You can raise chickens, turkeys, broilers, piglets, ducks, and more in the Suscovich Chicken Tractor. See photos of the design in action here: bit.ly/37elin7
"Don't give up the day job" is very good advice. Having an off farm income will give you financial security and allow you to use profits from the farm to invest in and grow your business. Farming is a marathon not a sprint.
Thanks for taking time to make these videos. I know dragging cameras and tripods, setting up camera angles etc (we won't even go into the editing) adds significantly to your chore time. I, personally, am grateful.
I, personally, am grateful that you are grateful, haha. It's a never-ending loop. I love what I do and I am happy that I have the skills, the passion, and the tools to share it. I put in the hours to support my family, better the planet in my own little way, and to support the community of people just like me who are trying to make it all work.
1:53 He pronounced "raise" incorrectly because he made a Z sound but it's spelt with an S, so it should be pronounced as "rās", not "rāz". He should pronounce "raise" with an S sound, not a Z sound because it's spelt with an S, not a Z. If the word spells with an S, it should always make an S sound, not a Z sound. If the word really spells with a Z, then that's only when making a Z sound is alright, otherwise the Z sound not alright with the S spelling.
Masashi Ng No, he pronounced it correctly. English language has a lot of exceptions to the rules. The way you thought it should be pronounced would sound like the word"race". As in, if you and I were to run from Justin's pens to the tree groves in the background. Maybe a friendly wager put on said race. " Hey dude, I'll race you to the tree groves. Loser buys the winner a soda pop" . There are times when a word is spelled with a "z" and has the "s" sound too. However at the moment I can't think of one !
It really is that easy. I was a homeschooling mom who wanted to improve our food chain, so I started gardening a 64x64 space, raising all the major meats, and milking 3 goats and a cow. During summer it's maybe an hour a day. When you have a large enterprise or no land at all, then the chores become a full time job.
great advice for newbies John, my wife and I are now 20 years at this and when we started we both worked 8-5 type jobs, now only i work full time. Focusing on efficiency is key, as you mention, the birds my only need 15 minutes a day of your time until the final day. We have really focused our time to learning from neighbours and an area butcher. These days we get two heritage hogs each year from a local lady and her husband that have two breeding sows, we were part of a a whole group of homesteaders that agreed we would take two hogs each year , every year, and this has lead to having this stock available to us without us having to breed them. I am so much happier and healthier since we started raising our own animals. When anyone asks "why" we do it, I have one simple reply: I like knowing what my food ate.
This is great content. I’m almost two years into setting up my property which was largely overgrown and unmanaged. I have a lot of grasslands now. Predators will be an issue as we live in the mountains but I’m sure you have those as well. We also have two months of wind that will blow down barns and tear eves off. But I’m excited for the challenge and to start early next spring. Your info is very helpful. Oh and I like how you have morning chores as you called it. I have started writing a book titled Morning Work. It’s mostly a journal of daily morning work from sun up until I get ready for my day job. I tell a lot of stories in it but the main point of the book is self discovery and the age old remedy for mental health which is a getting up out of bed and going to work on the land.
I'm glad you are expressing a sensible, gradual approach. There are so many homesteading channels that sell this bullshit fantasy of "quit yo job and homestead!" to get clicks and views and I think that sort of advice is dangerous. When I started my homestead last year I thought I was being sensible and STILL managed to over extend myself and have had to scale back a lot and reboot (luckily I had the good sense to keep my day job...)
BareFoot BackYard Thank you! It's been a lot of work, and I've stumbled a lot, but I keep moving forward! Yes, I have a channel; documenting my journey. :)
Been watching your vids for two years now and two days ago I got a business license. Today I'm putting together garden beds. Thanks for all you do on RU-vid, it's really helped me.
Good morning John. You've learned so much about your farm and have made the flow of creating your videos a learning experience for us as well. Good to see you as always and have a beautiful rest of your day. ~Smile!
We raise pigs (7) turkeys (30) broilers (75 a year) and a few layers. I work full time off the farm but I cannot get everything done in twenty minutes! It takes longer then that just to check on them all- a big part of successful animal husbandry Is LOOKING at them in addition to feeding and watering them. We like the red rangers too. I don’t know how you can do it that quick.
This is great, thanks man! We just moved in to our farm at the end of last year and just got our first hens yesterday. Thinking about broilers and a couple pigs for us and friends/family. I work full time still. We've been planning that I'll need to keep my job a minimum of 3-5 years while my wife can be full time farmer. With luck I'll be able to join her then. Saving a ton in the mean time. Cheers!
You’re doing it right Bill, I appreciate that. Great approach. Always keep reminding yourselves why you are doing what you’re doing and remember to put each other and your family first.
You my sir have some very nice fescue. Thank you for the videos very informative. I like how you mentioned marketing which people often time forget. Again thank you for the videos. 👍👍
Great video John...makes it seem very doable & I like how you are keeping good records to make sure you're profitable. I thought my hens were noisy, but after hearing those girls scold you...well I feel lucky I only have one that follows me and scolds me for treats. o.- Thanks for sharing all you do, it really inspires.
