Even if you don't intend to sell them, I believe many people would be willing to pay a premium for meat from chickens they know were raised to have a good life, especially the video documentation of their lives.
I was thinking that I would, personally, love to buy that meat. I know Morgan doesn't have the operation to ship frozen meat as a profitable business, but I would be a buyer.
I’ve always bought from free range commercial places in australia but after buying straight from family farms I will never go back to even commercial free range. The taste difference… was reasonable, the colour difference of yolks was considerable AND knowing every chicken makes it even better. Ethics matter. Gold Shaw farm matters. Your ethos is essential.
Yea, I had wanted to support a local chicken farmer but I didn't want to support the use of cornish crosses, I just think they are an abomination and live miserably. It'd be nice for other meat breeds to be sold locally, I'd pay more for them.
Anybody doubting how well kept and healthy Toby is. Look at that coat! That dog is Matt free and fluffy white as it gets. Muddy ass wet night... look at that clean floof!!! Proper care man. Bravo!
HEY MORGAN. For ethical reasons we hatch out our own eggs to raise for meat, the same as you. We have discovered that if you work out the figures over a 3 or 4 year period it can come out in your favor. Reason being some seasons you will get more hens. We generally aim to keep around 8 hens every year for egg laying, so you can take the cost of having to buy 8 point of lay hens off of your yearly total. We then cull the oldest 8 hens from the laying flock and use them to make, and can vast amounts of chicken stock, bonus! We then shred (pull) the meat and make chicken curries and casseroles and can that ready for winter, another bonus. Now, apart from those 8 old hens, we only process the roosters and they go in the freezer. Any other hens we raise are sold as point of lay and the money that comes in from those brings the price of the meat birds right down. This year we had a year like yours with only 12 hens and 29 roosters but the previous year we had 18 roosters and 32 hens, hence me saying, work out your figures over a longer period..
I recommend Dawn Ridge Delaware chickens! They have amazing heritage, healthy dual purpose Delawares. Over the years they have selectively bred for quicker maturity and a full meaty body. They are not like Cornish cross- which is great! But they produce a good sized carcass with plenty of meat within 12-16 weeks(depending on what size you’re wanting). I really recommend going with them. They free rang well and lay good- and to top it off, they are beautiful birds with great temperaments. Dawn ridge farm sells/ships hatching eggs, chicks, and pullets/cockerels at very good prices. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better heritage meat/laying bird than these. Not many people still breed to maintain their meat and growth quality. All those old breeds have lost many good qualities and become bony egg layers at this point.
Morgan, You just made me feel badly about shuddering at the cost of some of the VT free range chicken I see in the local store. Seeing this breakdown of what it takes to raise them, makes the cost seem pretty reasonable. The ethics and the cost to the farmer - and knowing where my food comes from, is totally worth it. Thanks for lifting the curtain….
Morgan, I really think you can save money on feed and here's how. You can build a Black Solider Fly Compost system that will reduce the cost of feed. Here's how, When you compost these flys will naturally come. The Larvae us high in Protein and Fat, two things that will make birds grow fast and put on weight. The fly Compost system wont cost you anything, throw your food scraps, compost and cow manure into some trays and let the flys do the rest.
That is kinda what he is doing by adding the cows. He keeps the manure on the fields but the ducks and chickens do indeed eat their flies and larvae. The manure itself gets added to the field as a great fertilizer whilst adding food (with the flies and larvae) in the process.
I honestly think that this model could work with the right genetics in the flock. I would recommend introducing traditional dual purpose breeds such as Buckeye, Holland, Java, Orpington, Barnevelder, Sussex, Wyandotte and Australorp, to produce hardy meat birds with good laying qualities
I had Silver Laced Wyandottes Big, beautiful, friendly, calm, broody, quiet. Could hatch and care for their own babies. Would definitely recommend them.
Asking everyone to send positive thoughts to the farmers flooded out in the lower Fraser valley in British Columbia. Heavy rains and mud slides took out dikes and river overflow now flooded multiple large barns of poultry and dairy farms. A lot of cattle where guided thru the deep waters to higher ground but not all could be saved. So horribly sad. If only more production on a small scale like yours and not concentrated farming in one area. I’m heavy hearted right now.
One of the farmers said they lost 3,500 chickens 😞. My community has been evacuated and looks like it’ll be a few more weeks before we can return. So much devastation, I have a hard time comprehending it.
I hadn't heard of this at all. That has to be so devastating, hopefully the farms can recover after the flood recedes. That sounds so tragic, all that death and financial losses. The deaths can't even be sent for processing to recover meat, so it's all the worse and a waste... I'll send good wishes their way.
@@cookiesmom2079 22 poultry farms were under water at the last count, average bird count was 3500-5000 per farm…so that’s 110,000 chickens lost possibly on the upside of the numbers and 66,000 on the low side….No one seems to want to talk about it..like the numbers are too awful and the media hasn’t brought it up but those of us here in BC farmer knowledge know the devastation is really grim.
Retiree on fixed income, u turned my head around. Foolishly I ascribed capitalistic greed to the price of pasture raised poultry prices, soaking the rich who can afford it (like gas prices in Silicon Valley is what the market will bear). I now have a new found respect for the (dare I say noble) homesteaders who raise protein without Monsanto and petroleum.
