We raised Jumbo Cornish Cross last year, never lost any, we raised them to 7 weeks, three weeks inside and the rest in our old alpaca shed. It was open so they could wonder around. We took their food away at 3:00 in the afternoon so that they would scratch around the rest of the day. That way their legs would stay stronger. We took our chickens to the Amish to be butchered, I also had them clean the legs for bone broth.
Thanks guys. I'm always impressed at your level of knowledge and your thoroughness. We have done cornish in the past and were not really pleased with them. They weren't bad, but... not all we hoped for. I think we will give these freedom rangers a shot. Have heard other channels talk about them too.
We have used the Freedom Ranger Hatchery also, for the past 3 yrs. We love them!! We had done 2 yrs of Cornish Crosses. Exactly how you said- unhealthy, lay around, leg problems, quite a few of ours had congestive heart failure we realized at butchering. We always had a lot die all the way through from arrival to butchering. Freedom Rangers arrive healthy, alert, energetic. They are very active and remain healthy all the way through. We prefer the taste hands down over the Cornish Crosses, they are so much more flavorful and juicy. We did a side by side companion one night at dinner. The whole family agreed. I know some people claim having them on pasture drops their feed costs by 10-15%, we just have never seen that happen. Regardless, I want to know the conditions my meat was raised in, know exactly how it was treated and what it ate. We will continue to raise our own forever!! Especially with this new "lab-raised" chicken that isn't even real, you just have to be in control of your own food!!
I LOVE your channel!!!! First off, chaga mushroom: We harvest it here and keep a crock pot (low or med--not boiling) of the "tea" (I much prefer to compare it to coffee! ;) ) going almost every day of the year--yum, and so good for you. Next, red rangers: We also prefer them (or Freedom Rangers...pretty much the same thing...) as meat chickens. People get stuck on "bigger, faster, cheaper" in food production, which is sad--especially among homesteaders/farmers. Our flock should arrive at the end of the first week of July. We'll harvest in early-mid Oct. We've purchased from both McMurray and Cackle and had success with both. We also raise broad-breasted bronze turkeys since we do not have the time/set up for year round heritage breed turkey production and prefer the broad-breasted to store bought---BLARGH!!!!! ;) I agree about the timing of receiving meat birds, too. We want to butcher in cool weather--so October (WV) to avoid flies, heat, etc. We live on a fairly small homestead and meat birds work great for us--we use chicken/turkey tractors. Thanks for all of the great info! God bless!
Great advice. I live in the woods and have been raising meat birds for 25 years. I have a small barn that the chicks go in and I move them outside once they get their feathers. That way I know they will be warm enough. I have a building they move to with an outside pen that runs through the woods for them to get all the wild goodness, but because we are in the woods they are fed in the building and locked up for the night. I don’t believe in the forced or all you can eat feed system, my birds are fed morning and night and grow just fine. An old farmer once told me to never butcher in a month without a “r”. Advice for a new timer is to try butchering only 5 birds at a time. I usually do two butcher days, I do 35 birds in total and take out the largest ones in the first butcher and the following week or two I do the remaining.
I have to ask.... Where did y'all get all this knowledge???? I'm amazed!! The milk and beet and the different levels of how you preserve all this is awesome!
We have an A2A2 milk cow and at our last farm we leased, the owner found she could use the A2A2 milk without any digestion problems like she had been having with normal milk. We also believe that people who have trouble digesting milk, could be reacting more to chemicals used on/in the cow and the food, like palm kernel that is used alot to feed dairy cows in winter here in New Zealand. Possibly also, chemicals and fertilizer used in the cows environment.
Great video full of so much info!! I agree totally agree with you on the A2 milk. I know I love my sweet heritage jersey. She is such a blessing. We have layers now and are about to move into meat chickens. A neighbor raised the Cornish cross and was very dissatisfied with them. They just didn’t thrive. Freedom rangers for us. Living in the Deep South we would plan to butcher in late October or early November. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless y’all!
We purchased dark cornish once & the roosters are VICIOUS. You can't get anywhere around them. We had gotten them to breed as chicks. Won't buy them again. Will try the Red Rangers. We don't pluck ours when butchering, we just skin them, No stink, less mess & quicker.
We've had to process quite a few of our layers(due to injuries, accidents, culling due to flock problems), so my husband has gotten the process down really well. Takes him about 20 minutes or less per bird. I help with scalding and plucking, etc. I use my water bath canner for scalding and sanitize it really well afterward
I am so glad you shared your meat bird comparison! We are wanting to raise meat birds in the up coming year, but felt like we had little info on the breeds. I agree, the CC just don't seem like natural chickens. Thank you!
