great job, have you ever heard of colony raising rabbits a couple of my meat breeders give me nice size litters every month yet still manage to take care of the previous litters till they are weaned. love the garden and chicken set up also btw
Just a thought... we had trouble with two buck rabbits that we thought was sterile, but reading in a rabbit breeding guide from county co-op extension I realized that we had the bucks too close to the does. After we moved them away from the does they no longer were shooting blanks. Sometimes this makes a difference, other times it doesn't but if you have a great looking buck and want to use him for breeding, try moving him first before you stew him (although rabbit stew is darned good).
Killing animals is a very low grade standard of self sufficiency. We dont need to kill or eat animals. I havent in close to 40 years. THere is karma for killing animals. Violence breeds violence. THis is a distortion of what self sufficinecy is about > Animal protein is a cause of cancer. Dark leafy greens is the best and cleanest protein
@Gauraonline Dark leafy greens have zero protein. Animal protein does not cause cancer it can be triggered by hormones in animal whether put there by injection or stress. I suggest raising stress and injectable hormone free animal eating their natural diet. I believe cancer is caused by a lack of nitrilosides is the modern diet. Read the works of biochemist Ernest T. Krebs
You can make movable pens for everything, rabbits, chickens, the whole lot. With the rabbits, you just need a perimeter of about 8 or 9 inches in from the sides on the bottom.
@henchman99942 Good info. I have raised batches of rabbits in hare tractors from weaning to butcher on my field, with no commercial feed. My field isn't very flat so I have at times been out chasing rabbits. I will try Joel Salatin's slats on the bottom and see how that works.
@TheBgcheez I only have 1.1 acres you can even do this on a small city lot or patio/balcony. Check out Geoff Lawton's New video on permaculture in small city lots.
@Metal8Lover I am doing something other than a garden, I am doing permaculture. Permaculture applies to all things not only food production, it is systems feeding systems. I do-do work but study nature to work with nature instead of against her. I think some would be surprised as to the amount of work I don't put into this. I am going to school full time so don't have a lot of extra time.
I did not raise turkeys this year. Last year I raise 17 turkeys one weighed 50lbs live weight, 40 lbs on the t-giving table. The latest set of calves are really looking good, even now (Dec.) are eating off the field, but for when the snow comes this summer I cut about one ton of hay for them with a scythe. First hay cutting with a scythe, it was rather meditative, I enjoyed it. Calf feed to date $0,(unless you count the $10 for the used scythe) All is going well. Thanks for your interest. Mike
Just a little update: I am still going to school full time so projects are slower than I would like. I have been working on solarizing the house, mostly experimenting. I'm having good results. Mostly passive heating, I think this is the most bang for the buck. I have only bought about one bag each rabbit and chicken feed for 8 months all the feed has been produced here. I have gone down to one doe and one buck for rabbits, 30 rabbits(babies from 3 does) at a time was a bit much.
racist rabbit breeder!. just kidding. great little farm and good luck with your self sufficient housing I'm planing on doing the same thing; but starting smaller. going to start with a few chickens for eggs.
Great to see the calves and goates... we have Jersey cows after having goats and sheep for a few years, we now prefer the cows. Like the chat between you two mikes :)
@e4tango :) Its great your both called Mike, Great looking garden... I love seeing other peoples gardens etc... always something to inspire or give me ideas
@N8mont4 I make no money right now, the wife is an RN so we ain't rich. I am going to school full time, (debt free) I graduate in May 2012 and hope to make a bit of money. You must do this smart to get ahead, for instance the calves in this video cost me $100 for 3, I sold one to my neighbor for $100. When I butchered the remaining 2 I got 1100 lbs of beef. I grow most of the animals feed, because if you save money buying human food and spend it on animal feed you have gotten nowhere.
Why are there so many trolls commenting on this guys fantastic work? Oh, they're probably the people that got suckered into planting GM corn and buying pesticides from the worlds shadiest biotech firms and now they're a little sour and somebody who does good for both themselves and the environment. Cheers from Minnesota Mike, looks awesome- Haters gonna hate
"I grew the calves in the video on my neighbors 6 acre pasture that he raises grass for cutting with a riding mower. He does not raise corn that I have stopped him from growing all that is stopped is the mindless driving in circles cutting the grass every couple weeks. I raised 1100 lbs. of beef in this pasture and I am raising 2 more calves as I write this, beef on previously empty mowed pasture. Where is the waste?"
" In a fully integrated permaculture system there is room for all Gods flora and fauna, in a modern agriculture system there is not. I wont go into monocultures devastating effects on nature, which is what a field of corn is, but I will comment on land waste."