My two cents: Your chicken experiment was a great success. Nothing can compare to the personal satisfaction and joy that comes from producing your own food, whether animal or plant.
I'm not a farmer and likely never will be, but I love collecting knowledge of anything and everything. The comment sections on these videos are always so interesting and like a library of farming information. Along with the actual videos always feeling like I'm having a conversation with a friend lmao
While maybe not a sustainable business model if just for your own table, you get to enjoy an ethically raised bird that had a good, free range life, you had the fun of raising it and got lots of good video content in the process.
I saw an Australian chicken farmer. He had his birds free range, free range. He also had a Toby dog, dog. She wandered around, like Toby dog, the hen's were in a large paddock and they and their home were moved from paddock to paddock. The hen house was very large as he had nesting boxes attached to the mobile hen house. All looked pretty good but he had a large flock......
That chicken chasing after the disc made me remember how fun having chickens is. When I still had chickens they could hop through hoops and they were constantly with their Beeks in everything investigating. I once saw a mouse chase that took 45 minutes of 3 chickens running around trying to steal one dead mouse from eachother. Good times. Funniest animals on the planet.
This memory goes back to the latter 1970's, however, my grandmother, an Irish-born, USA educated M.D., celebrated this time of year with "pressure cooker day", an event where I would go to Baldwin's farm, and bring back 6-to-10 "stewing hens" ('layers' who were 12-14 months old; these birds averaged six hours per day 'pasture/scratching time', with the rest of their time being spent in a long established hen house, where pecking order ruled). The leg quarters were ever bit as dark as the dark portions of turkeys (as we have today). They required a bit more attention to chewing than today's commercially raised birds, however, the soups and PA Dutch "pot pie/bott boi" had far more flavor than that which can be made from present day commercially-raised chicken.
loved watching the ad. our maremmas are pathetic when it comes to fetch and tug of war and it was entertaining to see how you worked around it to make him look like he semi knows what to do.
HI Morgan , do you know the chicken breed Chantecler they are extremely cold-resistant, and is suitable for both egg and meat production but sadly the breed is practically extinct and its sad :( you should take a look at them ;)
That's what I was thinking. He has a great opportunity to add in the genetics for cold hardiness, good foraging, fertility, longevity, and flavor, and has a good mix of heritage breeds already. Why not add some Chanteclers, Barnvelders, (they lay all winter) Totlegers, (Deathlayers, for longevity) Langshans and other big-bodied heritage types for size. Good foragers gain weight on pasture better than other breeds, and there are often grants associated with rare breeds. Crevecoeur, Appenzeller, Brabanter. I'm really enjoying these videos.
Love bark box! Our German Shepard/Belgian Malinois loves her delivery. She doesn’t often care for the all the treats(she is really a picky treat eater), but loves the toys.
Morgan, you should have a local metal fabrication shop in your area, and they have the machines necessary to bend your pipes. You could have it done within a few days.
A pipe bender isnt nothing new or revolutionary. They're pretty much 200 euros manual ones for big ass steel tubes so a mechanised one won't be more than 500... I just don't understand their fixation on doing it on a creation, which cool, is inefficient
@Ghost Mama, you are so right! Just bring them the pipes and tell them which radius you want, and how much straight end. Why invent something where there are machines that are used daily to do the job? You do not built your own truck do you? Look for a firm that makes hand railings for shops and malls, they have a computerized machine that bends steel pipes slowly in several passes so it stretches equally and gets even stronger because of cold deformation.
I do something similar to raise chicken meat for my family except I use broody hens to hatch and raise the chicks. It would change the cost, upkeep for an older hen instead of electricity, etc. I really like that the broody hen gets to live her best life and the chicks get the care of a very dedicated mother. I actually bought proven broodies to start my experiment. Last year my broodies raised an average of 8 chicks each.
Just a thought... The weight of your birds might be less, because with all the exercise running around, they may have less fat. Who knows? You can't exactly do an autopsy on each bird... makes it hard to cook them the way you want to. Well, keep up the good work, and thank you for all the videos.
in that case they should be heavier, since muscle tissue from running around is twice the weight of fat the weight probably is more because of the freakishly fast growing cornish crosses
Loved the data and it’s presentation Morgan. Good for you and we benefit from your knowledge and data, thanks so much . I always enjoy your content and your storytelling style, keep it up and take a break when you can, your fans will keep waiting patiently 🙂
Yes! You got it. TH-cam allows us to document our stories for future generations to enjoy and I'm sure it will be fun to look back on those stories years later. That's how I see it too.
I raise meat chickens and egg chickens. I know it costs more for me to raise my meat birds than going to Tyson but I know my chickens lived a good life foraging on my farm, they taste better, have no chemicals, were or any other bad things injected into them and thusly are safer for my family to eat. I raise heritage birds and haven't tried any Cornish crosses but friends that do raise them have much larger birds. The meat is darker than commercial due to the muscle tissue getting so much exercise makes it darker. The same goes for my eggs. The yolks are more orange than lemon yellow and when the very hard shells get cracked the yolks don't explode but they stay firm in the pan. They also taste better. All my customers quit buying commercial eggs and get my farm eggs for all those reasons.
