I think this way is so smart. Lumnah Acres does the deep bedding method for wintering their chickens as well. There’s isn’t as big as yours but I was excited last year to see him try it (and do it again this year) because I’d seen you do it first. It just seems practical and natural to me. Thank you for sharing. Have a blessed day. ~Lisa
Super upload, I hope you are on your way to replacing the breeding flock and get that revenue stream back in process. Let the animals do the heavy lifting works for me and your back not cleaning barns. I hope the cattle barn build is on schedule.
This is a good idea in a lot of ways you get to grow your veggies in summer season and then the birds get housing and brouse to feed on, the birds clean their pen and they will eat the weed seeds and the leftover seeds so you will have less volunteer plants growing, they will cultivate and fertilize the soil. You could set up some straw bale grow beds and use the manure (Rabbit manure works well) to turn the bed into a heat source then later to grow your winter greens, and have 3 or4 of these smaller straw bale beds and get them working as needed to heat the hot house and as things turn to spring you will be able to start your plants in these grow beds once they are mostly spent and not providing as much heat plant the seeds for spring crops. Another thing that some hot house growers are doing is adding the second plastic liner and bottom liner droops down inside the hot house and they use a wood stove and a fan to pressurise the space between the two plastic layers and the fan forces the heated air to the none stove end of the hot house and it makes a large difference in the ability to heat and keep the heat inside. Can you please show what the hot house looks like inside, in the spring when the birds are moved out.
Use that ground heat for making fresh green sprouts for healthy cheap food over winter. Seeds in bulk are so cheap, and they are mostly on sale now... Just fence off sections, throw down cold hardy seeds like mustards, lettuces, brassicas, chard and moisten the area. Every couple of days seed a new section. (You could even keep a section isolated for some greens for your own use.) You do a chicken rotation just like in the pasture.
I was thinking rye would be a good choice for something like this -- very cold-hardy, and you could probably keep annual rye (not perennial "ryegrass") growing continuously throughout the winter. If it was seeded into raised beds covered with chicken wire or hardware cloth a few inches above soil level, the birds or other animals could graze continuously on the growing grass without destroying it, keeping it at an _adolescent_ stage of maximal growth. As you suggested, it would even be possible to fence of sections and graze rotationally!. Adding plants of some kind would definitely be a good idea, as it would greatly improve air quality without requiring as much fresh (and cold!) outdoor air. Obviously you couldn't grow enough grass to keep the animals fed, but fresh greens would still be a very beneficial addition to their diet.
Simeon, you have a quiet, peaceful, loving manner that is refreshing. You are a terrific educator and many are privileged to visit you, your family and your farm on a regular basis. Many thanks for all your effort at producing successful videos.
I love to watch your chickens. Always happy and healthy, and not a peck-chicken in sight. If we could have an update on the hatchery, as well, that would also be great.
NIIIICE TUTORIAL HERE SIMEON... I'VE WATCHED MAYBE 3 to 4 OTHERS USING THIS SAME SYSTEM & NONE EVEN CAME CLOSE TO PROVIDING THE KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE HERE, WELL DONE. ( KNUCKLE👊🏽BUMP ) Simeon/Homestead
Those look like some very healthy and happy chickens and you seem to have plenty of room for more. This is a very impressive system. I look forward to your progress! Thanks for these videos.
Possibly add worms to the cycle. Worms can finish compost that starts to cool down. They can handle meat scraps in the compost. They are a source of protein for the chickens.
Your channel is my new favorite channel! So many informative beautiful videos that I hardly get anything done anymore. How much wind and snow can a greenhouse like this one handle? Thank you / Markus (Sthlm, Sweden)
I just wanted to say from viewing the "deep bedding" videos I have watched over the last year or more I decided to do the same in my own way with my small number of birds. I slowly built up the bedding using commercial wood chips, shavings, grass and leaves from the lawn plus ground corn cobs. A couple of bags of sand were added and even ash from my charcoal grill. I too toss a handful of scratch grain in there to get the chickens stirring things up. Their inside coop is three sided and 3X8m, the outside fenced area is about the same. I guess bedding is around 20cm deep at this time. I only have 8 laying pullets and they just started laying a month ago but with this small number their area is never built up with manure and I do think the smell was very minimal for the hot fall we had. I plan to add additional ground corn cobs this weekend and once the leaves accumulate I am going to go over them with the bagger attachment to the mower and add these. Long story to say I am glad I went with the deep bedding (I had not heard of the idea before you) as I have gone the other route before and it is rather smelly with caked manure.
A lot of great information Simeon, thank you for sharing your experiences with this system. I will be tacking up 4 mil plastic around my small chicken run to keep the wind off of them as well as the rain. I will vent it, of course.