I would love to hear about exactly how you best use whole chickens in your menu rotation. Coming from being so used to having chicken cut up into specific cuts, I’d like more ideas on using them best.
I totally agree on the meat birds!! I had not ever tried Cornish before so this last batch I did. They are definitely not as hardy or forgiving. MUCH lazier. I prefer the Freedom Rangers hands down and I love that hatchery, I use them as well. The flavor is delicious, yes they do weigh a little less but not enough to matter. They fit our lifestyle much better. I will only have the Freedom Rangers from now on. I conducted my experiment with the different breeds over the years, chicken tractors, same extract non gmo, non soy feed but for me it’s the Freedom Rangers all the way.
When processing if skinless isn't an issue make a small slit in the leg. Take an air compressor and small nozzle and fill the bird with air. The skin will then peel off with ease. It will save hours of work. No plucking.
I just got the medicine cabinet herb kit, and that hazel-not coffee was the first thing that caught my eye on their amazing list of teas. Thanks for the recommendation! (Now to watch the rest of the video :)! )
My son is actually has issues with a1. He didn't have issues with a2. But that end up to expenscive when we got to many mouth drinking and cooking with it. We use goat milk now because of it. We have nubian dairy goats.
One again, excellent video with tons of information!! I have been working on a pen for my new chickens. I got 16 about 2 weeks ago, and they live their new “condo.” 😁 I have them for eggs, but would like to move into the meat chicken area too. Thanks again for the great videos!
So I read also regarding issues with diary products on the digestability and other issues. Raw dairy products have both the good and bad bacteria. The good bacteria is helpful to help digestability. When dairy products r homogenized and pasteurized destroy the good and bad bacteria therefore eliminating the good bacteria that helps with digestability. So I would def try raw dairy products first over trying highly pasteurized and homogenized A2A2 diary. I agree with Caroline.
If you get s sneeze stuck, looking at a bright light will knock it loose. i don't know why that works, but it does. Also blowing your nose usually helps to stop the need to sneeze, especially when you keep sneezing repeatedly. While I'm at it, swallowing a spoon full of sugar, as dry as possible, will usually stop hiccups, and holding your breath as long as possible frequently works too.
It actually doesn't work for everyone or even most people. There is a genetic mutation that causes some people to sneeze in sunlight or bright lights. I and my father have it, but my mother and husband don't. My husband had never even heard of it until he met me.
Hey guys! ABSOLUTELY love you guys and have watched every video for a long time. I honestly have to disagree with you guys on cornish VS. Rangers. Our Cornish are strangely vibrant and will run around and scratch and act like chickens. We did freedom rangers from the hatchery this year and almost half ended up dying in shipment and then the day after. The people there are amazing and refunded us, but the birds, to us didn't seem any different than the CC and our family honestly thought the CC tasted better than the FR and was softer. Just our experience!! I've heard so many people say the same thing you have, but that just hasn't been our experience. We love our CC. And we are starting our second batch this week. Great video!! So much good info even though we've done it for years. Also, if you flew us up we'd help!! Lol, we just can't afford to get there from IN.
Another great video! Happy Solstice, here's to more sleep tomorrow night (even if it's just a few extra minutes.) I would love to see a photo of your chicken tractor and brooder. Farmhouse Teas are the best, it's hard for me to pick a favorite.
A2 It has made a huge difference in my digestion and my siblings. True we had gurney/ jersey mix and grew up drinking that raw milk, no problems with tolerance. also for my children I Had access to goat and jersey when they growing up!but as adults severe issues with digestion from grocery store milk. The a 2 has brought our cold glass of milk and my shipped birthday cookies back into our lives!!bliss. My son is a happy man since I introduced A2 milk to him!! No hype here just facts.
I over seed my greens too so I get instant tasty salads and thin as I go. Plan to can the baby beets and soon and I will try to dehydrate them with my dehydrator which I will run off of solar/wind power. So dehydrate and freeze? Guess can also vacuum seal them so I don't have to refrigerate? I also grow Swish Chard in my indoor green house in the winter. I found they grow really well and I also have fresh baby Swish Chard. Tried Spinach, it didn't work well. Thanks if you reply, I realize you have a lot of followers.
