02:45 Beautiful sky in the background! I think this new compost area + the chickens is going to work like a charm. I would clean up the old compost area a little better so the chickens aren't still attracted to it so much. Although that exposed ground will be a source of bugs for a while. I guess it is that old adage .... "six of one, and a half dozen of another".🤣 Take care Kevin & Sarah .... have a nice weekend🚜🌞🐮🐄🐖🐓🐔🦆🦤✌🏻
Your silkie crowing in the background makes me smile. 🐓The chickens will make short work of your compost piles, so if you continue to have lots of stuff to put into the pile, you may want to start a second one to help keep them entertained and out of your raised beds. The flock working the piles makes composting much more efficient. I couldn't imagine keeping chickens and not having a compost pile or two. Thanks for another great video, Sarah and Kevin! 💖
Farmers are experts at using what is already on hand. That is why you never throw away that last little bit of whatever. One day you will find a use for it.
This is a WONDERFUL idea. We have Johnson grass. It has grown up through 2 of my compost piles and taken over. The only way to kill it is to cover it and leave it, and I mean LEAVE it. Years ago, local farmers got it to feed cows, and make hay..what they didn't know, or care about is that the seeds travel, and then that patch shares, and then that patch shares. Now, it's 10 miles away and still spreading. It has made it to my garden area, and I had good compost, but it evaporated the compost, and now is SUPER Johnson, grass. Today, we are having to put down weed fabric hoping it will eventually stop the spread of that EEE-Vile grass. 😆
Wow! We've had it since the 50s. It can't take mowing or weed eating. Keep hitting it before it seeds and it'll quit coming back, in my experience. Good luck. 👍
Now if we could only find a way to eradicate it - we put down garden fabric and made a big garden, But where the asparagus is - taken over by johnson grass . . . gets no capitalization that evil stuff - I am going to have to dig up the asparagus and hope it grows in raised beds. But we had 20 raised beds in KY and when we took up the fabric years later you could see that evil stuff going under the weed barrier all the way across and up on the other side of the fabric - - - it is insanely evil. Nothing worse!!!
I've rented a post driver like that a couple of times. Not worth it to me to own it, but it sure comes in handy! SOOO much better than trying to drive t posts with a manual driver. Take note, they are quite heavy to have to lift basically over your head.
What a THOROUGHLY enjoyable, innovative, and insightful video. I am also continually amazed at the high quality of your videos. No matter the conditions the video and audio are excellent. Do you have links to the video and AUDIO equipment you use? Nevertheless, it must take a ton of time and editing skills. City girl in Chicago is grateful for your enabling me to virtually live an ecologically sensitive and animal-respectful homestead. GO for it CHICKENS. GO!
Speaking of compost, I think it would be an advantage to you if you put 6-8 inches of wood chips in your chicken houses. The wood chips would obsorb the chicken manure and keep down the odor and would generate some heat during the winter cold weather and would give the chickens something to scratch in. Clean it out once a year and dump it in the compost pile. Utility companies are looking for a place to dump their wood chips.
Great way to make compost. Chickens--they pay for their care and feeding so many ways. Eggs, meat, manure, as composting workers, and--very importantly--as entertainment. Almost forgot, as weed seed eaters, weed eaters, and pest control. All around, great helpers.
We have four 4 foot by 4 foot by four foot tall compost bins and our hens have no problem jumping in and turning it. We also compost in there run area with bags of leaves, wood chips and kitchen scraps. We make enough compost to fill all our veggie gardens and buckets for planting. In the fall we add chicken, quail , duckand rabbit poo as well as bedding to all the veggie gardens and let it sit through the winter. It's amazing how well the veggie gardens do for us. Been doing this for over 30 years and we have a good foot or more of beautiful soil to plant in. When we first start our compost heaps we put lots of wet soaked cardboard at the bottom with sticks, logs or what ever we have and then build it up. The girls love it. All of our heaps and garden beds are loaded with red wiggler worms that the girls love it. We also get truck loads of free wood chips ever year to add to all the runs, composts as well as all the walkways.
I did leave a "redneck raised bed" in the new coop and the chickens routinely turn over that soil. I may put one of the kiddie pools in there and add the pine shavings from under their roost and in the run. That could speed up the process before they go into a "formal" pile!
I think this will work great for you guys. I have a concern though. You should wear protective safety glasses when you are cutting metal. Tiny pieces of metal can fly up and get in your eyes. It would be terrible if that happened. Thank you for all you do for us.
You are still one of my favorite couples on You Tube. Love how you’ll work together and have fun while you’re doing it. I love how you show love and respect for each other. And most importantly your love for the Lord.
I’m looking forward to seeing your new garden! I think you could use 4 one gallon water jugs tied to the corners of your raised bed covers to keep them down.
The chickens are doing a great job! You'll probably want to build 2 more side by side to finish up your compost. The third one for the usable compost. The big plastic bin by the milking parlor is great still. You'll need to empty it every week or so before it gets as full. Your geese have grown so big. It was fun to see them on guard duty!
