You realize you have a perfect setup to make it through some hard years. Eggs have all the nutrition you need except vitamin C (boil pine needles to get that) and if you buy some bags of lye you can make soap with the excess goat milk - great for bartering when the shelves are empty.
First year is the best - a drop in the second and third. A lot of serious backyard producers put their hens on the chopping block after the second year - earlier if they are "lazy" layers or should be culled to keep the flock strong.
If you have nine good hens you can get around six eggs a day. That is if you manage your chickens well. It really only takes a few minutes a day once you have the routine down - and your chickens will love you - they're not stupid birds.
hey daniel livin the dream! have always wanted to have some goats and a nice garden, came from the country and may make it back yet. are you going to develope some goat cheese or will it be invite all your friends and have a goat roast? well chickens lay eggs and goats give milk. used to milk akki the goat and me and my niece drank the milk. feed them banana peels and they will give good tasting milk and to a goat a banana peel is like candy! have fun
Daniel, Great video! Great job getting the animals! 3 roosters is a LOT of roosters! Hope you have more than just 4 chickens! You might be able to trade a rooster(or 2) for something else. Guinea hens are great too - and they're great "watch birds".
I got 20 chickens this spring but thy wer all killed by predators (hawks, racoons, coyotes and bobcats). Our farm is completely covered up with wildlife. I am going to have to predator proof the coop and pen and give it another try. The hawks were coming in through the top of the pen and killing the chickens. The other predators were digging underneath the pen and tearing apart the wire. I guess I'm going to have to put a concrete footing around it to keep them safe.
My neighbor sells duck as well as fresh free range hen eggs.....duck eggs are AMAZING. Taste like chicken eggs...but more intense egg flavor. And they are larger. I suggest a few ducks to add to your critter collection, Daniel.
Daniel, Your goats appear to be of the meat type (Boer) rather than dairy, that could explain why you're not getting much milk (or are her two kids stealing it all??). Try an Alpine or Nubian for milk production. My yearling doe (freshened in April with twins) is giving me about 3/4 gallon a day. I think next time around, she'll be up to a gallon a day. I LOVE my goats and you are right -- watching the chickens going about their business is great. They amuse me no end.
Thanks Daniel! I love that you rescued them from the neighbors house. I realize that people feel like they may have no choice, and abandon the animals, but I hate that they do it, the animals have no choice, they only have their people to care for them. I have told my husband more than once that someday, he will have to buy me a small farm. I never met an amimal I didn't LOVE! Neither have my girls. I wish we could have chickens now, but our living situation won't allow it. Keep it up.
No, hens do not crow, just roosters and you do not need a rooster to get (unfertilized) eggs. Plan on one chicken per family member and you'll have plenty of eggs as chickens lay one egg every 25 hours (so they skip a day here and there.
Production does tend to go down with every passing year. Most folks cull after 2-3 years and start over with new chicks / pullets (female chicks). A large rabbit hutch could be a suitable coop if you let them free range during the day. Good luck!
In todays economy, more urban areas are relaxing laws to allow backyard chickens.....just avoid roosters and you will have no more noise than the gentle clucking of happy hens!!
Nope....they will lay without a rooster...all he is good for is enabling the hen to lay fertile eggs. I have a small female parrot who lays eggs every spring....and she has no beau!
You should consider raising solider fly larvae or even composting worms to supplement the protein in these chickens diets. Just some economical advice. You would have to freeze the worms for 14 days to rid them of parasites however, I mean, you don't have to but apparently they are present.
Our 5 full grown, laying hens do about 1 egg each per day(we gave away 18 eggs today and have 17 in the fridg). One bag of Full-O-Pep Egg Producer pellers lasts about a month IIRC. Price "organic" eggs at your grocery.
