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Elder Acres Homestead
United States
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 5 ธ.ค. 2020
We are a young family trying to learn all we can about growing and raising our own food, as well as canning to become more self sufficient. I purchased the land I was raised on (a little over 5 acres) with the house, a decent sized pole barn and small out building being all the infrastructure built. As well as all of it being wooded land. With that being said there is a lot to do and we are very excited in our journey. We will be posting a lot of videos on our building projects and everything we have going on here on the homestead and invite you to join us along the way!
If you would like to give your support we would greatly appreciate a follow!
Thanks! The Lewis Family
If you would like to give your support we would greatly appreciate a follow!
Thanks! The Lewis Family
Rabbit weigh day 11/16
Another rabbit weigh day. Better numbers then we have seen for a 6 week weigh day. But that doesn't guarantee anything in the end. We are feeding some higher protein feed now as well so hopefully that will also help us. We also talk in this video about finding some higher quality rabbits to work with. I'm not sure which direction we will go yet, but i have two breeds in mind.
Option one I'm considering is silver fox. They are a beautiful breed that can get large for processing. There felts would also make beautiful blankets and could be sold by themselves.
Option two I'm considering is Californians or New Zealands. Either one would give us much better numbers for our freezers and our customers and I could also access the 4-H markets when people are buying rabbits for the show.
Either route we go I think we will benefit. I wanted to see these rabbits progress but the more I have bred we have come to realize they are not Rex rabbits. But your typical meat mutts.
Option one I'm considering is silver fox. They are a beautiful breed that can get large for processing. There felts would also make beautiful blankets and could be sold by themselves.
Option two I'm considering is Californians or New Zealands. Either one would give us much better numbers for our freezers and our customers and I could also access the 4-H markets when people are buying rabbits for the show.
Either route we go I think we will benefit. I wanted to see these rabbits progress but the more I have bred we have come to realize they are not Rex rabbits. But your typical meat mutts.
มุมมอง: 145
วีดีโอ
Anyone can Fill there Freezer with Beef
มุมมอง 335วันที่ผ่านมา
Most people already know this but I wanted to share because you never know who doesn't. So if you didn't know get out there and talk to your community and find a farmer near you that raises beef. It is going to be more of an up front cost, but in the end of it you will receive a higher quality beef cheaper or of the same value as you get at the store! It does not matter where you live and what ...
So many pumpkins
มุมมอง 50014 วันที่ผ่านมา
Using your community is such a great way to get free food/ composting material! Wood chips, leaves, grass, or food scraps! There are so many ways to find material. Talking to your neighbors, websites for wood chip drop offs, or in this case a facebook post my buddy seen and reached out to me! In this case it was fall decorations and left overs from selling mums and pumpkins at a farm stand. The...
We have started a Garden! Homestead update
มุมมอง 14114 วันที่ผ่านมา
rI spent many hours this week enjoying myself on my tractor working on cleaning things up. The driveway is back to "normal" for the first time in at least 8 years. The old concrete pad that was made from left over concrete when my dad built the barn is no more. Soon we will start hauling away at the pad, as of now I am taking my time and waiting till we get the culvert pipes out of the way. Onc...
Demo is Completed! Skid Steer with Jackhammer!
มุมมอง 41821 วันที่ผ่านมา
It was quite a busy day, I got started at 10am and ran it pretty much non stop until 4pm. We have a lot to clean up now! Once we get everything clean we will start marking posts, and sizing things up. Then the journey will really begin. This project will most certainly take some time, but we will sit back and being able to look proud upon something when we are done. The barn and pasture are by ...
Demolishing the Old Out Building
มุมมอง 183หลายเดือนก่อน
Well this is not what we had planned for this building this fast. I’ve always wanted to knock it down and put up a nice little barn with a loft. But we figured like most any other homesteader we would use the building as it was to the best of our ability, then later in time make it something nice. Well when I started in on the out building to fix its roof, it was pitched towards the middle so a...
The Hoop House is Done, More Work done in the Chicken Yard
มุมมอง 315หลายเดือนก่อน
The hoop house is now mostly done, we will still add a couple pieces of metal to the front and add another door to the back. But it is now ready for winter composting! We are bringing as much material in as we can. We cleaned the chicken house, mowed and raked grass clippings, cleaned under our rabbit hutches, and weeded our rabbit bed! We have also been filling feed bags with leaves and bring ...
Compost, Soaked Grains, Duckweed in the Pond
มุมมอง 44หลายเดือนก่อน
The compost is doing great! Whole Grains are being soaked and fermented! Duckweed is in the Pond! Very happy with how the chicken yard is growing these last few weeks. We have the hinges for the door for the hoophouse just need to build it. We should get the that sometime this week. Thanks for Watching. If you like the video please hit the Like button and Subscribe to support our channel!
