WillieFarms

Safety Up Grade For Chicken Run. As some of you know last fall over a 4-6 week period I lost almost all my chickens to predictors. The loss coincided with the Red Tail Hawk migration all though I believe there were more players involved. After I started missing birds I confined them to the run area, but the losses did not stop, In fact they increased. By me concentrating them into an open top run it apparently made them easy pickings. I knew before the new chickens could be released into the run I needed to up grade my security above as well as the bottom edges of the pen. So I started at the bottom by placing pieces of broken brick and block against the chain-link fence. No, it is not pretty but it is functional and that is what my goal is. Next I knew I had to defend against birds of prey. That I believed was the main cause of my loss. The reason being is most chicken were just gone, a few feathers and no bird. Raptors will take their kill with them, if they are small enough and light enough. Some of the losses occurred at night and I believe owls were nabbing birds that had roosted out side the coop. My neglect of the run contributed to the situation, by me letting limbs grow over the pen, I unwittingly provided cover and a perch for the hunters, easy prey! So in running through the options for a top cover I looked for a light mesh option that did not block light or air. I found it in a polypropylene bird netting on Amozon in just the size I needed 20x40. Here is the link, and they do have different sizes, https://a.co/d/g4znVsQ This netting was easy to work with, meat all my requirements, and was with in by very tight budget. I stretched the bird netting across my 16x40 run, trimmed the excess and now they are much safer in their run area. God Bless. #birdnetting #kentucky #homesteading #chickens #farm #chicks #chickencoop #chickenrun #security #safty #installing #predator #dayinthelife

Held the cattle off the pasture till the roots were well established on clover and fescue we sowed in the late winter.

Finally Get To Plant In My Garden. Later cool weather among other events have prevented me from getting my summer garden started. I have herd, at lest in my area do not plant tomatoes, peppers and other summer plants before the Kentucky Derby. Well this was videoed the Saturday after that race so I am just a little behind. I like to plant any plants in the later afternoon. I do not want them going trough the mid day sun right off the bat, The hottest part of the day with the most intense ultraviolet rays from the sun. So if i want to get in my garden before that time I plant seeds and that is what I did. I started with green beans, that and tomatoes are the two top vegies we eat. I am planning and preparing for 100 quarts of the snap beans for preservation for a years supply. I also planted corn, pink eye purple hull peas, and horticulture beans. With over 100 hills of each planted. The green beans will start producing with in 60 days from germination and can be planted 2-3 weeks apart to bring in more produce. That is my plan with them. The horticulture and purple hulls take a little long to mature about 70 days. They can be also sown in staggered plantings. Peppers, bell peppers I planted 15 before it was to dark to go further. I have more bells and 3-4 other preppers That will be planted soon. Keep up with our homestead I try and post two or more videos a weeks and would love to have you stop by our channel. God bless. #horticulture #beans #farm #homesteading #kentucky #dayinthelife #gardening #bellpeppers #sweetcorn #purplehullpeas

We it is time to plant in the garden, and herbs are the first thing in this year. Herbs we can use for culinary as well as health, will be planted in our garden. Some herb we are planting will come back year after year like Thyme, Oregano, Sage, Rosemary, Cilantro, Lemon Balm, and Dill. So we are looking forward to herbs that will grow into the future. God Bless. #homesteading #kentucky #dayinthelife #farm #farmlife #herbs #raisedbeds #springplanting

Chores Must Be Done. Day 3 of 4. I thing I would stay busy for 20 years just trying to catch up on my work around the homestead.. I also have to remember to keep my priorities in order, God, family, friends, then the other stuff, because the stuff category is all temporary. Its God being the reason we are here and should be our first priority. Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33. The Family is a gift from God for us to love and to be loved, that is show us how God loves us and how we are to love God. Sense mankind was banished from the Garden Of Eden, (Yes human's were created in and for a garden) We are now to make a life by the sweat of our brow. We must remember that. We must work to make a living but that is all it is for, to get us through this life till God takes us home our real, eternal home. Our family and our friends are all we can take with us to our real life in our real home for eternity, the reminder will will not last, it will return back to the earth from which it came. So spread The Word of God so we can take all we can to our forever home. I feed the cows, the chickens, the rabbits, till the soil, plant, sow and reap I keep what I can in order so it is first functional and then aesthetic. Day to day chores one day at a time. God bless. #homesteading #kentucky #chickens #rabbit #dayinthelife #gardening #cows #cattlefarm #farm #farmstead #farmlife #cattle #God #priorities #family #friends #neighbors #hay