What a great idea! You used your imagination and created something very useful! Ive been watching your channel for years. My granddaughter watched with me when i homeschooled her. Now they watch you guys too. We love your attitude...and you are a brother and sister in Christ, most of all!
Ben Hollar from Hollar Homestead does something similar using his chickens to help make compost. He puts a large round wire pen in the center of the chicken yard, fills it with shavings, spent hay, dead leaves, garden waste, grass clippings, etc. The chickens pick through and spread it around for the first stage of breaking it down. After some time goes by, he removes it from the ring and puts it in the corner of the yard, where the chickens continue to work through it. After another bit of time goes by, he removes it from their yard and puts it in a bin made from pallets, inserts a thermometer and then lets it heat up and cool down, becoming beautiful black finished compost. At my age, I'm probably never going to have a garden again, but I sure do love watching what everyone does to make sure their gardens are healthy and productive!
That is a fantastic compost bin. The chickens will be happy and you will be happy when the compost is ready to use. I think putting in one or two more around the farm will be a great idea as you can have progressive levels of decomposition going on.
Great idea! However, was hoping you would build up your sides a little ways with the woven weed fabric. I live in Missouri and have a terrible time with Bermuda grass! Unbelievable what it does to expand! I’m afraid your grass next to the chicken moat will infest your lovely compost pile in no time. Hope I’m wrong, love everything you’re doing. So happy for you on the raised bed garden, I just know you’re going to love it!
Weed fabric never works for us. Weeds grow though it and it's almost impossible to get rid of those weeds because the roots get entangled with the fabric. We cover areas with thick card board instead. The card board eventually rots at which point we replace it. It costs nothing and is very effective.
I have pretty good luck with the weed fabric AS LONG AS I don't spill soil onto it. In my early days, I used to weed and leave the weeds on the cloth...which would break down into soil and then things would grow. When someone pointed that out to me, I couldn't believe that I hadn't figured it out. Cardboard is my go-to now. I save it all winter long, and then in the spring, it comes in handy in so many places.
This is going to be a nice compost bin and you did a great job moving that bin from the barn ... Good job! lol lol those girls have already found the barn compost! lol The tin front looks very nice. lol lol they are finding the new compost bin ... I think it will break down faster with the chickens ... So glad for the break in the weather here also. All the best!
Great idea. Let the chickens do all the work of turning over your compost, and get the benefits of them eating all the stuff they find. Keeping the barrier was a great idea so it will be easier to get the compost out when you want to use it.
Definitely a GREAT IDEA! I love how you save old building material scraps and put those scraps to good use instead of disposing them...waste not, want not! The large plastic composting tub will still be very useful in breaking down other materials! Enjoy your weekend 😊😊
I love how chickens walk..like they hear a little head bob song in their head..and do a little dance walk while they are doing their thing. I think this new compost area is gonna work out great. You guys always take a situation and make it better. The chickens look super happy. Having them do double duty on the homestead is such a great idea. Free (ish) labor! I know you still have to feed and clean their area, but, they provide food in 2 ways, plus make that compost 100% better for you! It's a win win situation.
Good morning.. it’s a great idea. I throw piles of wood chips, compost and pine needles in the chicken yard and they spread it around and it covers the ground and makes the soil better. They are hard workers and I think they enjoy it.
Good morning 🙏😊 The chickens will do an amazing job with your compost! Last spring our chickens “found” our garden area that we had put compost in and within a few days they had it spread around and as fine as we could have got it. And it was the best garden we ever had! Our problem then was keeping them out of the garden once it was planted! lol. (We have made them a contained area now so that won’t be a problem this year ). I love your videos ! And thank you again for sharing Have a blessed week 🙏
Awesome plan... win win! Putting the chickens to work and hopefully keeping them out of "trouble" LOL! By moving the barn lot material to where the chickens are will also help keep the fly population down too! Great video guys! Blessings on your day Kiddos!🌻🐛💕Carolyn in Ohio 🌻
Thinking if u move that cow compost when it’s half full if might be easier to spread as d easier on you both. Just thinking out loud. Good job you guys.
Really enjoyed this video! Great idea for the composter and the chickens will love it and help spread it out to make it useable. You guys are the best! May God continue to bless you both.
I live in Washington state and it is very dreary here always cloudy and misty and cold , but watching your videos bring excitement and joy to me, I can’t hardly wait for spring time, I have so much i want to do in my yard😊 thank you for giving us your time and taking our attention away from what is going on in the world today 😊
That's a great idea for your compost pile! It reminds me of Billy at Perma Pastures Farm. He and his wife and son make compost quickly by making a circular fence of chicken wire about two feet tall and six or eight feet in diameter, putting soiled animal bedding and other compostables in there, and then putting their chickens' feed on top of the pile, which trains them to eat and scratch around in there. They enclose the whole thing inside of their chickens' electric netting enclosure and call it a "chicken tractor on steroids." 😀And I bet you won't need to leave the front open now that the chickens know where to go. If they can jump up onto your raised beds, they can jump in and out of that front part of your compost area.