Rabbit Weigh Day 1012 Grow Outs
มุมมอง 180หลายเดือนก่อน
A new litter of kits from a new mom! Our doe that we held back (Mild Dud), has been weaned of her first successful set of kits! We see some different traits in these guys, but will we see different numbers.
Rabbit Weigh Day 1012 (To The Freezer)
มุมมอง 63หลายเดือนก่อน
We have made it to another Weigh Day! The numbers look the same because the breeders are the same. I am still working on holding back rabbits to work on the numbers for the scale. Until we can see those results, these will stay heading to the freezer!
Starting a new Feeding Routine
มุมมอง 53หลายเดือนก่อน
This is something I have always wanted to do. I’m not sure why I just fell into the mix of going and buying crumble or pellets. I would always buy a bag of scratch grains trying to work towards whole grains. Either way we finally made it here and mixed our own batch of over 300 pounds of feed! Which we will also get into the schedule of soaking and feeding there daily amount, half in the mornin...
More Progress On The Hoophouse
มุมมอง 335หลายเดือนก่อน
We finished framing up the door and wrapped it with plastic! All that is left now is to build a couple doors!
Filling up the Pond, Moving Trees, Chicken Run Fun
มุมมอง 309หลายเดือนก่อน
We were able to get this pond filled up and move the willows into the run where they can get more sun!
Hand Dug Pond in the Chicken Coop Part 1
มุมมอง 198หลายเดือนก่อน
We are working on digging this pond, it will be nice to add a water feature in here and help control the water from running straight through. We tested the ground out a while back and dug a small hole just to see how it held water. It did hold for a short time after raining but it didn't last. so we ordered a liner and got busy digging. This could easily be done by layering old greenhouse plast...
Fixing the bucket hydraulic seals on our 72 Ford 4000
มุมมอง 953 หลายเดือนก่อน
Fixing the bucket hydraulic seals on our 72 Ford 4000
The seals on the tractor are destroyed
มุมมอง 443 หลายเดือนก่อน
The seals on the tractor are destroyed
Weighing the grow outs and Spots new litter
มุมมอง 6716 หลายเดือนก่อน
Weighing the grow outs and Spots new litter
Chickens, worms, rabbits and pasture Update
มุมมอง 4966 หลายเดือนก่อน
Chickens, worms, rabbits and pasture Update
Pumpkins are fruts
Up until you commented I completely forgot to look that up haha. It’s so funny to because I’ve never thought about it until that moment of course recording lol 😂. Thanks for commenting
Grass fed taste like ass.
Love ya bub
What’s happening bubba!
Do you happen to know how many cubic feet that freezer is? I'd like to do that, but I'd hate it if it wouldn't all fit.
This one is literally almost the cheapest you can get at your local Lowe’s. It was like 180 bucks and is a 6.9. I was going to spend a bunch and get a huge one but decided I’d rather have many small ones then one giant one.
Aren't Cream and the new buck genetically related, sibling wise? Different litters, but same parents. I didn't think you were supposed to breed laterally only linear.
You know what you are correct we will not be doing that!
@elderacres lol glad to help
@ yes thank you!
Get some good new Zealand find some grops on your phone
I think so friend
<-- New subscriber!!
Da weird pumpkins you need to open and collect da seeds! Can I please have a couple seeds from the one you touched?! I love it! Thanks bud!!!
Well you need the straw to cover the pumpkins up with and let it all compost
Exactly getting so many pumpkins I gave in with the straw. Have to have the carbon when it comes time to add it to the pumpkins. That would be a lot of leaves to take up in the woods to mix in with all them.
@elderacres take the bucket on your tractor and mash them up and they will dry quiter
I could but we aren’t worried about how fast it goes
I grew 50 lbs of pumpkins this year and was rather proud of myself. I grabbed straw bales from the side of the road, but I didn't think to look for pumpkins.
That’s awesome! Go you! Was it a bunch of medium ones or did you get some really big ones! had a ton of people reach out saying I could have theirs and this year I went to people that sell them and told them to reach out to me after the season is up to clean up what’s left. A few said they would but we will see. Also have a couple business’s up town that will have me clean up their decor soon!
@elderacres I got one 30 lbs one and then 3 smaller ones. For only 2 plants in crappy soil, I was kinda surprised. Neighbors walking past were astounded that I was growing pumpkins. I'm kind of enjoying being that one weird neighbor with the garden.
That’s awesome! With neighbors walking by I bet that makes for fun conversations.
Love your vlogs ❤
Thank you!