Moving Rabbits, and Isolate Injured #Chicks Days Off Day 2. Well Garden had to wait a little, had to move rabbits and tend to inured chicks. From time to time I have had some of the smaller chicks pecked on and feathers pulled out. It could be over crowding it maybe some over zealous chicks picking on smaller ones. I took pit the four that was the most picked on and move to a smaller brooder to heal. The rabbits need to move out with the other ones in the rabbitry, I could have moved them two or three weeks ago but it was just not high on the list. Assuages is nearing the end of harvest season and and I will need to let it grow out soon. I think I can harvest another week before that though. Then I will fertilize and cover with straw if the rouge chicken will allow. I did work on the garden for about half an hour on clean up. God bless. #chicken #homesteading #kentucky #rabbit #gardening #asparagus #chicks #dayinthelife #farm #meatrabbits #jclips

Moving Day For The Chicks. Time for the 6 week old chicks to move to the coop. This is the first of Three batches of chicks we have growing on the homestead. This group consists Two Dorkings, both appear to be pullets. Two Chckoo Marans also pullets and six mixed Americana pullets. We move then from brooder to coop at 5 to 6 weeks of age. We will keep them in the coop till they are 8 to ten weeks old. When introducing a new chi ken to their permanent home you need to confine them to that coop for no less then 3-4 day so they will it will imprint.as home. It is not a bad idea to put a older hen in with the chicks to give them a mentor, and a lot of the time a good mother hen will basically adopt the chicks. This also will help if you have a established flock, the older hen will help make the transition easier for the young ones. We still may have a predator problem in the area so we may keep the chicks confined a bit longer in order to give them a better chance. #homesteading #kentucky #chicks #dayinthelife #coop #chickens

Repair, Salvage or Wreck (Can we save this 50 year old structure) I was trying to come up for a plane to house my rabbits. Maybe a small umbrella structure to put their cages under 8' x 10' maybe? That would take 10 pc 8' metal, 4- 4x4x10' a dozen or more 2x4' fasteners. And I don't think that would large enough for the future. I could build self contained cages with a roof , a hutch but that would cost more that the umbrella structure. Then it came to me the build that was outback, the one my Dad build in the 70's for feed cows, It was large than the other ideas I had it already had a roof, but it was the middles of the night and I would have to check it out tomorrow. Well tomorrow reveled a structure that was further gone than I remembered. One post had sunken into the ground or rotted of two feet or more. This left the structure leaning 30 deg. or more, some ridge cap missing and it had some trees that would have to go. Would it be worth it? Could I even save it? The only way to find out was to try and raise the one corner, I could use my brothers tractor with the fork attachment. I would pick it up brace it and see if it was solid enough to try and save. I would need help! So I called my son AJ he has worked on several commercial jobs and had experience I would need to attempt this rescue. I was will to put some time and money into this project, it mite not save me a ton of money but it would be faster and it was a land mark on the farm. My Dad put time and money to build it and had his hands on it so that made the effort worth the try. We to easily let the older things go because they are not up to date or not a shinny as new. But old does not mean useless with time and a little effort the old can be made usable and useful again. We need to save history as we can because it has a connection to where we came from maybe not directly but us as a whole. #Repair #salvage #wreck #refurbish #rabbitry #rasingrabbits #meatrabbits #farmbuilding #farmhistory #converting #remodel #homesteading #homesteadingfamilty #kentucky

Why Are MY American Bresse Wasting All There Food! The Breese chicks are wasting a lot of food, 60% or more. So we have come up with a solution. We have made a scratch resistant feeder and this video will show you how we did it for under $3.00. It will save you enough feed to pay for itself in a week. The French Bresse chicken debuted in 1591. by the year 1600 the moist flavorful breeze poultry that caught the attention of Kings, King Henri-Quatre of France, the rumor was that this king tried every way possible to find a way to go to that area to enjoy the flavor of the French Bresse chicken. The breed was almost lost by the 1900s as breeders crossbred and tried to achieve a large body bird. A pure Bresse chickens we're left and intensive breeding program was established to ensure the survival of the breed. A standard of perfection was established and a new club was began to assure the breed carried on. The breed gained legal status in France in 1957. In 2011 the United States and Canada received there first Bresse chickens. there are several American Bresse clubs in the US and Canada. Thanks for watching and remember to count your blessings every day and I believe you will find you are blessed far beyond measure I know that I am. God bless. #homesteading #kentucky #chickens #chickenfeeder #dayinthelife #farmstead #chickenfeed #feeder #selfsufficiency #chicks