Very informative video! 👍 I have a question that maybe you folks know some answers to. When I was a kid in the 1960s (I'm no Spring chicken either, lol), my Great Grandmother used to have a lot of chickens. I remember several coops and runs, and some that free ranged. One coop I remember the best was "the mama pen". I now know they were the broodies. She also had a pen with more hens and a few roosters. I don't remember the breeds of these, but I do remember as a kid who helped gather eggs, that those eggs where saved aside for the mamas if one were ready, or added to the other eggs if one was not. Then the free ranging chickens had their own coop - this is where most of the "regular" eggs came from. She traded them with a grocery store in a nearby town. I don't know if she ever made any money, but I do know, when I was with her, she never had to pay for any groceries - they'd write down what she brought, and what she took. The free ranging chickens were many colors, and their eggs were white or shades of brown, and once in a while she'd save a certain egg from them and add it to the mama egg collection (replacement layers I surmise now). I remember the mama pen the best because every time that I went to her ranch in the Spring or Summer, I'd head straight for it to check out all the chicks. I helped her a few times catch all the adolescents and move them to another pen. Usually, we put all of the brown ones together in there, and the few who weren't brown in a different pen yet - they'd be set free when they were big enough. She also had family and friend gatherings where everybody showed up and there'd be a big butchering. A pen of brown chickens would get butchered (there may be a pen or two others that weren't old enough yet), she'd also pick out a dozen or so free range birds for chicken and noodles, and processing was done assembly line style. I helped in the plucking division back then, and catching some of the free range birds. Then after a big meal that evening, everybody would get their boxes of chicken and go home. My question is, do you have any idea what breed those brown meat birds were? She passed away at 97 years old in 1969, and my grandparents are long gone too. I've asked my Mom before, but she knows less about it than I do. I see now better since I got back into chickens myself 50 some years later, what she was doing - she was her own hatchery, providing her own small batches of meat birds and replacement layers by keeping eight or ten hens that often went broody together. I wish I would have learned more about this back then. Have you ever considered trying this, or know someone who has? I think if those broodies had been silkies, I would remember them being fuzzy. I don't think they were. I also remember one night helping her move a hen and clutch from the regular egg coop to the broody coop, so I think now that they may have been one of several breeds, or hybrids and she just selected those that worked out. Some had feathered legs, so I guess there were Cochin or Brahma in some of them. Her roosters in the special egg coop were big, maybe Jersey Giants, or Brahma, and didn't seem to match the hens, or maybe she had been doing this so long that she had her own strain of mutts, IDK. Any information on this type of chicken raising would be greatly appreciated, not just to help me try to replicate it, but also to help reconnect me with what once was a family tradition.
Thanks for a very informative video! Maybe not this year, but eventually I would like to have a few meat chickens plus a few egg laying chickens! It's harder in a town where they limit the numbers, you need a permit, we need to put in more fencing, etc., but sooner or later we're gonna do it!!!
There is another UA-camr who processes smaller batches of chickens but also schedules a processing class of 3-5 so it gives someone who has never done it an introduction and helps bring in a little income for the homestead. There are people who will come from other states to participate. Don’t know whether that is something you have considered or if the teaching aspect slows it down so much that it might not be worth it.
Hi! I just recently found your channel and am catching up. Josh mentioned that he watched some documentaries on commercial meat methods. Could you share what those were? My husband and I are trying to get away from commercially raised meat, and would love more info.
I think more studies are need about the possible benefits of a2 milk for sensitive people. It’s a difficult thing for the average person that has never experienced problems with milk to understand the significance of this but from infancy I have had dairy allergies/sensitivities so this has be a balancing act my whole life. So just recently I tried A2 milk to see if it helps. To my surprise, it did help. Mind you I still can’t consume huge quantities but it did actually help. My reaction was quite less than with just the regular milk. There’s so many factors that can influence milk but I definitely think it’s worth more studying. Just as a reference goat, sheep, and camel milks are all in the a2 category and are all considered to more easily digestible by the human body. It’s because the proteins are closer to human milk. BTW..years ago I tried goat milk for that reason and it helps as well but it’s just so expensive. Thank you for great video and for sharing your thoughts. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you for another great video, you guys inspire me to continue this “homesteady lifestyle.” Have you ever raised your own pork? We raise all our own beef, and chickens(freedom rangers) and haven’t taken the leap to trying our hand at pigs, but I would appreciate any future advice you have on the matter. Such as, what time of year you would get piglets? A favorite heritage breed? The most successful system or fencing to raise them in? Thank you!
I've met people that say they do better with A2 milk, but it may have just been that they had milk that was produced with other factors that improved the digestibility of the milk. Like you said, we need more research.
Hey thank you for such great information, as always I look forward to your videos! My question is..... Do you prefer roosters because they are bigger at processing time or do you get a mix of both hens & roosters?