Mildly jealous, your garden-to-be is twice the size of mine, my yard is super shaded. Might wanna see about planting some garlic, it's something you could plant now, cover it up and see what happens next year.
We definitely loose a few hours come evening bring down in the holler but I’m thinking we should still do okay! I was actually thinking the same thing! We have a few cloves from the store that have sprouted, we will have to see what they do!
@elderacres I tried store bought cloves last year and they just rotted. Apparently we need a hardneck variety in this area
@ yeah maybe we will just order some cloves should get it fast enough to get it in the ground!
That Jack hammer attachment was cool! Must be a great feeling go have it broke up and now the cleanup:)
Very cool! Also made quick work of things for sure! Cleanup shouldn’t be bad either.
Lots of nesting boxes. Charlotte (furnace in bedroom)
Yeah too many, they only use 4 lol! Glad you added that so I knew who you were!!
Yeah to many, they only use 4 lol. Glad you added that so knew who you were!!
Why are you wasting the lumber
😂
There riddled with screws and nails. Rotted split. Not everything is worth saving.
God bless you for caring so much for these gentle creatures that you’re actually checking their weight! I hope you can find loving homes for every one of them.
We kept them all!
I don't feel like those weights are terrible, it's not like you're going for awards or anything, just feeding your family. And having room for improvement gives you a long term goal.
Exactly! And these are consistent with what we have been getting. Which is expected being the same doe and buck.
@elderacres Have you weighed the carcass for your notes? Kinda curious what actual use able amount you're getting. Fingers crossed I get my rabbits at the end of the month.
I need to start I haven’t been tho, have just being doing live weights
I'd be interested to see the temperature difference inside once you get the whole thing made and maybe a total cost breakdown? Also, would you put fish in your little pond, or would the chickens enjoy them too much?
We will have to get a thermometer hung up in there for sure! I’ve been debating on that as well. I’ve thought about getting a couple gold fish or something for it. I doubt the chickens would ever get ahold of them. The only question would be if it is deep enough for them to get through the winter. But gold fish will go into a dormant state. Probably going to wait until spring to get a couple though that way they can at least enjoy your year before we find out the answer to that question lol
It’s a 15 degree hike
Mine got to 110 it was 90 outside I’m new to greenhouse gardening. When it gets cool out around 50&60 degrees it keeps things nice n warm for late bloomers my peppers are running late and hope to get a few weeks. I have video on my channel. I used pool frames on marketplace, for free they were.
Your gonna want to get drill ankers it can and will blow away 👍👏🍺 or like dig a hole and get cement with like rings pushed into it
Isn't the first frost in only a couple weeks? How will the willows do in the cold?
Also, awesome job on the pond, it's gonna look great
Thank you!
The first frost will probably be coming up soon yeah, but they were really not doing well where they were. I figured this my give them a better chance to go ahead and get them moved
for milk duds first litter, I heard from my mentors/research that it's pretty common for first time does sadly to lose all of them from lack of experience
I have read that as well. We will give a few more tries and see how she does. If she doesn’t get it figured out we might hold her back till spring, cold weather surely won’t help a learning doe.
How in the world are your rabbits tolerating the heat? It's been in the 90s in southern ohio, didn'tthink you were that far away. I didn't think rabbits bred well in the heat.
Very enthusiastic young helper lol
Yes she is!
They are doing okay I think next year I am going to rotate frozen bottles for them tho in this heat. And don’t know what side you are on in Ohio but no we are not far. Southeastern Indiana right in the tristate 45 minutes to Kentucky or Ohio
New Zealand
Is it New Zealand’s
@elderacres yes I got 30 does and 6 buck
Has your comfrey sprouted? Sucks that you lost so many kits. And that's Spot's 3rd litter, right?
I was just thinking about making a video about that. The bed right next to my hutches was spotless, then I planted my comfrey and everything shot out of it. I’ve weeded it and I haven’t seen any. I’m about to dig for my roots and see what happened with them. I think next spring I am going to plant some in pots so I know I can get it established.
And correct the youngest kits on the end are her third!
How do you way your rabbits from
Is the question how do I weigh them?
@@elderacres I wondering when you way them how old
I like to weigh them around 6 weeks when I wean them then I try to do it every two weeks until butchering just depends on how busy I am. Always do it at 6 and day of butchering tho and you can see the growth patterns good enough with that.
@@elderacres ok tx just had 3 does kindeld and was wondering
No problem!
What breeds do you have?
They are all Rex
My Rex doe is doing the same thing
Such a frustrating thing to go through when you put so much work into them! Keep trying if it doesn’t work the best thing you can do is just let go and get a different doe. Everything changed for us as soon as I did!
I just had my first set of the year ( so fun ) 17 Lil babys
That’s awesome!