New baby chicks from Bresse Farms. very good so far. I am impressed with the Hatchery. American Bresse chickens start to lay between 16 and 20 weeks and if used for meat ready in just 16 weeks. very good deed to me at ratio.

Repair, Salvage or Wreck (Can we save this 50 year old structure) I was trying to come up for a plane to house my rabbits. Maybe a small umbrella structure to put their cages under 8' x 10' maybe? That would take 10 pc 8' metal, 4- 4x4x10' a dozen or more 2x4' fasteners. And I don't think that would large enough for the future. I could build self contained cages with a roof , a hutch but that would cost more that the umbrella structure. Then it came to me the build that was outback, the one my Dad build in the 70's for feed cows, It was large than the other ideas I had it already had a roof, but it was the middles of the night and I would have to check it out tomorrow. Well tomorrow reveled a structure that was further gone than I remembered. One post had sunken into the ground or rotted of two feet or more. This left the structure leaning 30 deg. or more, some ridge cap missing and it had some trees that would have to go. Would it be worth it? Could I even save it? The only way to find out was to try and raise the one corner, I could use my brothers tractor with the fork attachment. I would pick it up brace it and see if it was solid enough to try and save. I would need help! So I called my son AJ he has worked on several commercial jobs and had experience I would need to attempt this rescue. I was will to put some time and money into this project, it mite not save me a ton of money but it would be faster and it was a land mark on the farm. My Dad put time and money to build it and had his hands on it so that made the effort worth the try. We to easily let the older things go because they are not up to date or not a shinny as new. But old does not mean useless with time and a little effort the old can be made usable and useful again. We need to save history as we can because it has a connection to where we came from maybe not directly but us as a whole. #Repair #salvage #wreck #refurbish #rabbitry #rasingrabbits #meatrabbits #farmbuilding #farmhistory #converting #remodel #homesteading #homesteadingfamilty #kentucky

A Day With Eagles (Reelfoot Lake Adventure) We took last weekend and took an off homestead road trip to Reelfoot Lake. The 15,000 acre lake that was crated in a series of earthquake from 1811 though 1812, The mighty Mississippi ran backward for a short period of time to fill the void created by the powerful quake. This created a wet land and lake like no other in the country. Bald cypress trees fill the area and create a bayou look. Being on the Mississippi flyway attracts waterfowl in large numbers. Ducks and Geese of all types flock to the area in season. Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern pintail, Northern, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Wood Duck and Hooded Merganer. Geese include, Canada Goose, Snow Goose and Greater White-fronted Goose. We found the ducks and geese in good numbers and did enjoy seeing them, and the trip would have been worth if it was all the is there. Our main attraction was the American Bald Eagle and we were not disappointed, we saw Adults and juvenile, nesting, hunting and just flying about. Reelfoot Lake in a great place to view Americas National Bird, The Bald Eagle. We saw 31 total along with may nests. We saw one one male a kill on a duck but did not get on camera. We saw a courtship flight as two Eagles danced in the air overhead. It was an amazing time one the Cathy and I as well as AJ will remember forever. #Mississippiflyway #ducks #geese #snowgeese #waterfowl #HoodedMerganer #woodduck #baldeagle #baldeagles #american #reelfoot #tennessee #kentucky #statepark #homesteading