Hey show a video of your chicken tractors my husband’s coming back from deployment in July we’re going to get 100 chickens I want to see how big yours is we might go with your idea so do a video that would be great thank you and love your videos
If you are asking this question, get goats... get a nubian/alpine cross nanny. She will provide more milk than you can use for a family while also making cheeses and yogurt and coffee cream, ice cream. Cows are great but they are stubborn and large like trying to push a full size pickup large if she decides not to cooperate.... but on the other hand calfs are pretty tough and tend to survive better... goat kids die if the wind blows wrong... good luck...
Soak horse 10lbs horse oats in water in a rubbermade tub in direct sunlight until they stink to high heaven... then take the top off and let the flys in... feed as scratch aside growth mix. Yes this sounds horrible but it provides the probiotic nutrition for your chickens that they need to process the corn heavy feed... and they love it! The stinkier the better....
Also the chicken tractor thing is fun and whatnot but if your really want to make meat make a pen that provides 3 sqft per bird... and feed them all your kitchen scraps and lawn clippings/ garden weeds... playing the whole move-a-flock thing just uses too much time, energy and building materials... make sure to bed on a good woodchip or mulch, 4 inches deep at the least... provide scratch grains evenly spread to promote manure mixing and give plenty of perches that can be moved weekly to prevent buildup of roost piles... then compost the manure after butcher for use in next years gardens and for sale as organic fertilizer....
Can Freedom Rangers breed naturally? I mean, are they sustainable or not? Also, what do you think about consuming animals that are bred to grow so rapidly? Do you think there could be a link between these freaks of nature and some of our modern diseases? We really enjoy learning from you guys. Thanks.
I so love how y’all acknowledge each other’s work. Y’all are are so stinking important to other couples Are y’all Jesus people? If so wish y’all would give him the glory ! If my husband was to see that he might understand how great faith is
You want the skin. Traditional people never ate lean meat or boneless skinless chicken breasts. There's not enough fat and there's tons of nutrients in the skin of grass fed birds in the sunshine
I so love how y’all acknowledge each other’s work. Y’all are are so stinking important to other couples Are y’all Jesus people? If so wish y’all would y’all give him the glory ? If my husband was to see that he might understand how great faith is
I just subscribed because of the onion powder video. I started watching this video sometime back in the 2950's wanting to learn about meat chickens and after what seems like a couple hours, I'm wondering what was the original theme or purpose of this video? Honestly, I'm sorry I watched this small talk chit chat. OK so we are one and one. Maybe in the future stick to the advertised topic.
I so love how y’all acknowledge each other’s work. Y’all are are so stinking important to other couples Are y’all Jesus people? If so wish y’all would y’all give him the glory ? If my husband was to see that he might understand how great faith is
We raised Jumbo Cornish Cross last year, never lost any, we raised them to 7 weeks, three weeks inside and the rest in our old alpaca shed. It was open so they could wonder around. We took their food away at 3:00 in the afternoon so that they would scratch around the rest of the day. That way their legs would stay stronger. We took our chickens to the Amish to be butchered, I also had them clean the legs for bone broth.
Thanks guys. I'm always impressed at your level of knowledge and your thoroughness. We have done cornish in the past and were not really pleased with them. They weren't bad, but... not all we hoped for. I think we will give these freedom rangers a shot. Have heard other channels talk about them too.
We have used the Freedom Ranger Hatchery also, for the past 3 yrs. We love them!! We had done 2 yrs of Cornish Crosses. Exactly how you said- unhealthy, lay around, leg problems, quite a few of ours had congestive heart failure we realized at butchering. We always had a lot die all the way through from arrival to butchering.
Freedom Rangers arrive healthy, alert, energetic. They are very active and remain healthy all the way through. We prefer the taste hands down over the Cornish Crosses, they are so much more flavorful and juicy. We did a side by side companion one night at dinner. The whole family agreed.
I know some people claim having them on pasture drops their feed costs by 10-15%, we just have never seen that happen. Regardless, I want to know the conditions my meat was raised in, know exactly how it was treated and what it ate. We will continue to raise our own forever!! Especially with this new "lab-raised" chicken that isn't even real, you just have to be in control of your own food!!
Just ordered our not coffee! Excited because I have adrenal fatigue and Hashimoto's.
Now you are over 200,000! How exciting for you guys!
