Some good ideas there. Other sources for shavings are local sawmills or we get ours from a timberframer. In order to handle 1000 lb tote bags all you need is a 1/2 ton pickup truck, a 2 ton chain winch and some heavy beams in your barn to hang the winch from. We use a number of old chest freezers to store the grain from the totes, but the freezers must be under cover as they aren't water tight. Keeps the feed dry and the mice at bay.
Great information thank you. I use the wood shavings for the goat pens and a horse. However my sheep are dual purpose. Not only are they raised for meat, but I use and sell the wool. So, wood shavings are a big NO for fiber...it gets embedded in the wool and too much work to get out...hard to sell. Straw for fiber sheep bedding is what I use.
Edible acres channel has a couple of videos on Greenhouse heating with compost. You reminded me of them when you talked about getting residual heat from the compost in the barn.
In regards to your selenium deficiency, check out the farm to fork Wyoming channel. The Goat lady speaks about the only species of plants that pull up selenium and put it back in the soil. She said something about the astragulus species of vetches. I doubt I'm spelling the names correctly. The title of the video is Goats Eat Weeds.
Good advise for newbies. 👍We raise our own hay so we are always prepped with hay for the winter. We also raise roughly 600 acres of wheat 🌾 so when we need straw we will put that up for bedding for our livestock. So always ready by late summer/ early fall. We also have several 50 gal barrels stocked with chicken feed each we have 2 barrels full of each of these crumbles, cracked corn, wheat, and safflower.
I know this question is off topic but I wasn't certain if you'd still see it on an older Chat thread. I've been studying your gardening videos to make plans for the spring. I can see in the videos that you have straw between the rows, what looks like plastic mulching, and then later on when the plants are bigger, they are mulched with more straw. My question is this: when you plant the rows with seed, how do you handle the plastic mulch? Do you put it down before seeding or wait until after the plants are bigger? I have tried plastic mulch before, putting it down to keep the weeds out while the seeds grow. But then the plastic folds over the seeds or squishes the baby plants. Or if I cut out the rows for the seeds, the weeds grow faster than the seeds do. I've only been gardening seriously for the last four years so I'm still figuring things out. It would be great to have a step-by-step video (or direction to one if you already have it) to show the order of how you put everything down.
Very goodI would suggest an additional stock pile for garden, fields and animals of anything that your property is deficient in. If we come on realy bad times alot of things can be worked around some things not at all. Where we are in order to grow tomatoes without blossom end rot you need to add dolimite lime to the planting hole. We also need to provide additional iodine for the animals. I can't make either of those things and several others. The soil and grass will retain some of those things but for all of us to be healthy in an almost closed system we have to know what to supply and build a good inventory of those critical things over time. Perhaps a supply for several years.
We only have two goats but will soon have more once she gives birth. Typically we go through 2 bales a month so this time, we stocked up with seven plus four bags of pellets. I still need to get some BOSS, dairy goat grain and a few new minerals. Maybe I will try the Redman as they do not like the stock minerals. In Spring will repeat with additional for the little ones.
How do you keep your feed from spoiling? Mold or weevils? And how do you feed your chickens the kelp & salt? Do you give portions or have it readily available at all times?
Doll you have a problem w/ rats, or do you have cats to take care of that? When do you expect your first frost? Love your channel. It was one of the first I started watching over a year ago.😃
In my area there is no selenium in the soil (the hay grown in the area has no selenium) and so we have to add minerals and salt to our horses daily feed. Also there is limited space and we have horses of various ages, meaning we store 75-80 bales of 2nd cut for the mare that is 28 years old (and hope it lasts until 1st cut at the beginning of June) but bring in 30-50 bales each month for the other horses. I am always dreaming of more space
I appreciate everything in this video! For those like me that haven't done the livestock raising personally yet, this is a fantastic beginners FYI video into the topic! 👍
Thanks for this. I'd love to see a barn tour. Please? Swinging stalls (yes? Saw a picture on IG of your son doing clean out on a tractor), that great hay feeding spot... Where can I find more?!
Boy I'll say, You Folks are like a well oiled machine's. Appreciate your video's wish my parents and my younger years were used with more common sense. Now its like... would have, should have, could have. Time stops for no man or woman... Great Job!! I love Your Family & Your Life. Prayers to You All..🙏
We had problems with our feed bags, ie rodents, moisture and escapees😳. Our big chest freezer quit working so we tried storing the feed in it and so far no problems
I don't know much about large animals, but are the quantities of feed you are listing 20lbs/cow etc are those specifically during winter months when pasture isn't readily available? Just learning as much as I can and I really appreciate your videos. Hoping to have a little plot of land in a few years for my little family. Also if anyone could recommend any reading material for someone who knows nothing about this type of stuff, I would love that. I currently am reading one of Joel Salatin's books. Much love
Some good ideas there. Other sources for shavings are local sawmills or we get ours from a timberframer. In order to handle 1000 lb tote bags all you need is a 1/2 ton pickup truck, a 2 ton chain winch and some heavy beams in your barn to hang the winch from. We use a number of old chest freezers to store the grain from the totes, but the freezers must be under cover as they aren't water tight. Keeps the feed dry and the mice at bay.
I use a heated dog water bowl for my chickens in the winter, has worked well for several years and is low cost.
Great information thank you. I use the wood shavings for the goat pens and a horse. However my sheep are dual purpose. Not only are they raised for meat, but I use and sell the wool. So, wood shavings are a big NO for fiber...it gets embedded in the wool and too much work to get out...hard to sell. Straw for fiber sheep bedding is what I use.