Roger, I am going to be raising my own. Letting the hen hatch and using the chicks as my meat birds. Are they tougher? I free range my birds. Any bit of advice from someone who has been successful is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
On another note: My cat loves your videos. She sits on my desk and watches your birds and your hands. She also tried to get your pencil. Enjoyed the breakdown on cost. Folks don't really understand how expensive farming can be. Example: Organic non gmo feed is 2 to 3 times more expensive than regular feed. Everything adds up. Thanks, another good one.
Suggestion, use a different rooster breed, say giant Cornish or Jersey to end up with a slightly larger bird. Second, look at how edible Acre's does their laying flock composting system. Lower in your feed cost, improve your poultry yard, and make enough compost to keep you out of trouble (or get you in it depending on perspective). My bird operation is on hold due to my site not allowing roosters, but once I am back on a site where I can have roosters, I have plans to run a permaculture market garden, microgreens/mushrooms, eggs and meat, for my household, extended family, and neighbors, with some "value added" options. The plans are very flexible since we are still looking for a site. The goal is to provide 80% of the household's calories, generate enough income to cover the costs, and be able to ensure some food stability for those without access to clean food. I am as far west of you as you can get on the Kitsap peninsula in WA state. Edit: checked my notes. Bielefelder F1 hybrids do not usually get the larger growth but back crossing the F1 hens to a bielefelder Rooster yield the larger birds around 25%. The Jersey Giants are more likely to be larger as an F1 hybrids. I am working on a good pasture breed for the maritime Pac NW, so I can go deep down the genetics rabbit hole.
Thanks so much for sharing your data and experience/opinions. I've been planning a similar approach and it's great to see what some of the costs/benefits can be.
I learned about this in a college class. An animal that had a diverse diet compared to one that will only get a "basic" will almost always have a more "hardy" flavor. It's All about "you are what you eat"
I look forward to your videos in this crazy time we are living in. They make me happy. I wish I could do it but 65 and disabled no way. So I watch your's and other homesteaders. Love Toby and hope his new buddy comes soon.🥰
I dare suggest that, with the numerical efficiency of John's setup, I don't think there is much chance that Morgan's labor-per-bird is very similar to John's; I would guess it should doubled as a vague estimate.
Hey Morgan, how are you ? Would glad to know more what's going on with the Hound hunting protest? Was searching Butch Spears in the internet and found he did similar thing with other peoe too. Hope to see you win this battle !!! Keep posting.
Yeah true. And regarding this video. I think Morgan can make a separate market for ethically raised chicken. In India, this Cornish Crosses are called Broilers and people are now looking for alternatives. Even people want to pay premium to get such farm raised chickens.
Would absolutely love to see some new breeds of chicken added to the farm as suggested in the comments here, I think crossing some big heritage birds will improve meat production etc and would also be interesting to see!
Love watching your progress with the farm and was thinking, if you fancy a good laugh at someone else's attempts to start farming, you should try watching Jeremy Clarkson's farm. It will make you feel so much better about the little mistakes you've made along the way 😁
It's interesting that ,at the end, you said that you knew your chickens had a good life. You can be proud of the fact that it was important to you that they were treated well. You can also be proud of the fact that you care about the ethics of farming.
I envy your (if I can say courage) to be able to end the chicken that you have named and spent so much time together, I think I would not have the guts to do such a thing (except if the chicken would be an actual nightmare and endangerment to other animals and family members).
With the stuff you will drag out of the barn & assorted poultry houses you just might have lots to compost each spring / early summer. Now that you have the tractor you might raise some sunflower to add to your feed. Or in the spring & fall raise a greens patch to cut and use as feed. However there are only so many hours in the day.
@@theotheseaeagle I am 16 and a student and don't have a job☹️that's why matter of fact...In my country Bangladesh 🇧🇩 You can't Get any job until you're 18(unless something illegal) Quite a few reasons why I can't
This previous summer I did my own chicken experiment; my family loves large-extra large eggs and I wanted a bird that would be extremely heavy for meat. I didn't have weights marked down because of it being a smaller batch. We bred a fairly large light brahma roo with many jersey giant hens and were pleasantly surprised with the results. Only drawback to the experiment was how much slower they grow for the extra size. Out of all our cross hens the eggs have been AMAZING and we kept a roo as our main breeder(family kept separately). I'd love to see more people try this experiment!
I wish you had planned this earlier in the season! I had two beautiful roos, I forget their breed. I would have gladly agreed to give them to you as I know they would live a good life on a great farm.
Hello Morgan, I know it's risky to put any butchering in videos because a lot of people get grossed out by that kind of content, but I hope it's possible to strike some sort of balance with this topic because it is an important part about farming life (especially if you intend to butcher your own cattle) and it'd be interesting to see your learning process over time and how you approach it. Again I understand many people would prefer to not see this kind of graphic content but if it's clearly marked in timestamps or maybe it's own video with verbal warnings I think it can be done. I'm sure there are enough of us that are somewhat familiar with the process and are interested in it to justify it. Just a suggestion! I love your videos
Hey Morgan, thank you for this video, it was very insightful! I found it very interesting when you were comparing the life-quality of your birds to Johns. I would very much like to see Johns view on your way of keeping meat chickens because i have to remember his definition of "pastured poulty" and the difference to what he calls "access to the outdoors". I personally think that in this comparision the breed of birds is key. While your chickens ventured out and still found grass and insects further away from the coop (could you enlighten us how far away from the coop the meat chickens actually ventured?), Johns cornish x wouldn't have profited as much from the outdoors in your system. For the cornish x i assume that Johns way is probably better, because they get access to fresh grass and a poop-free environment every day, even tho their allowed room is smaller. I don't think they would venture out much further anyway. Also the cornish x seem to need a little more protection against the weather than your more "chicken like" chickens. I'm very keen to see your meat chicken setup next year. Yours, Tiana
You just need to keep at it. Profits on a startup usually don't bear fruit for the first couple years. Composting for chicken feed will lower your food costs greatly for the summer. I'd also suggest getting a Cornish cross rooster to increase the size of your birds without impacting the bird's quality of life
I would research it a bit more, but im in animal and poultry science and I do believe temperature does dictate a higher ratio of one gender or the other. You might have your incubator set a bit too high which is why you had a higher ratio of males to females.