" Lastly most and soon all corn will be contaminated by Monsanto GMO corn, even if it poses no risk (which I believe it does) they spray it directly with Round up several times in a growing season. Before GMO the farmer could only spray once before planting. Grow and eat corn, more power to you, I will grow and eat a variety of plants and animals."
"Grain must be processed with technology as our first digestion, don't believe it, eat a few ears of raw corn or a few hands full of raw wheat. Man can not digest and get food value from grain without technology. As for corn, it's use migrated from South America to North America, closely following this migration of corn use is arthritis. Wolves seldom if ever get arthritis how ever their cousins, dogs, that we feed corn based dog food often do."
"Man is a meat eater by nature, it you choose to be a vegan or any level of this I respect your choice. Man by nature does not eat grain. How do I know? Because no matter how you believe man got put on Earth they did not arrive cooking and processing food with technology. Even after learning to cook it was probably animals on a spit or in the coals."
@e4tango I beg to differ. How do I know? My two year old daughter has been vegan all her life. She is happy healthy and thriving. My wife was vegan through the pregnancy. I have been vegan since she got pregnant and we are still alive and healthy.
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike, the videographer) All fine well and good but your daughter obviously wasn't given the choice. Homo sapiens owes its success to its adaptability so choosing a particular diet doesn't mean you'll die or otherwise be harmed. But to suggest that for tens of thousands of years mankind had it all wrong by eating meat seems rather silly to me.
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike in video) Lastly it seems funny the things I believe man should not eat are the ones the government tells you to eat (food Pyramid) and corporations are monkeying with (GMO, hormones). Peace to you and your family.
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike in video) I eat a lot of veggies, nuts, fruit, and drink the heck out of green smoothies from my garden. I don't eat much grain, potatoes, beans or dairy. I do store these items as a survival food, not a staple. My mind is open, I ask that you open yours and check out the reasoning behind the paleo diet. If you don't agree, I would still shake your hand if we met.
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike from in video) Humans can eat a wide variety of things and live. I believe, and there is research to back this up, man evolved a large brain and a short gut by eating nutrient dense food, meat. (try Rob Wolf book The Paleo Solution, or Neanderthin by Ray Audette) If grain were a natural food for man you could eat and digest it without grinding and cooking.
Mike (e4tango) put my comments on the sweet potatoes on for me. The Chicken tractor does not have a screen bottom it is open. I have lost a chicken to a stray dog that got in. I have redone my chicken keeping. I have a tractor for now and then, fencing to put up for a rotational pastured effect. I have also put in a permanent chicken area for winter. I am researching and planting various perennials in this chicken area for "free feed". Mike in the video
From the Other Mike: "While ornamental sweet potatoes are grown mostly for their foliage, they do produce some, smaller and not good quality tubers. Under the circumstances, not receiving my shipment of preferred plants and only ornamental one available everywhere I looked locally, I gave them a go. Not so great results but then with ordered plant I haven't done any better(they usually arrive in the mail like mush, late in the season and don't live when planted)."
"I am looking to go to yams, they are perennial and coolest of all, if I find the variety I want, grow "Air potatoes". Dioscorea batata and D. bulbifera grows regular yam tubers (which if left in the ground come back for years sometimes weighing 40 lbs depending on variety) and also potatoes grow on the vine that you can just pick off like a fruit without digging the root."
@e4tango That's just a trend on youtube. I've found that most video series don't have as many people who watch the parts 2, 3, etc, as they do part 1. Just how it goes...
@trappedhere2 Mike (e4tango) put my comments on the sweet potatoes on for me. The Chicken tractor does not have a screen bottom it is open. I have lost a chicken to a stray dog that got in. I have redone my chicken keeping. I have a tractor for now and then, fencing to put up for a rotational pastured effect. I have also put in a permanent chicken area for winter. I am researching and planting various perennials in this chicken area for "free feed". Mike in the video
Good stuff! Thank you for your time. Your son may not realize it yet, but he is learning true freedom and independence. Wow... I'm happy for you guys!
You might consider some White leghorn hens next. They produce more eggs on less feed than any other hen. Very effecient! Thats a very nice set up! I know that son of yours is going to eat good! I hope you are teaching him everything you know about self sufficency! Keep up the great work!