Good morning 😊 This was a fantastic idea!! The combination of the cow manure and the chicken waste is going to make wonderful compost 👏 The only thing might have done is pitch fork a little of that pile around so the chickens could get to the tote compost easier. There is a world of good stuff in there they haven't tackled yet. Either way, this was so smart of you! Have a great weekend God bless
I think it is a brilliant idea! It’s a prime example of “working smarter, not harder.” Letting your chickens do the work benefits both of you…and keeps them out of the raised beds. I was looking at the compost that Kevin scraped up and although it may not be quite as broken down quite yet as you would like, it doesn’t have far to go. It’s so rich and black! I can’t wait to see your garden this year. 😊
Kevin and Sarah. I like the size of your new compost pile. It does need some green organic material as well, as time goes by. The chickens will do a good job of picking unwanted weed seeds out of the pile, and the temperature will sterilize what is left. Composted chicken manure will be useful as well as the chickens pick around the pile. My grandpa was doing organic farming since before I was born. I’m 68 now, and I was turning compost piles and gardening since I was little. Now, I see just about everyone who gardens and farms, recycling waste materials back into the soil.
Thank you for yet another helpful and inspiring video! I have so many great little homestead hacks that I can attribute directly to your channel. Keep up the good work, friends.
Making your compost pile only 6 ft deep was really smart. That way you can use the bucket on the tractor to move the material in or out. I shake my head when people build them deep and narrow. Good luck, you will have to keep us updated on how it holds up. God Bless you.
Good morning everyone! That's awesome, it will make the compost faster you might need to build one place where it can rest and compost further but that is not a problem. You will have a lot of compost! Have a blessed weekend 🤗❤️
I think your idea of letting the chickens turn your compost is brilliant. Im going to do something like this on a smaller scale. My chickens need to do more, they have become spoiled teenagers this winter.
I use Dutch White clover as a cover crop in my raised beds. Once established, the wind can't blow it away. It is also adding nitrogen to the soil as it growes, and when cut off at ground level in the spring, it becomes mulch for around your plants. It is a Win all the way around!
Thank you for your great videos. First your homestead is always neat and organized, as are your WONDERFUL teaching videos. The things gou teach are clear and well taught. As a young child I lived on a farm as well as summers spent on a farm, learning garden, animals,and canning and preserving. Years have come and gone and my son and I are preparing to homestead near Branson, MO..Watching your videos has been a great help to us and we feel as we almost know you. By the way you are both are looking super great on your keto diet.
I think this is a fantastic idea! Nothing better than homemade compost! Most of your kitchen scraps can go in them, as well as your garden scraps and manure. I live in the city, and compost a lot of waste that would otherwise go to a landfill. Since composting, I've reduced the trash I put out by almost 75%, and have fantastic compost for all of my needs.
This is the first homestead I subscribed to and I wish everyone knew what they could learn from you guys so we can get you to 1million subs!!🎉 It's coming!!
If you want to encourage the chickens to work the compost pile more often, throw a handful of feed on the pile every few days, or so. Let the feed fly as if trying to cover the entire compost pile. It doesn't take much to get the chickens busy and interested in what else they might find. If weed, or old vegetable seeds and such sprout, all the better.
You should look into perennial cover crops for your beds. So many benefits to doing so, including wind protection for the winter. In our tomato and pepper beds, we are using a white clover, and in the flower beds, we have micro clover. Plant them once and you are done.
This will work better than you think. Watch Ben over at the Holler homestead. He put a wire ring inside the chicken run and once it disappears he rakes it back up into the ring. I think he does this 2/3 times before removing it and putting into a finishing pile, then to the garden it goes when needed.
Howdy Sarah and Kevin.. enjoy watching y'all wrangled up the chickens and build a new compost bed. I'm excited for y'all I think it's going to work just fine.. yep them little hooligan chickens😄 definitely made a mess of your compost.. thanks Living Tradition Homestead. 🙏💪💕👨👩👧👦🌻💞🙏
I wish we still had chickens to help me compost. Our neighbour complained to our local council and we were forced to get rid of them 😢. I think you’ll get compost faster with your chickens in there! 🎉
I can’t tell you both how much I enjoy watching your videos. You have helped me so much in my gardening and canning journey. I am so thankful I have found you both and that you are willing to share your knowledge with us. God bless indeed!! ❤
I enjoy watching you two work together so wellGod has certainly blessed you. I really like your sharing with us much of your chores as viable tutorials. May the LORD continue to bless you.
Wonderful idea... Only thing if you make more...put over in Waddelsville since you won't have chickens out in where the raised beds are once you start planting...waddelsville will work on a couple more of the compost heaps
I just recorded your video on the weed cover for the new raised bed garden. Amazing and thank you sharing about the compost and using chickens to turn and work it. I believe it was Joel Salatin who found using chickens after cattle in the fields made compost for his fields so he didn’t have to spread manure. Plus they interrupted the fly cycle by eating the fly larva. God made the farm animal to do lots of the work for us. Even the pig to do the plowing🤣
You could tie tomato twine, or other twine, around the fabric over the edge of the raised beds. If you use a trucker's hitch, it'd be very quick and easy to remove/install.