may I suggest cultivating meal worms inside your home? they're easy to keep in a small bin, very unlikely to escape and as long as you keep them well fed with kitchen scraps and/or fresh veggies and fruit they'll mature and keep making you more meal worms with little effort. you can even brand and sell them to other chicken farms when it grows enough and even as reptile feed to reptile and amphibian hobbyists. a good side hustle with low costs, low maintenance and endless protein for your chickens and ducks.
Yeah it is an interesting concept and I would be all for growing free protein. But I'm not too keen on growing hundreds of kg worth of bugs indoors each winter. 100 kg would be 225 lbs I think. Just Imagine that. Indoors! Great in theory and I would love to have access to that but... Not from under my bed.
RIP Alexander Hamilhen.... Really enjoyed the little Hamilton references from the mentioning of the rooster and while it was meant for eventual consumption, his presence made the farm a little brighter and enjoyable...
At 07:49 it is a trip to watch that duck behind you foraging for insects. Seemed unique to see him or her working alone with it's head looking at the ground like that.
![ปฏิเสธไม่ไหว (Crush on you) - LIPTA feat. No One Else [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NBw1jF342vw/mqdefault.jpg)
Even if you don't intend to sell them, I believe many people would be willing to pay a premium for meat from chickens they know were raised to have a good life, especially the video documentation of their lives.
I was thinking that I would, personally, love to buy that meat. I know Morgan doesn't have the operation to ship frozen meat as a profitable business, but I would be a buyer.
I really do want to buy poultry that was raised in a more old fashion method.
I’ve always bought from free range commercial places in australia but after buying straight from family farms I will never go back to even commercial free range. The taste difference… was reasonable, the colour difference of yolks was considerable AND knowing every chicken makes it even better. Ethics matter. Gold Shaw farm matters. Your ethos is essential.
Yea, I had wanted to support a local chicken farmer but I didn't want to support the use of cornish crosses, I just think they are an abomination and live miserably. It'd be nice for other meat breeds to be sold locally, I'd pay more for them.
I so wish I lived in vermont to buy morgans stock 😭
Anybody doubting how well kept and healthy Toby is. Look at that coat! That dog is Matt free and fluffy white as it gets. Muddy ass wet night... look at that clean floof!!!
Proper care man. Bravo!
Toby has a special coat so all the mud slides off. Morgan has showed footage before of how muddy his paws/fur is and how it sides off within minutes.
HEY MORGAN. For ethical reasons we hatch out our own eggs to raise for meat, the same as you. We have discovered that if you work out the figures over a 3 or 4 year period it can come out in your favor. Reason being some seasons you will get more hens. We generally aim to keep around 8 hens every year for egg laying, so you can take the cost of having to buy 8 point of lay hens off of your yearly total. We then cull the oldest 8 hens from the laying flock and use them to make, and can vast amounts of chicken stock, bonus! We then shred (pull) the meat and make chicken curries and casseroles and can that ready for winter, another bonus. Now, apart from those 8 old hens, we only process the roosters and they go in the freezer. Any other hens we raise are sold as point of lay and the money that comes in from those brings the price of the meat birds right down. This year we had a year like yours with only 12 hens and 29 roosters but the previous year we had 18 roosters and 32 hens, hence me saying, work out your figures over a longer period..
interesting thanks 4 sharing xx
I love that you shared this. I'm planning on doing this on my farm & I'm glad to hear that it works
Watching Toby pop out of his house added so much serotonin to my Friday
you ain't wrong.
Definitely a highlight to my day!
It's so nice to see Toby using the place that was made just for him. No birds taking it over, only sharing with his cat coworkers❤
😂
I recommend Dawn Ridge Delaware chickens! They have amazing heritage, healthy dual purpose Delawares. Over the years they have selectively bred for quicker maturity and a full meaty body. They are not like Cornish cross- which is great! But they produce a good sized carcass with plenty of meat within 12-16 weeks(depending on what size you’re wanting). I really recommend going with them. They free rang well and lay good- and to top it off, they are beautiful birds with great temperaments. Dawn ridge farm sells/ships hatching eggs, chicks, and pullets/cockerels at very good prices. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better heritage meat/laying bird than these. Not many people still breed to maintain their meat and growth quality. All those old breeds have lost many good qualities and become bony egg layers at this point.
I love Delawares
I was going to suggest maybe Morgan's roosters next year should come from a proven heritage dual purpose breed -- this sounds like a great option.