The eggs we get from our chickens taste 1000% better than store-bought.
thats great to hear tbirdwagonman we just started chicks as laying hens and I am hoping it will all be worth it this fall when the eggs start dropping lol
Congrats on the expansion of your family! I wish my family looked so good. They even look better from behind. -And well, you seem to really like yours too.... I can't say the same. ;-)
No need, "Pretty Girl" is a Turken. (no not a turkey chicken cross) Turken is a breed name, they also go by Naked Necks. They've been bred to have featherless necks. She's supposed to look like that.
Wow, I'd be interested in hearing about the learning process you've been going through with chickens and goats. Are you getting much milk, eggs, or meat from them yet?
I was hoping you'd narrate in a David Attenborough type voice..... "And now we see the foraging habits of the domesticated chicken, with it's feathery body and long, almost pre-historic neck..."
We have 12 chickens, 6 laying and 6 teenagers. We too love watching them and we call it "chicken TV". We live in the Denver suburbs and have inspired 3 of our neighbors to get chickens. It is becoming a farm on our street. Totally awesome!!! Many on our block are doing large gardens too - for a city neighborhood we've got a good thing going!!!!! Love your goats.
I literally could waste away an afternoon watching my chickens, sheep and rabbits. It really is relaxing and mind-clearing. Sometimes quite entertaining as well... "Lovely" is a nice looking Boer goat! You'll have to track down someone with a billygoat for breeding so that you can keep those girls milking...
Hi veggie, you should allow an acre of good forage ground for every 4 milk goats. You have to manage that acreage, too. For instance cross fence it into pens and move the goats from one pen to the next as they eat it down so that the browse can recover. That is also a good way to discourage internal parasites, by rotating their grazing and browing areas. Free-ranging chickens with them keeps the parasites down too.
A guy on the east coast has an organic farm with a series of fenced grazing areas where he keeps cows for a few days before moving them to the next field. He also has mobile chicken coops that he moves into a field about 5 days after the cows are gone. The flies lay eggs in the cow paddies then once the larva are really going, the chickens arrive and tear them apart, eat the larva and spread the manure over a wide area. Then the grass grows like mad, ready for grazing again very quick.
2, Can't remember the name of the place though. Anyway, with a bit of land, some fences and a good system you can produce a lot of cows, chickens and eggs. Supposedly the land was marginal when he started but now the soil is a couple feet deep.
I believe you are speaking of Joel Sauletin from PolyFace Farm in Dayton, Virginia. He is also a professor of Agriculture and lectures on perma culture. Really interesting guy and the way he manages his land is amazing. He has written several books, ie: "Everything I want to do is illegal"!!! I have been to several of his lectures. He'll make anyone want to get back to the land.
VV,
You realize you have a perfect setup to make it through some hard years. Eggs have all the nutrition you need except vitamin C (boil pine needles to get that) and if you buy some bags of lye you can make soap with the excess goat milk - great for bartering when the shelves are empty.
Is this a long term thing for you?
redmolotail 2 years ago
Ooh man! I love chickens and goats!
redmolotail 2 years ago
What fun!!
karenbcz22 2 years ago
For how many years does a hen "yield" eggs?
whiskerchild 2 years ago
First year is the best - a drop in the second and third. A lot of serious backyard producers put their hens on the chopping block after the second year - earlier if they are "lazy" layers or should be culled to keep the flock strong.
If you have nine good hens you can get around six eggs a day. That is if you manage your chickens well. It really only takes a few minutes a day once you have the routine down - and your chickens will love you - they're not stupid birds.
redmolotail 2 years ago
what do you feed them with?
oculusinfj 2 years ago
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing :)
SilverWealth23 2 years ago
Call the bad one "Kentucky Fried".