I LOVE your channel!!!! First off, chaga mushroom: We harvest it here and keep a crock pot (low or med--not boiling) of the "tea" (I much prefer to compare it to coffee! ;) ) going almost every day of the year--yum, and so good for you. Next, red rangers: We also prefer them (or Freedom Rangers...pretty much the same thing...) as meat chickens. People get stuck on "bigger, faster, cheaper" in food production, which is sad--especially among homesteaders/farmers. Our flock should arrive at the end of the first week of July. We'll harvest in early-mid Oct. We've purchased from both McMurray and Cackle and had success with both. We also raise broad-breasted bronze turkeys since we do not have the time/set up for year round heritage breed turkey production and prefer the broad-breasted to store bought---BLARGH!!!!! ;) I agree about the timing of receiving meat birds, too. We want to butcher in cool weather--so October (WV) to avoid flies, heat, etc. We live on a fairly small homestead and meat birds work great for us--we use chicken/turkey tractors. Thanks for all of the great info! God bless!
Great advice. I live in the woods and have been raising meat birds for 25 years. I have a small barn that the chicks go in and I move them outside once they get their feathers. That way I know they will be warm enough. I have a building they move to with an outside pen that runs through the woods for them to get all the wild goodness, but because we are in the woods they are fed in the building and locked up for the night. I don’t believe in the forced or all you can eat feed system, my birds are fed morning and night and grow just fine. An old farmer once told me to never butcher in a month without a “r”. Advice for a new timer is to try butchering only 5 birds at a time. I usually do two butcher days, I do 35 birds in total and take out the largest ones in the first butcher and the following week or two I do the remaining.
What is the best way to butcher meat birds?
I have to ask.... Where did y'all get all this knowledge???? I'm amazed!! The milk and beet and the different levels of how you preserve all this is awesome!
We have an A2A2 milk cow and at our last farm we leased, the owner found she could use the A2A2 milk without any digestion problems like she had been having with normal milk. We also believe that people who have trouble digesting milk, could be reacting more to chemicals used on/in the cow and the food, like palm kernel that is used alot to feed dairy cows in winter here in New Zealand. Possibly also, chemicals and fertilizer used in the cows environment.
Jacqui Land Food intolerances and allergies are highly caused by evil spirits. Well, God heals every sickness nothing is impossible for Him.
Great video full of so much info!! I agree totally agree with you on the A2 milk. I know I love my sweet heritage jersey. She is such a blessing. We have layers now and are about to move into meat chickens. A neighbor raised the Cornish cross and was very dissatisfied with them. They just didn’t thrive. Freedom rangers for us. Living in the Deep South we would plan to butcher in late October or early November. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless y’all!
What a great idea to dehydrate the greens and use them in smoothies!! Do you have a smoothie video?
She does a video on super greens where she talks (or makes) a green smoothie
I like the dark Cornish. They perch better, are more active, and forage better than others. And they are beautiful.
We purchased dark cornish once & the roosters are VICIOUS. You can't get anywhere around them. We had gotten them to breed as chicks. Won't buy them again. Will try the Red Rangers. We don't pluck ours when butchering, we just skin them, No stink, less mess & quicker.
We've had to process quite a few of our layers(due to injuries, accidents, culling due to flock problems), so my husband has gotten the process down really well. Takes him about 20 minutes or less per bird. I help with scalding and plucking, etc.
I use my water bath canner for scalding and sanitize it really well afterward
Thumbs up for your stance on the lack of research into the milk.
I enjoy your videos so much! So much great information and and you are both very relatable. Thank you!
I am so glad you shared your meat bird comparison! We are wanting to raise meat birds in the up coming year, but felt like we had little info on the breeds. I agree, the CC just don't seem like natural chickens. Thank you!
I would love to hear about exactly how you best use whole chickens in your menu rotation. Coming from being so used to having chicken cut up into specific cuts, I’d like more ideas on using them best.
You give very good useable information. Thank you.
I totally agree on the meat birds!! I had not ever tried Cornish before so this last batch I did. They are definitely not as hardy or forgiving. MUCH lazier. I prefer the Freedom Rangers hands down and I love that hatchery, I use them as well. The flavor is delicious, yes they do weigh a little less but not enough to matter. They fit our lifestyle much better. I will only have the Freedom Rangers from now on. I conducted my experiment with the different breeds over the years, chicken tractors, same extract non gmo, non soy feed but for me it’s the Freedom Rangers all the way.
I just feel like coming for a week just to eat with you and learn from you 😍 you’re just incredible.
When processing if skinless isn't an issue make a small slit in the leg. Take an air compressor and small nozzle and fill the bird with air. The skin will then peel off with ease. It will save hours of work. No plucking.
I just got the medicine cabinet herb kit, and that hazel-not coffee was the first thing that caught my eye on their amazing list of teas. Thanks for the recommendation! (Now to watch the rest of the video :)! )
My son is actually has issues with a1. He didn't have issues with a2. But that end up to expenscive when we got to many mouth drinking and cooking with it. We use goat milk now because of it. We have nubian dairy goats.