@@neenajaydon9641 well thats what he did, Bielefelder are dual purpose and very proven for more organic out door raising.
Morgan, You just made me feel badly about shuddering at the cost of some of the VT free range chicken I see in the local store. Seeing this breakdown of what it takes to raise them, makes the cost seem pretty reasonable. The ethics and the cost to the farmer - and knowing where my food comes from, is totally worth it. Thanks for lifting the curtain….
I buy from Imperfect Foods and they have field raised chickens available at $14 for a 3 and a half pound bird, which suddenly looks down right cheap.😉
Morgan, I really think you can save money on feed and here's how. You can build a Black Solider Fly Compost system that will reduce the cost of feed. Here's how, When you compost these flys will naturally come. The Larvae us high in Protein and Fat, two things that will make birds grow fast and put on weight. The fly Compost system wont cost you anything, throw your food scraps, compost and cow manure into some trays and let the flys do the rest.
The place he live is cold climate, hard to do that
I'm sure it would work in the summer.
That is kinda what he is doing by adding the cows. He keeps the manure on the fields but the ducks and chickens do indeed eat their flies and larvae. The manure itself gets added to the field as a great fertilizer whilst adding food (with the flies and larvae) in the process.
Worm bins would help too, though not as much as your idea. Also, the chickens will love the food scraps, they won’t wait for the flies to come.
Justin Rhodes and I think Joel Salatin, soak the grain overnight which cuts down significantly on costs. Fermented grain.
I honestly think that this model could work with the right genetics in the flock.
I would recommend introducing traditional dual purpose breeds such as Buckeye, Holland, Java, Orpington, Barnevelder, Sussex, Wyandotte and Australorp, to produce hardy meat birds with good laying qualities
I had Silver Laced Wyandottes
Big, beautiful, friendly, calm, broody, quiet. Could hatch and care for their own babies. Would definitely recommend them.
Asking everyone to send positive thoughts to the farmers flooded out in the lower Fraser valley in British Columbia. Heavy rains and mud slides took out dikes and river overflow now flooded multiple large barns of poultry and dairy farms. A lot of cattle where guided thru the deep waters to higher ground but not all could be saved. So horribly sad. If only more production on a small scale like yours and not concentrated farming in one area. I’m heavy hearted right now.
One of the farmers said they lost 3,500 chickens 😞. My community has been evacuated and looks like it’ll be a few more weeks before we can return. So much devastation, I have a hard time comprehending it.
I hadn't heard of this at all. That has to be so devastating, hopefully the farms can recover after the flood recedes. That sounds so tragic, all that death and financial losses. The deaths can't even be sent for processing to recover meat, so it's all the worse and a waste... I'll send good wishes their way.
@@h.s.6269 Last year Michigan had a similar event....
Prayers to you all British Columbia 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
@@cookiesmom2079 22 poultry farms were under water at the last count, average bird count was 3500-5000 per farm…so that’s 110,000 chickens lost possibly on the upside of the numbers and 66,000 on the low side….No one seems to want to talk about it..like the numbers are too awful and the media hasn’t brought it up but those of us here in BC farmer knowledge know the devastation is really grim.
"when it's a miserable day to be a chicken, it's a great day to be a duck"
- Morgan 2021
Retiree on fixed income, u turned my head around. Foolishly I ascribed capitalistic greed to the price of pasture raised poultry prices, soaking the rich who can afford it (like gas prices in Silicon Valley is what the market will bear). I now have a new found respect for the (dare I say noble) homesteaders who raise protein without Monsanto and petroleum.
My two cents: Your chicken experiment was a great success. Nothing can compare to the personal satisfaction and joy that comes from producing your own food, whether animal or plant.
2:00 Toby and Pablo playing in the background. Best buddies.
Nothing wrong with culling and eating your roosters. That’s the nature of farming.
@@DogSerious what?
RIP Alexander Hamilhen 🐓🐔
I'm not a farmer and likely never will be, but I love collecting knowledge of anything and everything. The comment sections on these videos are always so interesting and like a library of farming information. Along with the actual videos always feeling like I'm having a conversation with a friend lmao
I also like the personal stories.
While maybe not a sustainable business model if just for your own table, you get to enjoy an ethically raised bird that had a good, free range life, you had the fun of raising it and got lots of good video content in the process.
I really love your philosophy and how you run your farm. Your presence on youtube is a blessing.
"Release the Quacken" never gets old. Thanks for the great channel!
You say "I need more layer hens." but I hear "My wife needs to play with more baby chicks."
Either way, I approve! ;~)
I love that there's always a chicken in the duck coop.
Sometimes 2 of them LOL, I really enjoy seeing them pop out as well!
Lol.....never know who is hanging out with who at GSF......
This homemade farm you done really makes lives nationwide more happy. Especially, psychology-wise. My aunts & sister in laws love it.
5:41 the goose following Morgan is the cutest thing I've ever seen
8:50 That chicken running after the frisbee is adorable and I love it!
I saw an Australian chicken farmer. He had his birds free range, free range. He also had a Toby dog, dog. She wandered around, like Toby dog, the hen's were in a large paddock and they and their home were moved from paddock to paddock. The hen house was very large as he had nesting boxes attached to the mobile hen house. All looked pretty good but he had a large flock......