Hi Warbuff, Thanks for the congrats. Yes I am trying to do everything as organically as possible. I use no chemicals but do get mulch from the township which may have something on it. However , as time goes on I am making more and more of my on compost so I know what goes in it. Mike
Oooh, wont snakes get your chickidies?
therichesthobo1 3 days ago
great job, have you ever heard of colony raising rabbits a couple of my meat breeders give me nice size litters every month yet still manage to take care of the previous litters till they are weaned. love the garden and chicken set up also btw
MrBobflipper 6 days ago
Just a thought... we had trouble with two buck rabbits that we thought was sterile, but reading in a rabbit breeding guide from county co-op extension I realized that we had the bucks too close to the does. After we moved them away from the does they no longer were shooting blanks. Sometimes this makes a difference, other times it doesn't but if you have a great looking buck and want to use him for breeding, try moving him first before you stew him (although rabbit stew is darned good).
Sonnet792 1 week ago
WOW! I love your set up and your son is so cute. He was back there eating greens. My kids would never eat greens at that age!
FreidasGarden 1 week ago
What bottle lids for the waterers did you find that fit the 2 liter bottles?
smilliesss1 1 week ago
Killing animals is a very low grade standard of self sufficiency. We dont need to kill or eat animals. I havent in close to 40 years. THere is karma for killing animals. Violence breeds violence. THis is a distortion of what self sufficinecy is about > Animal protein is a cause of cancer. Dark leafy greens is the best and cleanest protein
Gauraonline 2 weeks ago
@Gauraonline Dark leafy greens have zero protein. Animal protein does not cause cancer it can be triggered by hormones in animal whether put there by injection or stress. I suggest raising stress and injectable hormone free animal eating their natural diet. I believe cancer is caused by a lack of nitrilosides is the modern diet. Read the works of biochemist Ernest T. Krebs
Uberman30001 2 weeks ago
@Uberman30001
Don't you wonder how Gauronline has lived the past 40 years without meat... without protein???
-Obviously dark leafy greens have SOME protein.
calfliny 1 week ago
Howdy.
You can make movable pens for everything, rabbits, chickens, the whole lot. With the rabbits, you just need a perimeter of about 8 or 9 inches in from the sides on the bottom.
henchman99942 2 weeks ago
@henchman99942 Good info. I have raised batches of rabbits in hare tractors from weaning to butcher on my field, with no commercial feed. My field isn't very flat so I have at times been out chasing rabbits. I will try Joel Salatin's slats on the bottom and see how that works.
Uberman30001 2 weeks ago
Would to have more property like this. Thanks for the great video!
TheBgcheez 3 weeks ago
@TheBgcheez I only have 1.1 acres you can even do this on a small city lot or patio/balcony. Check out Geoff Lawton's New video on permaculture in small city lots.
Uberman30001 2 weeks ago
how did you do all that i only have a smaller garden and it takes me all day to work with it do you have help on the side?
Metal8Lover 3 weeks ago
@Metal8Lover I am doing something other than a garden, I am doing permaculture. Permaculture applies to all things not only food production, it is systems feeding systems. I do-do work but study nature to work with nature instead of against her. I think some would be surprised as to the amount of work I don't put into this. I am going to school full time so don't have a lot of extra time.
Uberman30001 2 weeks ago
@Uberman30001 i envy you
Metal8Lover 1 week ago
I did not raise turkeys this year. Last year I raise 17 turkeys one weighed 50lbs live weight, 40 lbs on the t-giving table. The latest set of calves are really looking good, even now (Dec.) are eating off the field, but for when the snow comes this summer I cut about one ton of hay for them with a scythe. First hay cutting with a scythe, it was rather meditative, I enjoyed it. Calf feed to date $0,(unless you count the $10 for the used scythe) All is going well. Thanks for your interest. Mike
Uberman30001 2 months ago
Just a little update: I am still going to school full time so projects are slower than I would like. I have been working on solarizing the house, mostly experimenting. I'm having good results. Mostly passive heating, I think this is the most bang for the buck. I have only bought about one bag each rabbit and chicken feed for 8 months all the feed has been produced here. I have gone down to one doe and one buck for rabbits, 30 rabbits(babies from 3 does) at a time was a bit much.
Uberman30001 2 months ago
racist rabbit breeder!. just kidding. great little farm and good luck with your self sufficient housing I'm planing on doing the same thing; but starting smaller. going to start with a few chickens for eggs.
Daniel95838 3 months ago
Great to see the calves and goates... we have Jersey cows after having goats and sheep for a few years, we now prefer the cows. Like the chat between you two mikes :)
ndudman8 4 months ago
@ndudman8 We're brothers from different mothers!
e4tango 4 months ago
@e4tango :) Its great your both called Mike, Great looking garden... I love seeing other peoples gardens etc... always something to inspire or give me ideas
ndudman8 4 months ago
@e4tango Great Video! One question, what does he do for a living? It seems like he makes good money and has a lot of time off.
