OUR FIRST STEPS TO REGENERATIVE FARMING!

we forgot to Coop them up we forgot to lock the coop and the electric was off okay so let me give you a quick tour of this setup here we go this is what we've got going on good morning you guys I am headed outside I was gonna there we go okay headed outside to move our chickens today I wanted to talk to you guys a little bit about our chickens and our setup and what we're learning along the way it feels really incredible for November I mean I'm in a T-shirt and just like it's just beautiful all right so this setup we have had a lot of people saying that our chickens were gonna get eaten and they were gonna die I'm happy to report that you were wrong so far so far so good and actually the other night we forgot to Coop them up we forgot to lock the coop and the electric was off and they were fine so I guess after like two months of this electric netting the Predators have learned not to mess with us okay so let me give you a quick tour of this setup before we move it and then I'll explain why we're going to move it I almost just touched this fence which would have uh probably been pretty comical and resulted in an electric shock for sure here we go this is what we've got going on [Music] okay so we are using this poultry netting from Premiere one they have all kinds of electric netting they come highly recommended if you're looking for something like this just super high quality anyway it's basically this poly wire netting and attached to poles that you could easily press into the ground and build a fence with the poultry netting has specific spacing designed to keep birds in it's pretty amazing it's like a hundred feet total so we're using one for now because that seems to be enough for our Birds the idea is that this is a mobile fence and we can move it around our property I'll show you why in a minute the key to this fencing is actually this thing this is a solar powered Energizer so this solar panel charges the battery the battery then connects grounded into the ground and then it connects to the fencing you turn it on and it sends an electric current through the fence which will create obviously an electric shock when it's touched by any sort of Predator it doesn't actually bother the chickens because of their feathers they're insulated so we noticed that the little chicks were going in and out of the fencing because they weren't getting shot but it will keep Predators out it'll keep our dogs out it'll keep kids out and it will keep the birds in they actually respect the netting and so they do stay within there this has been really great because it does allow us that peace of mind at night to know that nothing's gonna mess with them this thing is on through the night I've seen my dogs have actually touched it once or twice and it is enough to send them running we know that there's nothing going to really try to get through this over it as soon as they feel that shock they're booking it so that's kind of our number one safety measure and it's amazing then we have the chick shawl that I built which is a plan by a really well-known homesteading YouTuber named Justin Rhodes he is like the go-to guy to learn all kinds of homesteading things and so these were his building plans that we followed this specific plan is the mini chickshaw it's recommended for 24 birds or less which is what we currently have in it it's just for them at night and then we let them out in the day they forage all day long they go in the coop for safety at night you can check out our videos where I was actually building this and document meaning the building process you could check out his plans online if you want to but so far it's been great it holds up to the elements the best thing about it is that we don't have to clean up here poop it actually falls right through the bottom because there is half inch wire mesh on the bottom so all of the poop falls down there and the point of a chicken tractor is actually to help you in the process of your homestead and gardening and pasture so I want to explain why we went with the setup but first I need to get this moved so I can let these chickens out [Music] foreign [Music] before I get this set up I wanted to show you guys why this is the way we're choosing to do it if you look over here this bright green grass these two lights just spouting on so our chickens were over here before we had the chicks so it was like only six hens that's from their chick shawl from their poop going down and fertilizing the grass and you can see just like this bright green grass growing up so the point of something like this is that it's mobile we are currently looking for a cow so the idea will be the cow is going to eat the pasture we need to replenish that pasture fertilize it and get it green again as quickly as possible so the cow will move in the same kind of thing little sections here to here to here daily the chickens will follow the cow the chickens will dig through the poop eat the bugs out of it distribute the waste as well as ADD their own and it's going to create this like blush natural fertilizer that's going to help that pasture grow and grow back so that the cows can again cycle back through this is called regenerative farming and it's where you basically let your animals work for you in this natural cycle that gives the most benefit to your land and to your animals and it is well worth every bit of extra effort [Music] [Music] foreign is up now I gotta put the chickens in it so I'm just gonna peel back these two layers which last time we did this we said we should have probably put the coop in and then built the fence around it still applies [Music] someone once told me that raccoons can open these and I said if a raccoon can open both of these at the same time they deserve all the chickens in here it's a buffet how about it you win hi hi in this cooler weather I find that they don't need as much shade because they love to bask in the Sun and soak it up but they still have a little bit under under the chick shawl we've been trying to put them in Shady places on hot days and then I think eventually we will maybe build some sort of something long-term plan is to have an orchard and to run the chickens through the orchard as well to help they will actually keep parasites and stuff away from your fruit trees so that's a long-term plan that'll provide a lot for them but I'm gonna go get their food their water they're happy in their new spot we won't turn the electrical until tonight because it is currently being used for our dog fence we needed something temporary to keep the dogs in Honey has started roaming which is normal for her breed but until we can get a solid perimeter fence we've got them on this Electric in the back which is also great because honey will eventually guard our sheep and cow chickens whatever so she will need to be in that type of fencing with them in order to do her job so anyway that's how we can keep our chickens that's why we keep our chickens that way so far they seem to be thriving we only had six laying hens and they've all been molting this time of year they molt and then they stop laying I'm happy to report that one of them has started laying again the other ones are still in their mold cycle so we'll see but I'm gonna go get them food get them water get myself some water and I'll see you guys later [Music] still remember [Music]