TenderTrap86 2 years ago 2
thx for the comments
visionvictory 2 years ago
nice animals :)
mirezwer 2 years ago
hey daniel livin the dream! have always wanted to have some goats and a nice garden, came from the country and may make it back yet. are you going to develope some goat cheese or will it be invite all your friends and have a goat roast? well chickens lay eggs and goats give milk. used to milk akki the goat and me and my niece drank the milk. feed them banana peels and they will give good tasting milk and to a goat a banana peel is like candy! have fun
watcher0777 2 years ago
Daniel, Great video! Great job getting the animals! 3 roosters is a LOT of roosters! Hope you have more than just 4 chickens! You might be able to trade a rooster(or 2) for something else. Guinea hens are great too - and they're great "watch birds".
MississippiRR 2 years ago
Regarding roosters in/with your chickens:
If/when fertilized eggs are allowed to be set on and hatched, the chicken may not lay eggs again for many weeks.
When a chicken is broody, she will do everything to stay on her clutch of eggs, inlcuding pecking anything which comes near the nest.
But, you can eat fertilized eggs...
I would kill, clean, and cook the roosters now. Otherwise you're just feeding the roosters to hear them cocka-doodle-doo all day long. No thanks.
bvb71 2 years ago 2
I got 20 chickens this spring but thy wer all killed by predators (hawks, racoons, coyotes and bobcats). Our farm is completely covered up with wildlife. I am going to have to predator proof the coop and pen and give it another try. The hawks were coming in through the top of the pen and killing the chickens. The other predators were digging underneath the pen and tearing apart the wire. I guess I'm going to have to put a concrete footing around it to keep them safe.
jc7622 2 years ago
Thanks for sharing!
Looks like a lot of helpful comments here too.
ChrmdLabradorite 2 years ago
My neighbor sells duck as well as fresh free range hen eggs.....duck eggs are AMAZING. Taste like chicken eggs...but more intense egg flavor. And they are larger. I suggest a few ducks to add to your critter collection, Daniel.
MissPickletoes 2 years ago
Daniel, Your goats appear to be of the meat type (Boer) rather than dairy, that could explain why you're not getting much milk (or are her two kids stealing it all??). Try an Alpine or Nubian for milk production. My yearling doe (freshened in April with twins) is giving me about 3/4 gallon a day. I think next time around, she'll be up to a gallon a day. I LOVE my goats and you are right -- watching the chickens going about their business is great. They amuse me no end.
Michigansnowpony 2 years ago
I think "pretty girl" is a turken, not a chicken.
Michigansnowpony 2 years ago
What a lovley family you'v got there, i wish you good luck with them :-) Didn't you have two dogs aswell? It would be fun to see them too :-)
towatusa 2 years ago
Thanks Daniel! I love that you rescued them from the neighbors house. I realize that people feel like they may have no choice, and abandon the animals, but I hate that they do it, the animals have no choice, they only have their people to care for them. I have told my husband more than once that someday, he will have to buy me a small farm. I never met an amimal I didn't LOVE! Neither have my girls. I wish we could have chickens now, but our living situation won't allow it. Keep it up.
atticus9799 2 years ago
No ostrich yet?
JRHillJR 2 years ago
The ostrich is never coming, its been vetoed and there is a permanent executive order against bringing it up. :)
visionvictory 2 years ago 4
Very Nice!
profesas 2 years ago
Great job!
MissouriWatchman 2 years ago
I live in an urban area. Would the chickens crow in the morning and would it bother the neighbors?
banhmibale 2 years ago
No, hens do not crow, just roosters and you do not need a rooster to get (unfertilized) eggs. Plan on one chicken per family member and you'll have plenty of eggs as chickens lay one egg every 25 hours (so they skip a day here and there.
Production does tend to go down with every passing year. Most folks cull after 2-3 years and start over with new chicks / pullets (female chicks). A large rabbit hutch could be a suitable coop if you let them free range during the day. Good luck!
Michigansnowpony 2 years ago
For new chickens you need a rooster... They aren't that loud, and you need to get up early to feed the animals anyway. ;)
nasanction 2 years ago
In todays economy, more urban areas are relaxing laws to allow backyard chickens.....just avoid roosters and you will have no more noise than the gentle clucking of happy hens!!