PREPARE FOR SPRING NOW (Garden Prep) Now is the time to start your garden prep for spring. Don't let spring sneak up on you like it has me before in the past. If weather is permitting get outside remove any debris from your garden, amend the soil with the top coat of fertilizer or compost or both. If weather is not permitting you can start some seeds now provided you have a warm place and can provide adequate daylight or artificial light, in the form of grow lights. Draw out your garden plan as best you can, you can change it it's just on paper. make sure that you have the seeds ready to plant that you are going to need. if not now is a good time to order. Cool weather crops or the most critical at this point as they need to go in the ground earlier. The warm weather crops can't wait a bit because it will need to be several days after your first frost date before they are transplanted. Prepare for an early spring, it may not happen but if it does and you're not ready then you have missed a great opportunity. A reminder, most cool weather crops, if you do miss the spring planting can be planted in late summer for a fall crop. Some of the earliest crop you need to plant will be green peas, followed by broccoli, celery, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, and a lot of the lettuces. These can be planted in the garden 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost date and most cases. Get out there as soon as you can and start your garden prep spring is a coming be ready. Remember count your blessings everyday and I believe you will find you are blessed far beyond measure I know I am God bless. #homesteading #kentucky #garden #gardening #soilamendment #prepareforspring #springplanting

Plan Your Amazing Garden This Year. This can be your year for an absolutely amazing garden. Planning is the key to success and that holds true for gardening as well. My goal this year is to grown enough vegetables this year to feed my family and cutting our grocery bill by 70%. Lofty? Well does not have to be, depending on someone else for you food has not been the case until the last 80 to 100 years. Before then most raised the majority of their own food and bartered with the extras for what else they needed. So what you will need to know? 1) How much time to you have to spend on the garden? A garden is not a plant and forget till harvest project, It will take time to invest in order for you to yield a crop. It take an average of 38-40 minuets per growing season for 1 square foot of garden. Don't let that frighten you. A 3000 square foot garden will take about 8 hours a week, and would produce about 700 to 800 pounds per 1000 sf. Now this are will need to receive at least 8 hours of sunlight a day, be well drained and with in reach of water. 2) How much area do you have? Now it does not take a lot of area to have a significant impact on they way you eat and dollars saved. You can grow about 3/4 pound of food on 1 square foot of garden. And in just a few pots could grown enough herbs to last you an entire year. 3) Now you need to plan what you will grow and how much you need. Start with what do you and your family eat? And how much of it do you eat? After you decide that I use this link to help be find the correct amount. It is from the University Of Kentucky Cooperative extension. It is a down loadable file and very helpful. https://www2.ca.uky.edu/agcomm/pubs/id/id128/id128.pdf That's all the information you need to get started. Now there are other things you will need and things to know but this is a good solid step to begin gardening. Thanks Craig Remember to count your blessing every day, and I believe you will find you are blessed beyond measure. I know I am. #startagarden #firstgarden #succesfulgarden #gardening #gardeningtips #gardeningideas#kentucky #gardentips #awsome #amazing #homesteading #ayearsfood #garden #gardenplanning

The Rewarding Journey of Raising Rabbits. We have long contemplate raising rabbits. There were always questions, What breed, where to keep them, how best to manage breeding. Well we are now one step closer to this, We have picked our rabbit breed. We found the standard size Rex rabbits. They will get to a good size 8-9 pounds and the meat to bone ration is better than the California or New Zeeland breeds. We are just getting started on this adventure and still have a lot to figure out but we have taken the giant first step and will be learning along the way. Sometimes you just have to take that plunge. We are working on the housing with an old building on the property. It is over 50 years old and needs some work and some changes to make this into a rabbit palace. The rabbit were about 6 weeks earlier than I was planning but, we will make this work. We found the furry addition just the next county over from ours. Sherry, the Cuniculture (or rabbit breeder) was very knowledgeable and helpful, as we had a lot of questions. We were able to find her through a social media group for our state, a homestead community. I have found this group of like minded folks to be very helpful and for me I felt I was in a small boat drifting alone but now I have connected with more families that are striving for the same back to basics philosophy that drives me, I can not tell you comforting that it. God Bless! Count your blessing ever day , and I believe you will find you are blessed beyond measure. #raisingrabbits #cuniculture #rabbitsaurusrex #meatrabbits #homesteading #rasingyourownfood #livestock #kentuckyhomesteader #kentucky #additiontothefarm #rabbits #rabbit #howto #farmanimals