That chicken chasing after the disc made me remember how fun having chickens is. When I still had chickens they could hop through hoops and they were constantly with their Beeks in everything investigating. I once saw a mouse chase that took 45 minutes of 3 chickens running around trying to steal one dead mouse from eachother. Good times. Funniest animals on the planet.
The chicken running after the toy at 8:52 lmao
This memory goes back to the latter 1970's, however, my grandmother, an Irish-born, USA educated M.D., celebrated this time of year with "pressure cooker day", an event where I would go to Baldwin's farm, and bring back 6-to-10 "stewing hens" ('layers' who were 12-14 months old; these birds averaged six hours per day 'pasture/scratching time', with the rest of their time being spent in a long established hen house, where pecking order ruled). The leg quarters were ever bit as dark as the dark portions of turkeys (as we have today). They required a bit more attention to chewing than today's commercially raised birds, however, the soups and PA Dutch "pot pie/bott boi" had far more flavor than that which can be made from present day commercially-raised chicken.
loved watching the ad. our maremmas are pathetic when it comes to fetch and tug of war and it was entertaining to see how you worked around it to make him look like he semi knows what to do.
HI Morgan , do you know the chicken breed Chantecler they are extremely cold-resistant, and is suitable for both egg and meat production but sadly the breed is practically extinct and its sad :( you should take a look at them ;)
That's what I was thinking. He has a great opportunity to add in the genetics for cold hardiness, good foraging, fertility, longevity, and flavor, and has a good mix of heritage breeds already. Why not add some Chanteclers, Barnvelders, (they lay all winter) Totlegers, (Deathlayers, for longevity) Langshans and other big-bodied heritage types for size. Good foragers gain weight on pasture better than other breeds, and there are often grants associated with rare breeds. Crevecoeur, Appenzeller, Brabanter. I'm really enjoying these videos.
Liking and commenting to bump this up so Morgan is more likely to see! :)
All very good ideas. One day hope to help preserve heritage breeds like these.
Thank you for all your hard work and for giving these chickens the best life they can get.
Love the cost and technical comparisons. Your thoughts on animal husbandry make you the farmer you are. Keep working the numbers - I love it
I'm glad to hear that you'll continue refining your own model.
But your enjoyment of your birds is costless, but priceless
Love bark box! Our German Shepard/Belgian Malinois loves her delivery. She doesn’t often care for the all the treats(she is really a picky treat eater), but loves the toys.
Wow all the birds look amazing. Toby is one of the happiest dogs I have ever seen. He has a great life. Dogs love to do whatever they were bred for.
Morgan, you should have a local metal fabrication shop in your area, and they have the machines necessary to bend your pipes. You could have it done within a few days.
Or, electrician contractors.
A pipe bender isnt nothing new or revolutionary. They're pretty much 200 euros manual ones for big ass steel tubes so a mechanised one won't be more than 500... I just don't understand their fixation on doing it on a creation, which cool, is inefficient
A wooden form and a big cheater bar will work for bending.
Or, wooden form and put a chain through the pipe, tension chain with come along or tractor.
@Ghost Mama, you are so right! Just bring them the pipes and tell them which radius you want, and how much straight end. Why invent something where there are machines that are used daily to do the job?
You do not built your own truck do you?
Look for a firm that makes hand railings for shops and malls, they have a computerized machine that bends steel pipes slowly in several passes so it stretches equally and gets even stronger because of cold deformation.
Rising your chickens the way that makes them and you happy is priceless 👍💕🐓⭐️
Oh that Toby dog is just the sweetest😍
I do something similar to raise chicken meat for my family except I use broody hens to hatch and raise the chicks. It would change the cost, upkeep for an older hen instead of electricity, etc. I really like that the broody hen gets to live her best life and the chicks get the care of a very dedicated mother. I actually bought proven broodies to start my experiment. Last year my broodies raised an average of 8 chicks each.
We have a silkie whose entire life existence is being broody. She is an awesome mother and has said ducks and chicks alike
You forgot to factor in the youtube cuteness income to offset the chicken costs.
3:58 *RELEASE THE QUACKEN*
chicken immediately zooms out
Wow! I'm so happy that you understand all this farm and chicken stuff. It's a lot to remember and stay on top of all the chores and animal care.
My favorite part of the videos. Is watching for toby and pablo and seeing them follow you around. and or playing together (2:01) ish.
The man, the dog, the cat... It's hilarious.
You’re gonna need a cabin for air bnb visits so your fans can enjoy the farm too!
I mean he has enough land.
My folks wanted to visit the farm this year but didn't. Because of the covid-19 crap. They have a camp in Colchester, VT, on lake Champlain.
I just watch to see Toby. LoL. Love the chickens and quackers too.
Just a thought... The weight of your birds might be less, because with all the exercise running around, they may have less fat. Who knows? You can't exactly do an autopsy on each bird... makes it hard to cook them the way you want to.
Well, keep up the good work, and thank you for all the videos.
in that case they should be heavier, since muscle tissue from running around is twice the weight of fat
the weight probably is more because of the freakishly fast growing cornish crosses
Loved the data and it’s presentation Morgan. Good for you and we benefit from your knowledge and data, thanks so much . I always enjoy your content and your storytelling style, keep it up and take a break when you can, your fans will keep waiting patiently 🙂
Toby dog has the sweetest look.
