely shaping up :) Aesthetically please - maybe a chicken mural? lol So glad Ali is sorting out slowly. I didn't like it when our Grotty Totty wasn't well and didn't recover. Loved your reports on Avocados - I've tried many times both in Aus and in New Zealand but no luck - I will bury them and wait (maybe just not given them enough time). Anyway back to the reality of life and looking forward to next week's video. Hwyl fawr xxxx

Blessings

You could stand the wood chipper in the wheelbarrow so the bits are caught and can be moved easily.

Rest your weary head Frankie .. And the bouquet is gorgeous.

Hi Carissa, I notice that your cooker is very low for you - perhaps you could use some of the damaged breeze blocks to make a temporary/ permanent base for it.

I wonder if the block chicken house will become too hot for the chickens in the summer as those blocks heat up during the daytime and let their heat off at night . 🇦🇺🙋‍♀️

Would love chooks!! Just not sure how I would handle it when they get sick or something like that!!

Lovely video again, ❤ see ya soon

Good thing you didnt have a vet give your hen an antibiotic, would have made ist worse. Congrats on treating her yourself with Patients and love.

Yes, i went straight to Google before you could say it.

👍

Hey, I’m just now getting to this video. Did that tamarind grow well? Thanks, and enjoy holiday!

Just a thought, have you thought any about Electro Culture, there’s plenty of info on utube, may be interesting as t seems it gives better yields, keep up the good work😊👍

💗

What kind of flowered branches were in your vase?

🐓❤

❤️👍

It always makes me giggle when pet owners name their dogs the opposite sex. One of my dear old friends named their dear dog Ralph, and it was also a girl. Love sent front Nevada, USA

🌟👏👍🍀💐 32:42

Onde compraste o triturador? Qual a marca, por favor.

What was in your water while you were sowing seeds? (15:30 mark)

Putting the olive chips in chicken pen would be good, its a natural anti bacterial and will break down into nice compost over time. Carissa what are the pink flowers please, on the sagey leaves? So lovely Ali hen is happy again ❤

Are you starting the new /old room with Nick and Ange’s help?

It's not a good idea to feed your girls the eggshell as it encourages them to eat the eggs ....... Love what you are doing. Enjoy the sunshine ❤🦘🇦🇺

It sounds it bit strange, my mother turned them around, and then they started to lay again, really easy…

Nick makes it look like he’s easy eh, lol

Avocado trees, like a lot of other fruit trees, must be grafted, this avocado will bear no or bad fruits. 🤷🏼‍♀️