I'm moving my chicken coop to my garden. So they can clean out the plants and do similar to what I have seen you do. I have a "typical" garden, no wood chips, outdoor. First time trying it and wondered if anyone had tips to try? Love the videos!
Hi Simeon, I live in a small town in the USA (so glad you're coming here!) and have watched so many of your videos. Your poultry operation is amazing. So well thought out with great success from the looks of your happy birds. I would buy one for dinner and know it would be delicious!!;) I enjoyed the explanation of the wintering process. So interesting and healthy for your flock. I am fascinated by your beautiful Highland cattle. I followed Susie's saga with the rest of your viewers. I so admire your intelligent farming methods, Simeon. I wish more farmers would grow organic crops and care about sustainability. I hope that something can be done to allow your cattle to be slaughtered. One viewer had that great idea about a traveling butcher. So many in your area could benefit from that service. Maybe an ad in local newspaper, farming magazines or online? Best of luck. Hi to your lovely family. Your North Carolina viewer
I have been following you for about a year now. I understand that your wife is from Arizona, USA. Have you ever considered moving to AZ, USA? I think you should do a Pros & Cons list while you are still living in Sweden; and then, when you visit in AZ for the Holidays so that they can help you with your Pros & Cons with her family. Maybe it's not even a possibility but you seem to have such a hard life; does it have to be so hard? Maybe the Rhodes family in North Carolina, USA could also share some wisdom. Wishing my best for you & yours, Mark
How long do you let the compost rest in the spring before you start planting? I would love to be able to use a hoop house for overwintering chickens and pigs and then use it to grow vegetables, but I'm assuming I would have to let it rest for at least a few months after moving the animals out?
Question from someone that has no Idea about farming. Can’t you keep you keep it warm by composting inside the greenhouse? wood chip stays hot longer as it takes longer to break down I think, also I’ve seen ppl making some sort of heat exchange with the compost
No work for me, friend Simeon .. Come Winter we sell all calf crop and kill all of our chickens … and start over come Spring … Looks like seasons are much milder where you live … Many tears and wishing you much luck. Your family is beautiful. … says this Alberta cat.
Excuse this somewhat off-topic question, but how did you get the goose ( geese if there's more than one) in there? Will your geese let you approach and pick them up, or did you get them to willingly follow you in there?
Would it be possible (and even desirable) to lift or raise the nesting sticks, in order to provide a safe sone for your chickens, if a predator ever gets in?
hi simeon! greetings from a dutch lady in norway. thank you for all your videos! really appreciate it also because i am still learning how to farm here in the north. do your chickens lay eggs i the winter in the greenhouse and where do you keep the nesting boxes? hilsen !
You know, we get some but not much. Our winters are so cold that they die often. Some seeds that are deep in the bedding survive and when I plant I dig them up. I usually pull them out because I don't know what variety they are. Most likely they are cross pollinated...
simeon, where do the chickens lay and sit on their eggs? do you put down bedding somewhere for that purpose? also, do you supplement with feed? my cousin used to raise chickens here in winlock, WA. he used to give his chickens table scraps. he rarely threw anything away. those chicken ate everything! even another chicken if it was pecked on and vulnerable.
Would adding a couple of black barrels with water or antifreeze to collect heat to radiat out at night be helpful? I ask for my cousin who had a few hoop houses he is looking to move from another farm to his... and this might be something he'll be interested in.
Hello, What is your average temp. in the winter there and then what is the average temp in the greenhouse? also do your hens still lay eggs in the winter ?
In an older video, he had made mention that a compost pile he had in the greenhouse, (it was decent size maybe 8 feet around) was able to keep the temp 4 to 5 degrees higher then the outside temp. He also said that was with a couple of large holes in the plastic from preditors.
Our set up is 10'x20'. We have 12 chickens and use the deep bedding method. The coop would go below freezing at night but usually a few degrees above the outside temp. During the day it can be as much as 20c warmer than outside. Our ladies enjoyed above freezing temps most of our winter. We are in Northern Ontario. I can't say enough good things about this method!
Do you ever feed your chickens crushed eggshells and meat? I saw Justin Rhodes feed them to his chickens and was surprised because I didn't know chickens eat that stuff!
Chickens eat almost anything. They need good protein and need insects. If you are allowed to feed them meat, do so. There are regulations around that in many places.
@@simeonandalex I guess the "mad cow disease" thing would have been a factor in the regulations. That's something else I didn't know about. lol Thanks! :)
If possible I always recommend to let them go their natural cycle. They will lay little and recover a lot during this winter season. Nights here are so short that they will rest for most part of the 24 hours. In march it is still cold but much brighter. The sun will warm up the hoop house a lot during day time and egg production will kick in.
Hey Kathy Claus. We don't have a gofundme right now. At the moment you can donate via our facebook page or buy some merch from us. Both links are in the description.