I’m the 320 subscriber.
Thank you!
Nice update my friend ,how old are the grow outs that's for processing
They are at 12 weeks
@depiperfarm268 I get I'm to 5and6 pounds at 9to10 weeks
And I raise about a100 a month
.
Yo I know the breed of rabbits makes a big difference in what they weigh and I been raising rabbits for over 60 years the type you have ain't good meat rabbits
What would you suggest
I’ve been thinking about switching to silver fox
I've been looking into getting silver fox from a place in Kentucky called Fur Foxy. I've not got a place set up yet, but within the next couple months fingers crossed.
What part of Kentucky I’m just across the river!
@@elderacres I think they're in Louisville? They've got a waiting list and said I might get a trio in October.
Moordenaar
.
like the daisy looking flowers the leafs rabbits can eat inl and the yellow flowers leaves the eat
I will try to remember this! Thank you!
in ur garden
I set this up to be just for that. Then “weeds” took over lol I do wish to get better and knowing what ti pick for them for the “weeds” lol
u have so many rabbit foods
I’ve been working on planting some more.
Hey can i ask, can i breed a 1 Year does with a 6 months Buck
6 months should definitely be mature enough to breed. Throw your doe in with him and see if he performs!
When can you weaned your rabbits. At how many days old?
I wean at 6 weeks
Really nice hutch! Great home for your rabbits. It’s hard to tell from the video but it looks like the bottom cage wire is on wrong. The smaller dimension wires 1/2” should be on top. 1/2” should be what their feet touch and not the 1”. They can get sore hocks.
You might be right and I never knew that. Thank you!
I like the box's
Thank you!
Thanks keep up the great work
Thanks, will do!
How bad is culling? Im 16 have a red rex buck i show through 4H, ive been vegetarian since 13 but open to eating stuff i raise, found the perfect doe and im thinking of buying her and selling the show qualities and then processing the culls
I've watched videos it seems not too brutal but I'd like to hear it from somebody actually doing it
It’s not terrible I use the broom stick method anything that makes it fast, painless, and clean is good. You might not like it at first but do it a few times and you will get used to it. Just stick to knowing that the process is letting you and your family eat something that you know is healthy and had a good life! Nothing you can do for yourself is better than anything in the store!
@@elderacres Thanks! Doe should be here in a week and I'll try for my first litter August-September
@@elderacres Also, where did you find that log? seems like it would come i handy
If you get on living traditions homestead TH-cam channel you can find it in their bio!
Im down to a buck and doe.. but im going keep back a couple does myself
Do you weigh or just use best judgement for deciding what you want to keep?
@@elderacres I definitely weigh but I keep back like 3 so they have competition over food causes them to eat more (in my belief) lol and sell or process the other 2 around 20 weeks after I decided my keeper
@@mcproductions2151 that is a very good thought I will most certainly be trying that. Thanks for the response!
It's like the same set up as me lol... I been raising rabbits since 2017
Simple and efficient!
Thanks for sharing. Where did you get the scale?
If you get onto all things bunnies it is the winco 20 pound scale with wire basket kit and I got the large basket!
Welcome back to the worm farming community! Steve from the channel Our Sustainable Journey uses those repurposed containers for worms too. I have four inground worm buckets as well as totes. New subscriber! ~ Sandra
Thanks you! I like them!
So cute. The babies look awesome.
I think so too!
Congrats on Spot's second litter! That's a great litter size. Hope all goes well!
Yeah I miss counted she had 9 again which is still great!
🥰
Thanks for watching
The scars on your hand literally sums up the life of a rabbit breeder 😁💪🏻
Yes 😂😂 after I’m done I’ll be like dang didn’t even get scratched then an hour later my daughter will be like how’d you get a boo boo daddy and I look down to my hands and arms covered. Like how 😂😂
Nice video. We have a similar creek crossing. Our creek goes from bone dry to 8 feet deep during heavy rains. I widened the channel as you have to slow the current down. Having said that with the amount of water born debris evident in your video it will continue to work its magic and want to clog things up. Additionally depending on the velocity of the current it may tend to scour the creek bed along with the stone you put in. It looks like you have plenty of large stones there. You may consider having your contractor pull the 1-1/2 inch back and then dump a quantity of cement block size rocks in the creek bed and along the sides as riprap. He can imbed the larger rocks in the creek bed and then use the smaller stuff to fill in the voids to smooth out the crossing. Its how the romans did it.
That’s how ours is we are lucky if there’s even water 300 days out of the year. We might eventually put a couple 12 inch pipes and concrete over that but for now we are gonna keep it how it is. It has done great with almost an inch of rain. Very little water coming through and no rock has washed and my little neon still makes it haha