Looks great, that old compost looked done to me, but it’s always good to put some already done in with new. I would bet that works great and I know someone who would Love this video so sharing!
I think the new 30:19 compost bin was an amazingly good idea. In addition to the scratching I think the addition of the nitrogen from the chickens pooping in the compost will also help it break down faster. I can tell you that back when I worked on a Farm as a kid the best compost was always from 30:37 around the chicken coop and the chicken pen. And nothing is better than good compost!
Great idea. But maybe out of an old hay ring, free standing, that could be removed so the tractor can pile and re-pile. Set it in the center somewhere so the tractor can get all around, and move from time to time, let the tea from it fertilize and soften the whole field eventually. Good show :)
Having the pile/depth helps the breakdown. I would say that one isn’t even 1/3 full. Love having a tote or several around the property to collect your components, and then dump as needed just like you did! ❤
I'm reminded of a meme I saw recently,,, "Look at this weather all springy and cute, like it didn't just try to kill us two weeks ago!" Same here. Glad you put the warm day to good use to knock out a project that might otherwise have waited a month or two when your minds & efforts are filling up those raised beds 🙂
What an interesting and great use of the compose and getting the chickens to do the work. They get to have a bit of fun and it’s beneficial for the whole homestead.
It's going to work as I we make a one just like the one you made and put all leaves cow poop grass clippings etc the chickens work very hard all day making compost for us 👍❤we watch your videos from Srilanka 🌹
I think the compost pile is a great idea for the chickens. Hollar homestead doesn't have a lot of area for the chickens so they continually turn the compost pile over. Then they set that compost aside so it can continue to cook, and they give the chickens a new compost pile of wood chips, garden offage, farm manure, etc, and they do it all over again. I think for it to break down fast, you do need to turn it over two or three times, of which you can use the tractor to do that, giving the chickens the opportunity to get once again what was on the bottom. Others use the same method. It give the chickens a job to do on the farm. It will be interesting to follow what you finally decide to do.
Love the idea of putting your compost in for the chickens to scratch in! My Bresse love to go scratch anywhere I have been digging in the dirt...so, I'm moving my compost bin to the Bresse run! Bless you both!
Great composter. Ben Holler uses chickens and wood chip in a wire ring right in the coop. He seems to have great success. This is a larger version. Be Blessed
This is a wonderful idea for a large compost pile for the chickens to go through. Chickens are like children…. As in they need entertainment and something to do…..if not they pick on each other. Btw- I haven’t found a composting fabric that crab grass or Johnson grass couldn’t poke a hole through. I have to put 2 layers down 😢
Ben Hollar over at the Hollar Homestead has been using his chickens like this to make compost for several years now. Great system! He puts wood chips and scraps inside a big ring made of chicken wire. Then he only puts the chickens' food atop the pile in the ring so they know that's where all the good stuff is. He makes compost very quickly that way. Very excited to see your new garden get going this year!
I think this is a great idea because it is bigger and the sun can get to it better, it's more spread out to help dry it out. Great job with reusing things you already have. Nancy from Nebraska.
The thing I find super frustrating with that green mesh fencing is how quickly it degrades and makes a mess! Makes me wonder if it’s even UV stable. It may not even be an issue in Missouri but in Colorado at almost 7000’ feet elevation the UV’s are intense!
I’m in my mid-seventies and only have 7 chickens, we don’t generate enough compost from our small gardens and from our bins so I go to the local landfill and get 4 yds. a year for my garden and orchard. What I can make, I put directly back onto the plants as soon as it’s finished. My chickens take great delight in spreading all over creation also!
This a great idea. I have been using it for years. Plus I have chickens and roosters that are retired. The chickens have finished laying after 3 to 5 years and they are put out in large garden areas to scratch and eat the new shoots as they appear in the spring. I never have to till. Plus there is a layer of soiled straw, leaves, grass, tree trimmings, etc. If an old chicken dies it is cut up and fed to the dogs and cats. Nothing on the Muddy Dog Ranch goes to waste. Plus this idea has been used for years at the Holler Homestead in North Carolina and Edible Acres in New York State. God Bless Joe Scott Muddy Dog Ranch
No question about it, you two come up with some of the best ideas! I learn a lot from you. Right now we are in Missouri too, we just moved here the beginning of January. Unfortunately we weren't able to find a suitable place with land so we could do all that we wanted to do, so we moved into town (and love it!). We will continue to search for the right property for us and start our own homestead. I'm excited to find that spot to call home(stead) and start using all the tips and tricks you have shared with us!
Please give us a quick look in a couple weeks at how much the chickens have spread out that compost. It's good to see chickens at work.
02:45 Beautiful sky in the background! I think this new compost area + the chickens is going to work like a charm. I would clean up the old compost area a little better so the chickens aren't still attracted to it so much. Although that exposed ground will be a source of bugs for a while. I guess it is that old adage .... "six of one, and a half dozen of another".🤣 Take care Kevin & Sarah .... have a nice weekend🚜🌞🐮🐄🐖🐓🐔🦆🦤✌🏻
Ben Hollar of the Hollar homestead makes wonderful ‘chicken powered compost’ - he actually makes it directly in the coop and it is very successful
Yes! LOVE the Hollar Homestead and Living Traditions Homestead! 2 of my favorites. The other is Al & Gina Lumnah (Lumnah Acres).