Yes! You got it. TH-cam allows us to document our stories for future generations to enjoy and I'm sure it will be fun to look back on those stories years later. That's how I see it too.
I absolutely love the chicken that's flocking with the ducks
I raise meat chickens and egg chickens. I know it costs more for me to raise my meat birds than going to Tyson but I know my chickens lived a good life foraging on my farm, they taste better, have no chemicals, were or any other bad things injected into them and thusly are safer for my family to eat. I raise heritage birds and haven't tried any Cornish crosses but friends that do raise them have much larger birds. The meat is darker than commercial due to the muscle tissue getting so much exercise makes it darker.
The same goes for my eggs. The yolks are more orange than lemon yellow and when the very hard shells get cracked the yolks don't explode but they stay firm in the pan. They also taste better. All my customers quit buying commercial eggs and get my farm eggs for all those reasons.
Roger, I am going to be raising my own. Letting the hen hatch and using the chicks as my meat birds. Are they tougher? I free range my birds. Any bit of advice from someone who has been successful is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I demand a photo-memorial of General Washington and Alexander Hamilham. I loved the General's plumes.
On another note: My cat loves your videos.
She sits on my desk and watches your birds and your hands. She also tried to get your pencil.
Enjoyed the breakdown on cost. Folks don't really understand how expensive farming can be. Example: Organic non gmo feed is 2 to 3 times more expensive than regular feed. Everything adds up.
Thanks, another good one.
Good for you! It makes sense to do what you think is best for your family!
Suggestion, use a different rooster breed, say giant Cornish or Jersey to end up with a slightly larger bird. Second, look at how edible Acre's does their laying flock composting system. Lower in your feed cost, improve your poultry yard, and make enough compost to keep you out of trouble (or get you in it depending on perspective).
My bird operation is on hold due to my site not allowing roosters, but once I am back on a site where I can have roosters, I have plans to run a permaculture market garden, microgreens/mushrooms, eggs and meat, for my household, extended family, and neighbors, with some "value added" options. The plans are very flexible since we are still looking for a site. The goal is to provide 80% of the household's calories, generate enough income to cover the costs, and be able to ensure some food stability for those without access to clean food.
I am as far west of you as you can get on the Kitsap peninsula in WA state.
Edit: checked my notes. Bielefelder F1 hybrids do not usually get the larger growth but back crossing the F1 hens to a bielefelder Rooster yield the larger birds around 25%. The Jersey Giants are more likely to be larger as an F1 hybrids.
I am working on a good pasture breed for the maritime Pac NW, so I can go deep down the genetics rabbit hole.
Thanks so much for sharing your data and experience/opinions. I've been planning a similar approach and it's great to see what some of the costs/benefits can be.
I learned about this in a college class. An animal that had a diverse diet compared to one that will only get a "basic" will almost always have a more "hardy" flavor. It's All about "you are what you eat"
My favorite part of your videos: RELEASE THE QUACKEN!
I love the way you care for your animals.
I look forward to your videos in this crazy time we are living in. They make me happy. I wish I could do it but 65 and disabled no way. So I watch your's and other homesteaders. Love Toby and hope his new buddy comes soon.🥰
If you want some ethical meat birds Bielefeld ears are one but also Orpingtons, Delaware broilers, and Murray’s big red broilers
I dare suggest that, with the numerical efficiency of John's setup, I don't think there is much chance that Morgan's labor-per-bird is very similar to John's; I would guess it should doubled as a vague estimate.
My maremma loves his barkbox they do love the toys & specially the treats!!!
Hey Morgan, how are you ? Would glad to know more what's going on with the Hound hunting protest? Was searching Butch Spears in the internet and found he did similar thing with other peoe too. Hope to see you win this battle !!! Keep posting.
Yes I was just about to ask.i had a laugh last video and it made my day
Yeah true. And regarding this video. I think Morgan can make a separate market for ethically raised chicken. In India, this Cornish Crosses are called Broilers and people are now looking for alternatives. Even people want to pay premium to get such farm raised chickens.
He did an update video a week or so ago & went over it a little on his livestream.
❤️
He did a vid like a couple days ago about that.
Very informative. Thank you Morgan. .
WOW....Thanks for the excellent breakdown of the cost and such....Thanks again Morgan....!
Eating a livestock animal is the best way to honor it's life, using to prolong yours and your family's. It's the way of nature.
Would absolutely love to see some new breeds of chicken added to the farm as suggested in the comments here, I think crossing some big heritage birds will improve meat production etc and would also be interesting to see!
Love watching your progress with the farm and was thinking, if you fancy a good laugh at someone else's attempts to start farming, you should try watching Jeremy Clarkson's farm. It will make you feel so much better about the little mistakes you've made along the way 😁
It's interesting that ,at the end, you said that you knew your chickens had a good life. You can be proud of the fact that it was important to you that they were treated well. You can also be proud of the fact that you care about the ethics of farming.
Absolutely!
I envy your (if I can say courage) to be able to end the chicken that you have named and spent so much time together, I think I would not have the guts to do such a thing (except if the chicken would be an actual nightmare and endangerment to other animals and family members).
A lotta roosters are aasssholes.
You’re doing a great job in running your gamer. Chickens life is so much better then being cages.