One again, excellent video with tons of information!! I have been working on a pen for my new chickens. I got 16 about 2 weeks ago, and they live their new “condo.” 😁 I have them for eggs, but would like to move into the meat chicken area too. Thanks again for the great videos!
So I read also regarding issues with diary products on the digestability and other issues. Raw dairy products have both the good and bad bacteria. The good bacteria is helpful to help digestability. When dairy products r homogenized and pasteurized destroy the good and bad bacteria therefore eliminating the good bacteria that helps with digestability. So I would def try raw dairy products first over trying highly pasteurized and homogenized A2A2 diary. I agree with Caroline.
Thanks for the tip on were to get chickens in the Northwest. I need a lot of tips on raising chickens.
If you get s sneeze stuck, looking at a bright light will knock it loose. i don't know why that works, but it does. Also blowing your nose usually helps to stop the need to sneeze, especially when you keep sneezing repeatedly. While I'm at it, swallowing a spoon full of sugar, as dry as possible, will usually stop hiccups, and holding your breath as long as possible frequently works too.
It actually doesn't work for everyone or even most people. There is a genetic mutation that causes some people to sneeze in sunlight or bright lights. I and my father have it, but my mother and husband don't. My husband had never even heard of it until he met me.
Hey guys! ABSOLUTELY love you guys and have watched every video for a long time. I honestly have to disagree with you guys on cornish VS. Rangers. Our Cornish are strangely vibrant and will run around and scratch and act like chickens. We did freedom rangers from the hatchery this year and almost half ended up dying in shipment and then the day after. The people there are amazing and refunded us, but the birds, to us didn't seem any different than the CC and our family honestly thought the CC tasted better than the FR and was softer. Just our experience!! I've heard so many people say the same thing you have, but that just hasn't been our experience. We love our CC. And we are starting our second batch this week. Great video!! So much good info even though we've done it for years.
Also, if you flew us up we'd help!! Lol, we just can't afford to get there from IN.
Another great video! Happy Solstice, here's to more sleep tomorrow night (even if it's just a few extra minutes.) I would love to see a photo of your chicken tractor and brooder. Farmhouse Teas are the best, it's hard for me to pick a favorite.
A2 It has made a huge difference in my digestion and my siblings. True we had gurney/ jersey mix and grew up drinking that raw milk, no problems with tolerance. also for my children I Had access to goat and jersey when they growing up!but as adults severe issues with digestion from grocery store milk. The a 2 has brought our cold glass of milk and my shipped birthday cookies back into our lives!!bliss. My son is a happy man since I introduced A2 milk to him!! No hype here just facts.
I over seed my greens too so I get instant tasty salads and thin as I go. Plan to can the baby beets and soon and I will try to dehydrate them with my dehydrator which I will run off of solar/wind power. So dehydrate and freeze? Guess can also vacuum seal them so I don't have to refrigerate? I also grow Swish Chard in my indoor green house in the winter. I found they grow really well and I also have fresh baby Swish Chard. Tried Spinach, it didn't work well. Thanks if you reply, I realize you have a lot of followers.
Very informative video! 👍
I have a question that maybe you folks know some answers to. When I was a kid in the 1960s (I'm no Spring chicken either, lol), my Great Grandmother used to have a lot of chickens. I remember several coops and runs, and some that free ranged. One coop I remember the best was "the mama pen". I now know they were the broodies. She also had a pen with more hens and a few roosters. I don't remember the breeds of these, but I do remember as a kid who helped gather eggs, that those eggs where saved aside for the mamas if one were ready, or added to the other eggs if one was not. Then the free ranging chickens had their own coop - this is where most of the "regular" eggs came from. She traded them with a grocery store in a nearby town. I don't know if she ever made any money, but I do know, when I was with her, she never had to pay for any groceries - they'd write down what she brought, and what she took. The free ranging chickens were many colors, and their eggs were white or shades of brown, and once in a while she'd save a certain egg from them and add it to the mama egg collection (replacement layers I surmise now). I remember the mama pen the best because every time that I went to her ranch in the Spring or Summer, I'd head straight for it to check out all the chicks. I helped her a few times catch all the adolescents and move them to another pen. Usually, we put all of the brown ones together in there, and the few who weren't brown in a different pen yet - they'd be set free when they were big enough. She also had family and friend gatherings where everybody showed up and there'd be a big butchering. A pen of brown chickens would get butchered (there may be a pen or two others that weren't old enough yet), she'd also pick out a dozen or so free range birds for chicken and noodles, and processing was done assembly line style. I helped in the plucking division back then, and catching some of the free range birds. Then after a big meal that evening, everybody would get their boxes of chicken and go home.