I was also thinking of the Holler Homestead brilliant he is
Yes! I absolutely LOVE his method.
I was thinking the Hollars method using the chickens was awesome
Your silkie crowing in the background makes me smile. 🐓The chickens will make short work of your compost piles, so if you continue to have lots of stuff to put into the pile, you may want to start a second one to help keep them entertained and out of your raised beds. The flock working the piles makes composting much more efficient. I couldn't imagine keeping chickens and not having a compost pile or two. Thanks for another great video, Sarah and Kevin! 💖
The chickens will have many hours of entertainment from that new compost bin. Thanks for another great video. God Bless!
Farmers are experts at using what is already on hand. That is why you never throw away that last little bit of whatever. One day you will find a use for it.
This is a WONDERFUL idea. We have Johnson grass. It has grown up through 2 of my compost piles and taken over. The only way to kill it is to cover it and leave it, and I mean LEAVE it. Years ago, local farmers got it to feed cows, and make hay..what they didn't know, or care about is that the seeds travel, and then that patch shares, and then that patch shares. Now, it's 10 miles away and still spreading. It has made it to my garden area, and I had good compost, but it evaporated the compost, and now is SUPER Johnson, grass. Today, we are having to put down weed fabric hoping it will eventually stop the spread of that EEE-Vile grass. 😆
Wow! We've had it since the 50s. It can't take mowing or weed eating. Keep hitting it before it seeds and it'll quit coming back, in my experience. Good luck. 👍
Now if we could only find a way to eradicate it - we put down garden fabric and made a big garden, But where the asparagus is - taken over by johnson grass . . . gets no capitalization that evil stuff - I am going to have to dig up the asparagus and hope it grows in raised beds. But we had 20 raised beds in KY and when we took up the fabric years later you could see that evil stuff going under the weed barrier all the way across and up on the other side of the fabric - - - it is insanely evil. Nothing worse!!!
That sux … I have Bahia grass ..
My neighbor fed Bahia hay one year and his cows got out in my yard… it’s about the same way
I have put down the weed barrier and I bought one of those lazy gardens from Hoss
And built raised beds with weed fabric under them
Haha, your tone of voice when you said “that is the plan”! I resonated with that! I have to admit I covet your fence post driver!
That driver went right on our Wish List the first time we saw them use it!
I've rented a post driver like that a couple of times. Not worth it to me to own it, but it sure comes in handy! SOOO much better than trying to drive t posts with a manual driver. Take note, they are quite heavy to have to lift basically over your head.
What a THOROUGHLY enjoyable, innovative, and insightful video. I am also continually amazed at the high quality of your videos. No matter the conditions the video and audio are excellent. Do you have links to the video and AUDIO equipment you use? Nevertheless, it must take a ton of time and editing skills. City girl in Chicago is grateful for your enabling me to virtually live an ecologically sensitive and animal-respectful homestead. GO for it CHICKENS. GO!
Speaking of compost, I think it would be an advantage to you if you put 6-8 inches of wood chips in your chicken houses. The wood chips would obsorb the chicken manure and keep down the odor and would generate some heat during the winter cold weather and would give the chickens something to scratch in. Clean it out once a year and dump it in the compost pile. Utility companies are looking for a place to dump their wood chips.
Great way to make compost. Chickens--they pay for their care and feeding so many ways. Eggs, meat, manure, as composting workers, and--very importantly--as entertainment. Almost forgot, as weed seed eaters, weed eaters, and pest control. All around, great helpers.
We have four 4 foot by 4 foot by four foot tall compost bins and our hens have no problem jumping in and turning it. We also compost in there run area with bags of leaves, wood chips and kitchen scraps. We make enough compost to fill all our veggie gardens and buckets for planting. In the fall we add chicken, quail , duckand rabbit poo as well as bedding to all the veggie gardens and let it sit through the winter. It's amazing how well the veggie gardens do for us. Been doing this for over 30 years and we have a good foot or more of beautiful soil to plant in. When we first start our compost heaps we put lots of wet soaked cardboard at the bottom with sticks, logs or what ever we have and then build it up. The girls love it. All of our heaps and garden beds are loaded with red wiggler worms that the girls love it. We also get truck loads of free wood chips ever year to add to all the runs, composts as well as all the walkways.
I did leave a "redneck raised bed" in the new coop and the chickens routinely turn over that soil. I may put one of the kiddie pools in there and add the pine shavings from under their roost and in the run. That could speed up the process before they go into a "formal" pile!
@ Karenfrankland7763, this is how we make and use our compost as well, in our suburban yard.
Very clever indeed. Happy chickens, happy farmers.
I think this will work great for you guys. I have a concern though. You should wear protective safety glasses when you are cutting metal. Tiny pieces of metal can fly up and get in your eyes. It would be terrible if that happened. Thank you for all you do for us.