I like how there’s always one chicken in the duck house in every video
Love what ya do Morgan ❤
With the stuff you will drag out of the barn & assorted poultry houses you just might have lots to compost each spring / early summer. Now that you have the tractor you might raise some sunflower to add to your feed. Or in the spring & fall raise a greens patch to cut and use as feed. However there are only so many hours in the day.
"Lady chickens"🤣My new favorite!
Thats really good, designate play time with Toby frequently even if its just 20 mins. He'll be an even better dog for you.
I love when you throw the Frisby and the chicken chased after it anytime I throw something in my yard all my birds attack it
I love your videos cuz it takes me away from my stupid city life
If you don’t like it in the city, why don’t you just move to the countryside?
@@theotheseaeagle I am 16 and a student and don't have a job☹️that's why matter of fact...In my country Bangladesh 🇧🇩
You can't Get any job until you're 18(unless something illegal)
Quite a few reasons why I can't
So nice to see Toby use his house.
This previous summer I did my own chicken experiment; my family loves large-extra large eggs and I wanted a bird that would be extremely heavy for meat. I didn't have weights marked down because of it being a smaller batch. We bred a fairly large light brahma roo with many jersey giant hens and were pleasantly surprised with the results. Only drawback to the experiment was how much slower they grow for the extra size. Out of all our cross hens the eggs have been AMAZING and we kept a roo as our main breeder(family kept separately). I'd love to see more people try this experiment!
Asian stores call this kind of chicken Ga Di Bo (walking chicken) and they are pretty popular and cost more than the conventional ones.
I wish you had planned this earlier in the season! I had two beautiful roos, I forget their breed. I would have gladly agreed to give them to you as I know they would live a good life on a great farm.
I loved the scene where you threw the spider frisbee and the chicken was going for it 😆
Hello Morgan, I know it's risky to put any butchering in videos because a lot of people get grossed out by that kind of content, but I hope it's possible to strike some sort of balance with this topic because it is an important part about farming life (especially if you intend to butcher your own cattle) and it'd be interesting to see your learning process over time and how you approach it.
Again I understand many people would prefer to not see this kind of graphic content but if it's clearly marked in timestamps or maybe it's own video with verbal warnings I think it can be done. I'm sure there are enough of us that are somewhat familiar with the process and are interested in it to justify it. Just a suggestion! I love your videos
I think its likely just as much, if not more, a frank matter of demonetization from youtube.
It needs to be in a separate video which YT will demonetize. They always demonetize for videos including butchering. Even a few seconds...
I loved the Bark box for Toby
Hey Morgan, thank you for this video, it was very insightful! I found it very interesting when you were comparing the life-quality of your birds to Johns. I would very much like to see Johns view on your way of keeping meat chickens because i have to remember his definition of "pastured poulty" and the difference to what he calls "access to the outdoors". I personally think that in this comparision the breed of birds is key. While your chickens ventured out and still found grass and insects further away from the coop (could you enlighten us how far away from the coop the meat chickens actually ventured?), Johns cornish x wouldn't have profited as much from the outdoors in your system. For the cornish x i assume that Johns way is probably better, because they get access to fresh grass and a poop-free environment every day, even tho their allowed room is smaller. I don't think they would venture out much further anyway. Also the cornish x seem to need a little more protection against the weather than your more "chicken like" chickens. I'm very keen to see your meat chicken setup next year. Yours, Tiana
You just need to keep at it. Profits on a startup usually don't bear fruit for the first couple years. Composting for chicken feed will lower your food costs greatly for the summer. I'd also suggest getting a Cornish cross rooster to increase the size of your birds without impacting the bird's quality of life
Fresh chickens are so delicious! Nothing can beat chicken and doublings, yum!
Tobey's little house is so cute
Your my favorite TH-camr and you inspired me to get chickens and ducks
I would research it a bit more, but im in animal and poultry science and I do believe temperature does dictate a higher ratio of one gender or the other. You might have your incubator set a bit too high which is why you had a higher ratio of males to females.
I consider myself lucky..I recently found your channel. I have enjoyed every second so far!
Toby's living the dream with that set up for his dog house. He lives nicer than my dogs -- and mine are inside dogs!
It’s the circle of life, and it moves us allllll
0:30 Anybody else know why he is very glad Toby started using that doghouse? 😆
may I suggest cultivating meal worms inside your home? they're easy to keep in a small bin, very unlikely to escape and as long as you keep them well fed with kitchen scraps and/or fresh veggies and fruit they'll mature and keep making you more meal worms with little effort. you can even brand and sell them to other chicken farms when it grows enough and even as reptile feed to reptile and amphibian hobbyists. a good side hustle with low costs, low maintenance and endless protein for your chickens and ducks.
If I remember right, he discussed such a strategy with Allison and she was not amused ....
Yeah it is an interesting concept and I would be all for growing free protein. But I'm not too keen on growing hundreds of kg worth of bugs indoors each winter. 100 kg would be 225 lbs I think. Just Imagine that. Indoors! Great in theory and I would love to have access to that but... Not from under my bed.
RIP Alexander Hamilhen.... Really enjoyed the little Hamilton references from the mentioning of the rooster and while it was meant for eventual consumption, his presence made the farm a little brighter and enjoyable...
At 07:49 it is a trip to watch that duck behind you foraging for insects. Seemed unique to see him or her working alone with it's head looking at the ground like that.
Achievement unlocked: Toby's shelter. Tap on the back, Morgan!