My question is, do you have any idea what breed those brown meat birds were? She passed away at 97 years old in 1969, and my grandparents are long gone too. I've asked my Mom before, but she knows less about it than I do. I see now better since I got back into chickens myself 50 some years later, what she was doing - she was her own hatchery, providing her own small batches of meat birds and replacement layers by keeping eight or ten hens that often went broody together. I wish I would have learned more about this back then. Have you ever considered trying this, or know someone who has? I think if those broodies had been silkies, I would remember them being fuzzy. I don't think they were. I also remember one night helping her move a hen and clutch from the regular egg coop to the broody coop, so I think now that they may have been one of several breeds, or hybrids and she just selected those that worked out. Some had feathered legs, so I guess there were Cochin or Brahma in some of them. Her roosters in the special egg coop were big, maybe Jersey Giants, or Brahma, and didn't seem to match the hens, or maybe she had been doing this so long that she had her own strain of mutts, IDK. Any information on this type of chicken raising would be greatly appreciated, not just to help me try to replicate it, but also to help reconnect me with what once was a family tradition.
I'm in Spokane, would love to come up and learn how to harvest chickens!
Thanks for a very informative video! Maybe not this year, but eventually I would like to have a few meat chickens plus a few egg laying chickens! It's harder in a town where they limit the numbers, you need a permit, we need to put in more fencing, etc., but sooner or later we're gonna do it!!!
There is another UA-camr who processes smaller batches of chickens but also schedules a processing class of 3-5 so it gives someone who has never done it an introduction and helps bring in a little income for the homestead. There are people who will come from other states to participate. Don’t know whether that is something you have considered or if the teaching aspect slows it down so much that it might not be worth it.
Hi! I just recently found your channel and am catching up. Josh mentioned that he watched some documentaries on commercial meat methods. Could you share what those were? My husband and I are trying to get away from commercially raised meat, and would love more info.
Thinking about doing meat chickens next year. pigs have to many diseases and are not clean. but thanks for the info.
I think more studies are need about the possible benefits of a2 milk for sensitive people. It’s a difficult thing for the average person that has never experienced problems with milk to understand the significance of this but from infancy I have had dairy allergies/sensitivities so this has be a balancing act my whole life. So just recently I tried A2 milk to see if it helps. To my surprise, it did help. Mind you I still can’t consume huge quantities but it did actually help. My reaction was quite less than with just the regular milk. There’s so many factors that can influence milk but I definitely think it’s worth more studying. Just as a reference goat, sheep, and camel milks are all in the a2 category and are all considered to more easily digestible by the human body. It’s because the proteins are closer to human milk. BTW..years ago I tried goat milk for that reason and it helps as well but it’s just so expensive.
Thank you for great video and for sharing your thoughts. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Josh! Mix half coffee with half Not Coffee... Best of both worlds ❤️
I'll have to try that! Thanks!
What is "Not Coffee"? Postum? Chicory?
I’m looking forward to seeing your chicken tractor. Please share.
Type in "Joel Salatin chicken tractor" here on youtube
I made my own plucker for about $100 (Rubber fingers and a large pulley) the rest of the material I had laying around.
How do you preserve so much cheese to keep it from molding?
Thank you for another great video, you guys inspire me to continue this “homesteady lifestyle.”
Have you ever raised your own pork? We raise all our own beef, and chickens(freedom rangers) and haven’t taken the leap to trying our hand at pigs, but I would appreciate any future advice you have on the matter. Such as, what time of year you would get piglets? A favorite heritage breed? The most successful system or fencing to raise them in?
Thank you!
What kind of chickens should I get if I want layers? Just wanting to get eggs from these.
enjoyed your chat! could you put a link to the bags you use? many thanks!
Have you tried skinning your birds? We have done that and find it to be much easier than plucking.. and we dont' eat the skin anyway.
I am on the wait list for the canning class 😇
I’d love to see your chicken tracker, do you make your own? Does this breed roost at night?
This breed doesn't roost at night... too fat! Lol
Research Joel Salatin chicken tractor
That’s what I thought... I would need to make a different chick tractor
@@TwinFlameAcres the Joel salatin chicken tractor is very affordable. Check it out here on youtube
Thanks for the info, i plan on ordering for Aug👍❤
I've met people that say they do better with A2 milk, but it may have just been that they had milk that was produced with other factors that improved the digestibility of the milk. Like you said, we need more research.