You are still one of my favorite couples on You Tube. Love how you’ll work together and have fun while you’re doing it. I love how you show love and respect for each other. And most importantly your love for the Lord.
Great idea. Hollar Homestead uses their chickens to make/work compost too.
I am so with you on use what you have!!
I’m looking forward to seeing your new garden! I think you could use 4 one gallon water jugs tied to the corners of your raised bed covers to keep them down.
The chickens are doing a great job! You'll probably want to build 2 more side by side to finish up your compost. The third one for the usable compost. The big plastic bin by the milking parlor is great still. You'll need to empty it every week or so before it gets as full. Your geese have grown so big. It was fun to see them on guard duty!
I just love watching you guys grow. The raised bed garden is so beautiful
What a great idea! You used your imagination and created something very useful! Ive been watching your channel for years. My granddaughter watched with me when i homeschooled her. Now they watch you guys too. We love your attitude...and you are a brother and sister in Christ, most of all!
Ben Hollar from Hollar Homestead does something similar using his chickens to help make compost. He puts a large round wire pen in the center of the chicken yard, fills it with shavings, spent hay, dead leaves, garden waste, grass clippings, etc. The chickens pick through and spread it around for the first stage of breaking it down. After some time goes by, he removes it from the ring and puts it in the corner of the yard, where the chickens continue to work through it. After another bit of time goes by, he removes it from their yard and puts it in a bin made from pallets, inserts a thermometer and then lets it heat up and cool down, becoming beautiful black finished compost. At my age, I'm probably never going to have a garden again, but I sure do love watching what everyone does to make sure their gardens are healthy and productive!
That is a fantastic compost bin. The chickens will be happy and you will be happy when the compost is ready to use. I think putting in one or two more around the farm will be a great idea as you can have progressive levels of decomposition going on.
Great idea! However, was hoping you would build up your sides a little ways with the woven weed fabric. I live in Missouri and have a terrible time with Bermuda grass! Unbelievable what it does to expand! I’m afraid your grass next to the chicken moat will infest your lovely compost pile in no time. Hope I’m wrong, love everything you’re doing. So happy for you on the raised bed garden, I just know you’re going to love it!
Weed fabric never works for us. Weeds grow though it and it's almost impossible to get rid of those weeds because the roots get entangled with the fabric. We cover areas with thick card board instead. The card board eventually rots at which point we replace it. It costs nothing and is very effective.
I have pretty good luck with the weed fabric AS LONG AS I don't spill soil onto it. In my early days, I used to weed and leave the weeds on the cloth...which would break down into soil and then things would grow. When someone pointed that out to me, I couldn't believe that I hadn't figured it out. Cardboard is my go-to now. I save it all winter long, and then in the spring, it comes in handy in so many places.
This is going to be a nice compost bin and you did a great job moving that bin from the barn ... Good job! lol lol those girls have already found the barn compost! lol The tin front looks very nice. lol lol they are finding the new compost bin ... I think it will break down faster with the chickens ... So glad for the break in the weather here also. All the best!
Not only do you have THE BEST videos, you always choose great music. :) Thank you for all you do for our enjoyment!
Great idea. Happy chickens and wonderful compost!
Great idea. Let the chickens do all the work of turning over your compost, and get the benefits of them eating all the stuff they find. Keeping the barrier was a great idea so it will be easier to get the compost out when you want to use it.
Definitely a GREAT IDEA! I love how you save old building material scraps and put those scraps to good use instead of disposing them...waste not, want not! The large plastic composting tub will still be very useful in breaking down other materials! Enjoy your weekend 😊😊
I love how chickens walk..like they hear a little head bob song in their head..and do a little dance walk while they are doing their thing. I think this new compost area is gonna work out great. You guys always take a situation and make it better. The chickens look super happy. Having them do double duty on the homestead is such a great idea. Free (ish) labor! I know you still have to feed and clean their area, but, they provide food in 2 ways, plus make that compost 100% better for you! It's a win win situation.
Kevin got them good skills flipping that bin off them forks the way he did. Have a great day everyone
Good morning.. it’s a great idea. I throw piles of wood chips, compost and pine needles in the chicken yard and they spread it around and it covers the ground and makes the soil better. They are hard workers and I think they enjoy it.
Good morning from Texas
Good morning 🙏😊
The chickens will do an amazing job with your compost! Last spring our chickens “found” our garden area that we had put compost in and within a few days they had it spread around and as fine as we could have got it. And it was the best garden we ever had! Our problem then was keeping them out of the garden once it was planted! lol. (We have made them a contained area now so that won’t be a problem this year ).
I love your videos ! And thank you again for sharing
Have a blessed week 🙏
Awesome plan... win win! Putting the chickens to work and hopefully keeping them out of "trouble" LOL! By moving the barn lot material to where the chickens are will also help keep the fly population down too! Great video guys! Blessings on your day Kiddos!🌻🐛💕Carolyn in Ohio 🌻
God is so thoughtful of all our needs. Makes him special to each and everyone of us
That’s exactly what I was thinking - what an awesome, Awesome God! He knew those t-posts needed to be exactly 13 feet apart!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Good Morning Kevin, Sarah and LTH Friends! Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed weekend.