N8mont4 3 weeks ago
@N8mont4 I make no money right now, the wife is an RN so we ain't rich. I am going to school full time, (debt free) I graduate in May 2012 and hope to make a bit of money. You must do this smart to get ahead, for instance the calves in this video cost me $100 for 3, I sold one to my neighbor for $100. When I butchered the remaining 2 I got 1100 lbs of beef. I grow most of the animals feed, because if you save money buying human food and spend it on animal feed you have gotten nowhere.
Uberman30001 2 weeks ago
@Uberman30001 I think it would be expensive to start up self sufficiency, buy once it gets going you will save a lot of money.
N8mont4 2 weeks ago
Why are there so many trolls commenting on this guys fantastic work? Oh, they're probably the people that got suckered into planting GM corn and buying pesticides from the worlds shadiest biotech firms and now they're a little sour and somebody who does good for both themselves and the environment. Cheers from Minnesota Mike, looks awesome- Haters gonna hate
porkpie420 5 months ago
I like the example of self sufficiency that I'm seeing in this video. What a great model to follow.
waellerbe 6 months ago
@Mick from Mike (in the video):
"I grew the calves in the video on my neighbors 6 acre pasture that he raises grass for cutting with a riding mower. He does not raise corn that I have stopped him from growing all that is stopped is the mindless driving in circles cutting the grass every couple weeks. I raised 1100 lbs. of beef in this pasture and I am raising 2 more calves as I write this, beef on previously empty mowed pasture. Where is the waste?"
e4tango 6 months ago
@Mick from Mike (in the video):
" In a fully integrated permaculture system there is room for all Gods flora and fauna, in a modern agriculture system there is not. I wont go into monocultures devastating effects on nature, which is what a field of corn is, but I will comment on land waste."
e4tango 6 months ago
@Mick from Mike (in the video):
" Lastly most and soon all corn will be contaminated by Monsanto GMO corn, even if it poses no risk (which I believe it does) they spray it directly with Round up several times in a growing season. Before GMO the farmer could only spray once before planting. Grow and eat corn, more power to you, I will grow and eat a variety of plants and animals."
e4tango 6 months ago
@Mick from Mike (in the video):
"Grain must be processed with technology as our first digestion, don't believe it, eat a few ears of raw corn or a few hands full of raw wheat. Man can not digest and get food value from grain without technology. As for corn, it's use migrated from South America to North America, closely following this migration of corn use is arthritis. Wolves seldom if ever get arthritis how ever their cousins, dogs, that we feed corn based dog food often do."
e4tango 6 months ago
@Mick from Mike (in the video):
"Man is a meat eater by nature, it you choose to be a vegan or any level of this I respect your choice. Man by nature does not eat grain. How do I know? Because no matter how you believe man got put on Earth they did not arrive cooking and processing food with technology. Even after learning to cook it was probably animals on a spit or in the coals."
e4tango 6 months ago
@e4tango I beg to differ. How do I know? My two year old daughter has been vegan all her life. She is happy healthy and thriving. My wife was vegan through the pregnancy. I have been vegan since she got pregnant and we are still alive and healthy.
DigitalPraise7 2 months ago
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike, the videographer) All fine well and good but your daughter obviously wasn't given the choice. Homo sapiens owes its success to its adaptability so choosing a particular diet doesn't mean you'll die or otherwise be harmed. But to suggest that for tens of thousands of years mankind had it all wrong by eating meat seems rather silly to me.
e4tango 2 months ago
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike in video) Lastly it seems funny the things I believe man should not eat are the ones the government tells you to eat (food Pyramid) and corporations are monkeying with (GMO, hormones). Peace to you and your family.
e4tango 2 months ago
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike in video) I eat a lot of veggies, nuts, fruit, and drink the heck out of green smoothies from my garden. I don't eat much grain, potatoes, beans or dairy. I do store these items as a survival food, not a staple. My mind is open, I ask that you open yours and check out the reasoning behind the paleo diet. If you don't agree, I would still shake your hand if we met.
e4tango 2 months ago
@DigitalPraise7 (from Mike from in video) Humans can eat a wide variety of things and live. I believe, and there is research to back this up, man evolved a large brain and a short gut by eating nutrient dense food, meat. (try Rob Wolf book The Paleo Solution, or Neanderthin by Ray Audette) If grain were a natural food for man you could eat and digest it without grinding and cooking.
e4tango 2 months ago
1 acre of land produces 250 pounds of beef. The same acre produces 30,000 pounds of corn. Livestock is a severe waste of land use.