Edible acres channel has a couple of videos on Greenhouse heating with compost. You reminded me of them when you talked about getting residual heat from the compost in the barn.
Always learn something each time I tune in. Thanks for helping me to think of things I, otherwise, wouldn't have.
Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
In regards to your selenium deficiency, check out the farm to fork Wyoming channel. The Goat lady speaks about the only species of plants that pull up selenium and put it back in the soil. She said something about the astragulus species of vetches. I doubt I'm spelling the names correctly. The title of the video is Goats Eat Weeds.
Good advise for newbies. 👍We raise our own hay so we are always prepped with hay for the winter. We also raise roughly 600 acres of wheat 🌾 so when we need straw we will put that up for bedding for our livestock. So always ready by late summer/ early fall. We also have several 50 gal barrels stocked with chicken feed each we have 2 barrels full of each of these crumbles, cracked corn, wheat, and safflower.
I know this question is off topic but I wasn't certain if you'd still see it on an older Chat thread. I've been studying your gardening videos to make plans for the spring. I can see in the videos that you have straw between the rows, what looks like plastic mulching, and then later on when the plants are bigger, they are mulched with more straw. My question is this: when you plant the rows with seed, how do you handle the plastic mulch? Do you put it down before seeding or wait until after the plants are bigger? I have tried plastic mulch before, putting it down to keep the weeds out while the seeds grow. But then the plastic folds over the seeds or squishes the baby plants. Or if I cut out the rows for the seeds, the weeds grow faster than the seeds do. I've only been gardening seriously for the last four years so I'm still figuring things out. It would be great to have a step-by-step video (or direction to one if you already have it) to show the order of how you put everything down.
Composting in the Green house Really Heats things up. Turn before a freeze to generate more heat.
Very goodI would suggest an additional stock pile for garden, fields and animals of anything that your property is deficient in. If we come on realy bad times alot of things can be worked around some things not at all. Where we are in order to grow tomatoes without blossom end rot you need to add dolimite lime to the planting hole. We also need to provide additional iodine for the animals. I can't make either of those things and several others. The soil and grass will retain some of those things but for all of us to be healthy in an almost closed system we have to know what to supply and build a good inventory of those critical things over time. Perhaps a supply for several years.
We only have two goats but will soon have more once she gives birth. Typically we go through 2 bales a month so this time, we stocked up with seven plus four bags of pellets. I still need to get some BOSS, dairy goat grain and a few new minerals. Maybe I will try the Redman as they do not like the stock minerals. In Spring will repeat with additional for the little ones.
How do you keep your feed from spoiling? Mold or weevils? And how do you feed your chickens the kelp & salt? Do you give portions or have it readily available at all times?
Doll you have a problem w/ rats, or do you have cats to take care of that? When do you expect your first frost? Love your channel. It was one of the first I started watching over a year ago.😃
Thanks for the great video Josh! The barn looks great. Such a great feeling to have a barn full of hay for the winter!
In my area there is no selenium in the soil (the hay grown in the area has no selenium) and so we have to add minerals and salt to our horses daily feed. Also there is limited space and we have horses of various ages, meaning we store 75-80 bales of 2nd cut for the mare that is 28 years old (and hope it lasts until 1st cut at the beginning of June) but bring in 30-50 bales each month for the other horses. I am always dreaming of more space
I appreciate everything in this video! For those like me that haven't done the livestock raising personally yet, this is a fantastic beginners FYI video into the topic! 👍
Excellent and well thought out presentation! Thank you for all your time and willingness to share your insights with us. I think you guys are great!
Thanks for this. I'd love to see a barn tour. Please? Swinging stalls (yes? Saw a picture on IG of your son doing clean out on a tractor), that great hay feeding spot... Where can I find more?!
Boy I'll say, You Folks are like a well oiled machine's. Appreciate your video's wish my parents and my younger years were used with more common sense. Now its like... would have, should have, could have. Time stops for no man or woman...
Great Job!! I love Your Family & Your Life. Prayers to You All..🙏
Thank you Josh....this is absolutely great information...actual food for thought...
Would you be willing to do a video on how to select good quality hay?
Good information, brought to light somethings to think about. Thank you.
❤Especially loved this one! Valuable, useable info and strategy! Thanks from northern Az!
this was a really great video
We had problems with our feed bags, ie rodents, moisture and escapees😳. Our big chest freezer quit working so we tried storing the feed in it and so far no problems
I don't know much about large animals, but are the quantities of feed you are listing 20lbs/cow etc are those specifically during winter months when pasture isn't readily available? Just learning as much as I can and I really appreciate your videos. Hoping to have a little plot of land in a few years for my little family. Also if anyone could recommend any reading material for someone who knows nothing about this type of stuff, I would love that. I currently am reading one of Joel Salatin's books. Much love
Great info! Enjoyed watching. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing
How do you keep the mice out of your chicken feed since bags are just stacked on the floor?
hay ought to be stacked on edge vs straw on the flat....both mice. not only that but hay is baled wetter and on edge, it will breath
How thick are your wood chips cuz the stuff that we got at our local meal is very fine
Most excellent video
Awesome video!!!
So interesting!
How do you keep the damage from mice and gophers?
What breed is Lily?
Unprotected grain bags -- any pest problems ?
Finally, barn and or manger floor--- concrete or dirt or other?
BTW, great video!
Why more alfalfa pellets than grain?
👍👍👍☺️
how do you keep mice and rats out of your chicken free feeder. I would be feeding more feed to the rodents than the chickens.
long winded monotone, but informative