Hey thank you for such great information, as always I look forward to your videos! My question is..... Do you prefer roosters because they are bigger at processing time or do you get a mix of both hens & roosters?
Please let us know.... I would love to come and learn how to process chicken before I get chickens...
Hey show a video of your chicken tractors my husband’s coming back from deployment in July we’re going to get 100 chickens I want to see how big yours is we might go with your idea so do a video that would be great thank you and love your videos
Search Justin Rhodes videos... he built a "meat shaw" that seems to work fantastic!
Yeah I have one just love watching your videos was hoping to get more tutorial on things that they use that works for them
I'm from Australia and I'm of the same opinion...it's not as it is portrayed with the a2 milk.
Would be nice to see the chicks and the set up. Tractors, etc
What kind of cow is the best for the most milk? Also do you do goats?
If you are asking this question, get goats... get a nubian/alpine cross nanny. She will provide more milk than you can use for a family while also making cheeses and yogurt and coffee cream, ice cream. Cows are great but they are stubborn and large like trying to push a full size pickup large if she decides not to cooperate.... but on the other hand calfs are pretty tough and tend to survive better... goat kids die if the wind blows wrong... good luck...
Soak horse 10lbs horse oats in water in a rubbermade tub in direct sunlight until they stink to high heaven... then take the top off and let the flys in... feed as scratch aside growth mix. Yes this sounds horrible but it provides the probiotic nutrition for your chickens that they need to process the corn heavy feed... and they love it! The stinkier the better....
Also the chicken tractor thing is fun and whatnot but if your really want to make meat make a pen that provides 3 sqft per bird... and feed them all your kitchen scraps and lawn clippings/ garden weeds... playing the whole move-a-flock thing just uses too much time, energy and building materials... make sure to bed on a good woodchip or mulch, 4 inches deep at the least... provide scratch grains evenly spread to promote manure mixing and give plenty of perches that can be moved weekly to prevent buildup of roost piles... then compost the manure after butcher for use in next years gardens and for sale as organic fertilizer....
I love eggplant muellenyana❣️😋Have you ever had it? Probably misspelled
I like to cook egg plant in my air fryer coated with olive oil and fresh garlic, a little basil and salt and pepper. It is so good that way.
Can Freedom Rangers breed naturally? I mean, are they sustainable or not?
Also, what do you think about consuming animals that are bred to grow so rapidly?
Do you think there could be a link between these freaks of nature and some of our modern diseases? We really enjoy learning from you guys. Thanks.
What are your thoughts on Rainbow rangers?
I so love how y’all acknowledge each other’s work. Y’all are are so stinking important to other couples Are y’all Jesus people? If so wish y’all would give him the glory ! If my husband was to see that he might understand how great faith is
Do you ever skin the chickens instead of scalding?
You want the skin. Traditional people never ate lean meat or boneless skinless chicken breasts. There's not enough fat and there's tons of nutrients in the skin of grass fed birds in the sunshine
do you watch justin rhodes love your as well do u do preserving
What do you do about chigers
DTE
Can you make a video on making mozzarella?
How do you butcher your chickens?
How do you can your chicken
I have no idea how they do it, but if they are chicken tractoring, it wouldn't surprise me if they butcher Joel Salatin style.
Chicken processing video?
My girls were ok with raising New Zealand White’s for rabbit meat because they don’t like pink eyes.
Are the Cornish Cross a GMO breed?
No they aren't
I so love how y’all acknowledge each other’s work. Y’all are are so stinking important to other couples Are y’all Jesus people? If so wish y’all would y’all give him the glory ? If my husband was to see that he might understand how great faith is
How about skinning the chickens? That way you don't have to pluck.
Sharolyn Wiley that’s what we do with about half of our birds, makes it go faster
Research nutrients in grass fed chicken skin. Once you know the benefits, it's worth the time 😉
I just subscribed because of the onion powder video. I started watching this video sometime back in the 2950's wanting to learn about meat chickens and after what seems like a couple hours, I'm wondering what was the original theme or purpose of this video? Honestly, I'm sorry I watched this small talk chit chat. OK so we are one and one. Maybe in the future stick to the advertised topic.
I can digest gersey and not Fresian!!
broth is a better drink for you, than coffee
😂😂😂
I totally disagree with you Cornish Cross all the way here
You really need to get to the point...
I so love how y’all acknowledge each other’s work. Y’all are are so stinking important to other couples Are y’all Jesus people? If so wish y’all would y’all give him the glory ? If my husband was to see that he might understand how great faith is