More about your efficiency watch a RU-vid tutorial on tying a falconers knot. It'll take about 5 minutes to learn and make tying that rope across the tarp on your nesting boxes much faster. It can also be tied one handed.
Im impressed, it takes me 45 min every morning to feed/water my dual purpose chickens, 3 ducks,2 geese and 4 turkeys... wish i could make it that easy and fast
Hi john , thank's for uploading awesome videos and sharing facts n figures about poultry farming for free range. Sir I would like to request u to upload the vide about the electric fence ,like homemade fence or readymade fence, so that it will be helpful for upcoming farmer. I am from Nepal. Thank u again. Keep it up.
Slow and steady really is the way to go. We just got our homestead and I started with 9 ducks. A month later I added 15 layers and 14 guinea hens. I did hatch 3 chicks (out of 14 eggs, such a terrible ratio) between the ducks and layer hens. Two of those chicks died due to predation. One of the runner ducks died for no reason I could think of and one guinea keet didn't survive the first night. All in all building the bird house to hold what I have, with a division to hold the guineas at least two months in there, took quite a while but it is totally worth it. I'm down to about 10 min refreshing water and feeding the flock. The layer chicks take longer as they are in a smaller pen inside the electric fencing learning to be outside and I have to catch them and release them where they are supposed to spend the day or night. But all of it has been super rewarding even though I've never been a morning person and have difficulty doing anything before my morning coffee. I also have two horizontal bee hives both full of local wild bees we caught. I can't wait to taste some of that trully raw and natural honey. We are planning on building trucks to raise meat birds. Soon.
Hey John, we love watching your vid's as a family. Soon we will be moving to our own 100 acre plot here in Australia to do the same thing as you =). BTW we love your copy of "Hello my name is Sam, I am REAPER" shirt....lol. Very funny.
Love the Red Rangers instead. How much granite do you have to feed them to prevent sour crop with the long grass ? Have you ever had that problem? I usually get one or two with it.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I don't understand why more people don't do this. It takes just a few minutes a day and it doesn't take much room. When I was working at the mill we worked 14 hour days starting at 5am plus I had a 45 minute ride there. I had to be up at 3:30 before the farm after I had 25 layers 12 rabbits and 2 pigs plus 20 or so meat birds and another 20 grow out rabbits during summer I only got up 15 minutes earlier. And as far as space we only have three acres at the most. My grandmother owns an old 90 acre farm she says she wants me to start working next season.
Mahky Maaahk doing great I’ve added khaki ducks and pekin ducks and just got started with some quail. I’ve also got three pigs coming the first of May to raise for the freezer. Still got the chickens rabbits and goats too.
Great video as always John. I recently started raising guinea fowl in a tractor-style coop setup. Due to the nature of these birds, they often run away from "threats" (me) and tend to huddle in the back when I'm pulling my tractor. Thusly, I've bumped/upset at least one of them while in motion. I have a few ideas to remedy this, but I am wondering if you have any problems with hitting or injuring your birds when moving your tractors? Thanks!
Check out the "Little Giant" water system. See Bakers Green Acres. 1/4 inch dark poly from a 1/2 inch manifold. They manufacture in Wi. Best system for water. Saves time and cleanup. Have a great season.
Hey John. Thanks for another informative video. I am wondering if your birds ever try to roost on their waterer because it is an issue for me. I noticed that yours have open tops while mine are closed. Could that be the reason? Thanks in advance.
Very helpful video once again! We have plans to raise layers and still tossing around what method we will use to breed. Got a question with your layers, is there a time you have hens hatching at all or you do incubator or both? If you let brooding as part of your process, how do you segregate them especially with a large flock like that. I haven't noticed a second coop so far in your videos. Thanks!
I’ve enjoyed your vids for quite a while. Hoping to have a small homestead at some point, but I have a “city boy” question; do the broilers also lay and do you need to collect before you move the tractors?
Loving your videos, great to watch. I'm surprised how noisy the hens are when it comes to being around them. Have you not thought about a bungeee cord rather than rope, Just means you can unclip it then rather than untie
I have chickens now, but I want to transtition to the chicken tractors. What are the first few steps that I should do? And should I get customers interested before I start? Or when I have the chickens rady to sell?
Hi, I'm a new subscriber and watching your videos to start a farm with chicken, maybe pigs ....My parents do raise chicken a lot but would like to learn more from you too. Me and my partner would be quitting our jobs to do farming....love your videos. From Bhutan but I currently live in India.
Hello John my wife and I are getting our first batch of Cornish cross ever and I've got a Question about your pasture and your birds... Do you ever mow or brushhog your field? Obviously the taller the grass the harder it'll be to drag the tractor around by hand but is there a grass height and bird age combo to avoid? For example are young birds just put on pasture ok with taller grass? I usually mow my field twice a year or it'll get over 5ft tall. Thank you we really enjoy your videos.