MissPickletoes 2 years ago
Don't you need a rooster for the hens to lay eggs?
I know that sounds stupid, but isn't that how it works?
nasanction 2 years ago
For you city folk: No, you do not need a rooster for a hen to lay eggs. The only real purpose for a rooster is for breeding.
Samrat1957 2 years ago
Nope....they will lay without a rooster...all he is good for is enabling the hen to lay fertile eggs. I have a small female parrot who lays eggs every spring....and she has no beau!
MissPickletoes 2 years ago
You should consider raising solider fly larvae or even composting worms to supplement the protein in these chickens diets. Just some economical advice. You would have to freeze the worms for 14 days to rid them of parasites however, I mean, you don't have to but apparently they are present.
HomesteadProvocateur 2 years ago
GREAT video Daniel!
You are right about wildlife....
tbirdwagonman 2 years ago
Our 5 full grown, laying hens do about 1 egg each per day(we gave away 18 eggs today and have 17 in the fridg). One bag of Full-O-Pep Egg Producer pellers lasts about a month IIRC. Price "organic" eggs at your grocery.
The eggs we get from our chickens taste 1000% better than store-bought.
tbirdwagonman 2 years ago
thats great to hear tbirdwagonman we just started chicks as laying hens and I am hoping it will all be worth it this fall when the eggs start dropping lol
mamahenof6 2 years ago
....Very Nice!
Please consider doing a video on the specific economics of dealing with the animals...How much do it cost to keep the chickens and goats going
and what kind of production milk/eggs are you finding?
Im just wondering what the Cost/return looks like....although i agree with you 100% its just great being around the animals
Thanks
Ooloosoon 2 years ago
Its hard to believe how cheap they are to feed.
goats and chickens for less than 30 a month.
visionvictory 2 years ago
VisionVictory, how come you only shoot those goats from behind? Hahaha just kidding...
sinitskyd 2 years ago
Congrats on the expansion of your family! I wish my family looked so good. They even look better from behind. -And well, you seem to really like yours too.... I can't say the same. ;-)
medulalumosa9 2 years ago
i can imagine how enjoyable watching them is.
thanks
nepenthean 2 years ago
Daniel...you need a chicken named,"Extra Crispy".
Buckhead1959 2 years ago 3
LOL- thats bad :)
visionvictory 2 years ago
Hey Daniel... Did you check pretty girl close for mites?
Carlstens 2 years ago 3
No need, "Pretty Girl" is a Turken. (no not a turkey chicken cross) Turken is a breed name, they also go by Naked Necks. They've been bred to have featherless necks. She's supposed to look like that.
limegreendream67 2 years ago
Just came in from watching the baby goats playing myself. they make me rofl.
Carlstens 2 years ago
We hope to be getting our "urban chickens" within the next month!!! Awesome Daniel!!!!!
blueeggsitter 2 years ago
Chickens were called the chinese tractor. they will weed your garden by scratching for bugs.
Just dont let them into a food garden :)
keithholden 2 years ago
Do you trim the goats' hooves? There are some good goat care clips out there on YouTube. Greetings to you from France.
slobomotion 2 years ago
Vision, being in a rural setting, you should really have a good guard dog.
I have pitbulls, but they take so much extra attention and care I would not recommend them.
A good German Shepard would be a great dog for your child to grow up with and to alert the family of any dangers.
Astrocreep69 2 years ago
I agree and I was thinking the same thing about the guard dog...
kenandjasha 2 years ago
Hey, I want to pet victory!
NOweWONT 2 years ago
Wow, I'd be interested in hearing about the learning process you've been going through with chickens and goats. Are you getting much milk, eggs, or meat from them yet?
veritasfiles 2 years ago
I miss that raising animals <
I was on a small farm all up to my mid twenties sadly.
I became wise and brave ,I moved to the city
Another twenty years flew by and then I became wiser and smarter ,realized how dumb I was back then .
In the market now to move back and start that small farm again!