MickScarborough 6 months ago
Mike (e4tango) put my comments on the sweet potatoes on for me. The Chicken tractor does not have a screen bottom it is open. I have lost a chicken to a stray dog that got in. I have redone my chicken keeping. I have a tractor for now and then, fencing to put up for a rotational pastured effect. I have also put in a permanent chicken area for winter. I am researching and planting various perennials in this chicken area for "free feed". Mike in the video
venushumantrap 7 months ago
@kevingok
From the Other Mike: "While ornamental sweet potatoes are grown mostly for their foliage, they do produce some, smaller and not good quality tubers. Under the circumstances, not receiving my shipment of preferred plants and only ornamental one available everywhere I looked locally, I gave them a go. Not so great results but then with ordered plant I haven't done any better(they usually arrive in the mail like mush, late in the season and don't live when planted)."
e4tango 7 months ago
From the Other Mike:
"I am looking to go to yams, they are perennial and coolest of all, if I find the variety I want, grow "Air potatoes". Dioscorea batata and D. bulbifera grows regular yam tubers (which if left in the ground come back for years sometimes weighing 40 lbs depending on variety) and also potatoes grow on the vine that you can just pick off like a fruit without digging the root."
e4tango 7 months ago
Great video... the only problem I saw was the sweet potatoes were actually the ornamental variety. I almost made the same mistake myself.
Otherwise, great stuff here. Would like to see more videos about each little area.
kevingok 8 months ago
amazing video, this is really good!!
Tranksdofuturo 8 months ago
I am so impressed.
will youtrain my husband to do dtis?
frugalnanny 11 months ago
Dude you are a KING, 7 your son will grow up to be just like you, a great provider.
Teach him well, self reliant is the way.
BadassCeino 1 year ago
the calves are soo cute !
njtechie 1 year ago
We're glad that three's been the interest and appreciation with our film, but I wonder why twice as many people have watched Part 1 as have Part 2.
e4tango 1 year ago
@e4tango That's just a trend on youtube. I've found that most video series don't have as many people who watch the parts 2, 3, etc, as they do part 1. Just how it goes...
mayorphill 8 months ago
@e4tango does your chicken tractor have a screen on the bottom?
trappedhere2 7 months ago
@trappedhere2 Mike (e4tango) put my comments on the sweet potatoes on for me. The Chicken tractor does not have a screen bottom it is open. I have lost a chicken to a stray dog that got in. I have redone my chicken keeping. I have a tractor for now and then, fencing to put up for a rotational pastured effect. I have also put in a permanent chicken area for winter. I am researching and planting various perennials in this chicken area for "free feed". Mike in the video
venushumantrap 7 months ago
Good stuff! Thank you for your time. Your son may not realize it yet, but he is learning true freedom and independence. Wow... I'm happy for you guys!
5 STARS!
ChuckCh9 1 year ago
@ChuckCh9 i agree
iwantosavemoney 1 year ago
This is the setup I most strongly desire.
flyingemu27 1 year ago
nice little farm. i wish i could live like that.
Kisno77 1 year ago
nice setup, what about power off the grid?
TellinTheTruth 1 year ago
That's a lucky little boy. I'd be in kid heaven to be able to play with chicken and bunnies and stuff all day! lol
Your videos are very inspiring to me. You're living the dream, buddy! Right on! :)
nomoreremakes 1 year ago
I THOUGHT that was bamboo! Awesome little farm!!!
nomoreremakes 1 year ago
good video.
cresidue 1 year ago
You might consider some White leghorn hens next. They produce more eggs on less feed than any other hen. Very effecient! Thats a very nice set up! I know that son of yours is going to eat good! I hope you are teaching him everything you know about self sufficency! Keep up the great work!
Stormclouds777 2 years ago
Hi, do you leave the chickens in the big cage there over night? At my place the fox would get them too easily.
And do you keep your rabbits on wire bottoms?
Don't they get cuts at their paws?
Your garden is enviably tidy and clean, in comparison mine is a mess...
Good work!
buckfastbee 2 years ago
Good stuff, congrats on the work. Are you growing organically? Looking forward to more videos. Best of luck!
warbuff1 2 years ago
Hi Warbuff, Thanks for the congrats. Yes I am trying to do everything as organically as possible. I use no chemicals but do get mulch from the township which may have something on it. However , as time goes on I am making more and more of my on compost so I know what goes in it. Mike
Uberman30001 2 years ago