Good healthy chickens for you!
How’s your health! I’m trying to the learn keto diet. It’s not hard if you’re prepared for the correct items are available.
TU for all your info!
Thinking if u move that cow compost when it’s half full if might be easier to spread as d easier on you both. Just thinking out loud. Good job you guys.
Really enjoyed this video! Great idea for the composter and the chickens will love it and help spread it out to make it useable. You guys are the best! May God continue to bless you both.
I live in Washington state and it is very dreary here always cloudy and misty and cold , but watching your videos bring excitement and joy to me, I can’t hardly wait for spring time, I have so much i want to do in my yard😊 thank you for giving us your time and taking our attention away from what is going on in the world today 😊
Simple, functional and dual purpose for chickens and compost. Brilliant! Lucky chickens!
That's a great idea for your compost pile! It reminds me of Billy at Perma Pastures Farm. He and his wife and son make compost quickly by making a circular fence of chicken wire about two feet tall and six or eight feet in diameter, putting soiled animal bedding and other compostables in there, and then putting their chickens' feed on top of the pile, which trains them to eat and scratch around in there. They enclose the whole thing inside of their chickens' electric netting enclosure and call it a "chicken tractor on steroids." 😀And I bet you won't need to leave the front open now that the chickens know where to go. If they can jump up onto your raised beds, they can jump in and out of that front part of your compost area.
Good morning 😊 This was a fantastic idea!! The combination of the cow manure and the chicken waste is going to make wonderful compost 👏
The only thing might have done is pitch fork a little of that pile around so the chickens could get to the tote compost easier. There is a world of good stuff in there they haven't tackled yet. Either way, this was so smart of you!
Have a great weekend
God bless
I think it is a brilliant idea! It’s a prime example of “working smarter, not harder.” Letting your chickens do the work benefits both of you…and keeps them out of the raised beds. I was looking at the compost that Kevin scraped up and although it may not be quite as broken down quite yet as you would like, it doesn’t have far to go. It’s so rich and black! I can’t wait to see your garden this year. 😊
Kevin and Sarah. I like the size of your new compost pile. It does need some green organic material as well, as time goes by. The chickens will do a good job of picking unwanted weed seeds out of the pile, and the temperature will sterilize what is left. Composted chicken manure will be useful as well as the chickens pick around the pile.
My grandpa was doing organic farming since before I was born. I’m 68 now, and I was turning compost piles and gardening since I was little. Now, I see just about everyone who gardens and farms, recycling waste materials back into the soil.
Thank you for yet another helpful and inspiring video! I have so many great little homestead hacks that I can attribute directly to your channel. Keep up the good work, friends.
Making your compost pile only 6 ft deep was really smart. That way you can use the bucket on the tractor to move the material in or out. I shake my head when people build them deep and narrow. Good luck, you will have to keep us updated on how it holds up. God Bless you.
Wowzers, you are sooo talented with the tractor
Good morning everyone! That's awesome, it will make the compost faster you might need to build one place where it can rest and compost further but that is not a problem. You will have a lot of compost! Have a blessed weekend 🤗❤️
Love the sound of happy chickens! What a great use of combined labor!
I think your idea of letting the chickens turn your compost is brilliant. Im going to do something like this on a smaller scale. My chickens need to do more, they have become spoiled teenagers this winter.
I use Dutch White clover as a cover crop in my raised beds. Once established, the wind can't blow it away. It is also adding nitrogen to the soil as it growes, and when cut off at ground level in the spring, it becomes mulch for around your plants. It is a Win all the way around!
That dsrk black stuff you scooped out with the tractor from the old compost pile area sure looked good!
Agreed. This is a wonderful idea. I'm still looking forward to see how you are going to put the drip system in the raised garden beds.
❤ you two are amazing couple with great ideas. The two of you 🎉 have a great farm ❤❤
Thank you for your great videos. First your homestead is always neat and organized, as are your WONDERFUL teaching videos. The things gou teach are clear and well taught. As a young child I lived on a farm as well as summers spent on a farm, learning garden, animals,and canning and preserving. Years have come and gone and my son and I are preparing to homestead near Branson, MO..Watching your videos has been a great help to us and we feel as we almost know you. By the way you are both are looking super great on your keto diet.
I LOVE this composting method. It's a win win for you AND the chickens:)
I think you should put more of the metal roofing on the other sides of your compost area. Looks great. I am so excited for spring. ❤
I think this is a fantastic idea! Nothing better than homemade compost! Most of your kitchen scraps can go in them, as well as your garden scraps and manure.
I live in the city, and compost a lot of waste that would otherwise go to a landfill. Since composting, I've reduced the trash I put out by almost 75%, and have fantastic compost for all of my needs.
LOVED the music while you were moving the compost with the tractor! I kept waiting for both of you to break out singing along in a duet! 😂🥰🎼🎤🎼🪕😂🥰
Ben on the Hollar Homestead channel uses his chickens to make compost and it seems to work brilliantly. Your design might be even better.