I really miss those chickens and goats I also had rabbits
And pigs!
I dont recommend pigs for the faint of heart they are very smart!
Are yours all nannies?
sealhunter5 2 years ago
hi v v..how much land do you have?..ever consider a green house?..its my next project..
kymopar 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
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mrzack888 2 years ago
I can imagine how your mouth would water, after seeing an image of all of them on the table.
Cleric775 2 years ago
very nice
vonhismean 2 years ago
I was hoping you'd narrate in a David Attenborough type voice..... "And now we see the foraging habits of the domesticated chicken, with it's feathery body and long, almost pre-historic neck..."
SheyOneTen 2 years ago 2
farm tv... the original reality show.
scrunchiiface 2 years ago
''Let me see if i get a better shot of her''
LMFAO
x- D
Taaveto 2 years ago 2
We have 12 chickens, 6 laying and 6 teenagers. We too love watching them and we call it "chicken TV". We live in the Denver suburbs and have inspired 3 of our neighbors to get chickens. It is becoming a farm on our street. Totally awesome!!! Many on our block are doing large gardens too - for a city neighborhood we've got a good thing going!!!!! Love your goats.
thegreenfamilybooks 2 years ago 3
Major conversation starter as well :) People love asking about them and hearing my chicken stories.
VictoryIndependence 2 years ago
how much does it cost to feed all your animals?
NoesisNRG 2 years ago
12 bucks a month for the goats and about 15 for the chickens.
VictoryIndependence 2 years ago
Awesome video! How cool to have a chicken sitting on your lap!
krunchyberries 2 years ago
I literally could waste away an afternoon watching my chickens, sheep and rabbits. It really is relaxing and mind-clearing. Sometimes quite entertaining as well... "Lovely" is a nice looking Boer goat! You'll have to track down someone with a billygoat for breeding so that you can keep those girls milking...
hunt1803 2 years ago
thx for the comments
VictoryIndependence 2 years ago
I have chickens but how much land do you recommend for each goats.
veggielife 2 years ago
Hi veggie, you should allow an acre of good forage ground for every 4 milk goats. You have to manage that acreage, too. For instance cross fence it into pens and move the goats from one pen to the next as they eat it down so that the browse can recover. That is also a good way to discourage internal parasites, by rotating their grazing and browing areas. Free-ranging chickens with them keeps the parasites down too.
hunt1803 2 years ago
A guy on the east coast has an organic farm with a series of fenced grazing areas where he keeps cows for a few days before moving them to the next field. He also has mobile chicken coops that he moves into a field about 5 days after the cows are gone. The flies lay eggs in the cow paddies then once the larva are really going, the chickens arrive and tear them apart, eat the larva and spread the manure over a wide area. Then the grass grows like mad, ready for grazing again very quick.
vention4wh 2 years ago 2
2, Can't remember the name of the place though. Anyway, with a bit of land, some fences and a good system you can produce a lot of cows, chickens and eggs. Supposedly the land was marginal when he started but now the soil is a couple feet deep.
vention4wh 2 years ago 2
I believe you are speaking of Joel Sauletin from PolyFace Farm in Dayton, Virginia. He is also a professor of Agriculture and lectures on perma culture. Really interesting guy and the way he manages his land is amazing. He has written several books, ie: "Everything I want to do is illegal"!!! I have been to several of his lectures. He'll make anyone want to get back to the land.
blueeggsitter 2 years ago 2
Thanks
veggielife 2 years ago
That is so cool. I can't wait to have some furry and feathery tenants on my property. How long have you had them? Any eggs?
SamuraiCommando 2 years ago
Almost an egg a day from each one. I have had chickens for over a year now.
VictoryIndependence 2 years ago
my fav is "pretty girl" for the ugly chicken lol
kenandjasha 2 years ago 2
thx :)
visionvictory 2 years ago
good stuff..keep em coming...
kenandjasha 2 years ago