Frozen In Kentucky Winter homesteading. Is is presently 10 degrees with a slight breeze wind chill 7 degrees. Carrying water to the animals Feeding more than normal and checking on their wellbeing. Animals generate heat when eating so they eat more in cold weather. No snow days for the farmer. #frozen #winter #kentucky #homesteading #watering #breakingice #feedmore #wintercattle #singledigits #lowtemperature

Trying to Capture Calf Birth. Set up trail cams to try can capture a calf's birth. We do have a brand new bay calf on the ground, Looks healthy and moving around nicely. If you have cattle and are planning on bereding them you may need to watch this vid. Most of the time the birth comes off with out a hitch, but when to you need to intervein? https://extension.sdstate.edu/beef-best-management-practices-cow-calf-production #beefcattle #cowbirth #babycalf #readyforcalfbirth

Warm up on a Cold Winter Day-Savory Beef Stew. An easy beef stew recipe. It is a simple hearty way to warm up and give your body some good food. Now a stew is just putting some good simple food into a broth and warming the soul. No exact science here! Recipe: All amounts I give here are approximant and DO NOT have to be exact. Ingredients: 2 Lb beef cubed 3/4 inch pc cube ( use what size suits you) I used a chuck roast 6 medium potatoes cut into chunks (apx 1-1/2 -2 lbs) 1 lb carrots sliced or chunks 2 quart beef broth 1 small cam tomato paste 2 table spoons(tbs) corn starch 1/4 cup water 2 tbs ground pepper 2 tbs salt 1 tbs onion powder 1tbs cumin powder 1tbs garlic powder 1/4 cup olive oil (or you favorite cooking oil) Brown beef in oil (not cooking through but brown all sides) Transfer meat only to pot. Save the drippings from the meat. Add potatoes, carrots and spices into pot with browned beef. Add 1 quart of beef broth to this and heat on low. Now back top the meat drippings in the pan, add small can of tomato paste and about 1/2 cup of beef broth. heat till this mixture in combined completely and heated through. Add this to the pot with beef, potatoes and carrots. Add more beef broth to cover ingredients in the pot. Begin to heat this mixture. In a cup add 1/4 cup water and 2 tbs corn starch mix well. (you never want to add dry corn starch to a recipe) Add the corn starch, water mixture into stew (this will thicken the broth) Stir, cover and Stir occasionally. Cook on medium heat(simmering) till potatoes and carrots are tender) Stir occasionally. This will serve 4 -6 hungry people (or two Sasquatch) Count you blessings every day and I think you will find your blessed beyond measure. God bless! #beefstew #easyrecipe #heartymeal #comfortfood #homesteading

Killer On The Lose! I have been lax in my security I have lost 24 chicken from summer till now. Three have been lost in the last 24 hours. Hawks, Foxes, Racoons and even Bob Cat are all on my suspect list. Now the investigation will begin. I can not take this kind of loss and After the easy prey chickens are gone I have a young calf to worry about. Like share and subscribe to keep up on this developing story. #killer #homesteading #farm #security #chickens

Is it working? Composting on raised bed week 5. Yes very well in fact we have earthworms in the compost pile . This will speed up the composting process up. #compost #raisedbed #earthworms #homesteading #gardening

He Has Risen Luke Chapter 24. The Road to Emmaus, The Disciples Eyes Opened, Jesus Appears to His Disciples, The Ascension. #storyofjesus #hehasrisen #luke24 #24daysofchristmas

Jesus Handed Over to Pontius Pilate Luke Chapter 23, Jesus Faces Herod, Taking the Place of Barabbas, The King on a Cross, Jesus Dies on the Cross, and Jesus Buried. #storyofjesus #luke #24daysofchristmas #thecross

Beautiful Baby Calf 1-week update. The new baby calf is doing great running and playing. We are looking for names, so if you have a good one leave it in the comments. We are thinking that we will try and sell this bull for a breeder bull for a small farm he is 87% Herford and is marked like a full-blood of that breed. No paper or heritage on him but if he grows into a good-looking bull may be good stock. Like, share, and subscribe to keep to date on this growing little fellow. God Bless! #newcalf #babycalf #helpname #Herford #homesteading #cattle

Jesus and His Disciples Prepare the Passover Luke Chapter 22, The Lord's Supper, Two Swords, Prayer in the Garden, Arrest in Gethsemane, Jesus Mocked and Beaten. #storyofjesus #luke22 #24daysofchristmas