As George Peppard would have said, "Don't you love it when a plan comes together."
You might need a way to hold the roofing down. I found some of mine 3 miles away in New Mexico.
This is the first homestead I subscribed to and I wish everyone knew what they could learn from you guys so we can get you to 1million subs!!🎉 It's coming!!
If you want to encourage the chickens to work the compost pile more often, throw a handful of feed on the pile every few days, or so. Let the feed fly as if trying to cover the entire compost pile. It doesn't take much to get the chickens busy and interested in what else they might find. If weed, or old vegetable seeds and such sprout, all the better.
You should look into perennial cover crops for your beds. So many benefits to doing so, including wind protection for the winter. In our tomato and pepper beds, we are using a white clover, and in the flower beds, we have micro clover. Plant them once and you are done.
This will work better than you think. Watch Ben over at the Holler homestead. He put a wire ring inside the chicken run and once it disappears he rakes it back up into the ring. I think he does this 2/3 times before removing it and putting into a finishing pile, then to the garden it goes when needed.
Howdy Sarah and Kevin.. enjoy watching y'all wrangled up the chickens and build a new compost bed. I'm excited for y'all I think it's going to work just fine.. yep them little hooligan chickens😄 definitely made a mess of your compost.. thanks Living Tradition Homestead.
🙏💪💕👨👩👧👦🌻💞🙏
I think you have every reason to be excited about this bin. It's truly phenomenal.
I wish we still had chickens to help me compost. Our neighbour complained to our local council and we were forced to get rid of them 😢. I think you’ll get compost faster with your chickens in there! 🎉
I can’t tell you both how much I enjoy watching your videos. You have helped me so much in my gardening and canning journey. I am so thankful I have found you both and that you are willing to share your knowledge with us. God bless indeed!! ❤
I enjoy watching you two work together so wellGod has certainly blessed you.
I really like your sharing with us much of your chores as viable tutorials.
May the LORD continue to bless you.
Wonderful idea...
Only thing if you make more...put over in Waddelsville since you won't have chickens out in where the raised beds are once you start planting...waddelsville will work on a couple more of the compost heaps
I just recorded your video on the weed cover for the new raised bed garden. Amazing and thank you sharing about the compost and using chickens to turn and work it.
I believe it was Joel Salatin who found using chickens after cattle in the fields made compost for his fields so he didn’t have to spread manure. Plus they interrupted the fly cycle by eating the fly larva.
God made the farm animal to do lots of the work for us. Even the pig to do the plowing🤣
Wow, shirt sleeves in January 😍
You could tie tomato twine, or other twine, around the fabric over the edge of the raised beds. If you use a trucker's hitch, it'd be very quick and easy to remove/install.
Looks great, that old compost looked done to me, but it’s always good to put some already done in with new. I would bet that works great and I know someone who would
Love this video so sharing!
I think the new 30:19 compost bin was an amazingly good idea. In addition to the scratching I think the addition of the nitrogen from the chickens pooping in the compost will also help it break down faster. I can tell you that back when I worked on a Farm as a kid the best compost was always from 30:37 around the chicken coop and the chicken pen.
And nothing is better than good compost!
Great idea. But maybe out of an old hay ring, free standing, that could be removed so the tractor can pile and re-pile. Set it in the center somewhere so the tractor can get all around, and move from time to time, let the tea from it fertilize and soften the whole field eventually. Good show :)
Having the pile/depth helps the breakdown. I would say that one isn’t even 1/3 full. Love having a tote or several around the property to collect your components, and then dump as needed just like you did! ❤
I love that idea. The Hollar Homestead has done that in his chicken yard for a long time. Seems to work out great!❤
Well done job. Chickens are happy already and willing to help scratching and adding materials to the compost.
I'm reminded of a meme I saw recently,,, "Look at this weather all springy and cute, like it didn't just try to kill us two weeks ago!" Same here. Glad you put the warm day to good use to knock out a project that might otherwise have waited a month or two when your minds & efforts are filling up those raised beds 🙂
It looks like a great idea & you can put garden cuttings in there that they’ll love! Thanks for sharing! Blessings to everyone 🤗🇨🇦
What an interesting and great use of the compose and getting the chickens to do the work. They get to have a bit of fun and it’s beneficial for the whole homestead.
It's going to work as I we make a one just like the one you made and put all leaves cow poop grass clippings etc the chickens work very hard all day making compost for us 👍❤we watch your videos from Srilanka 🌹
I think the compost pile is a great idea for the chickens. Hollar homestead doesn't have a lot of area for the chickens so they continually turn the compost pile over. Then they set that compost aside so it can continue to cook, and they give the chickens a new compost pile of wood chips, garden offage, farm manure, etc, and they do it all over again. I think for it to break down fast, you do need to turn it over two or three times, of which you can use the tractor to do that, giving the chickens the opportunity to get once again what was on the bottom. Others use the same method. It give the chickens a job to do on the farm. It will be interesting to follow what you finally decide to do.
Love the idea of putting your compost in for the chickens to scratch in! My Bresse love to go scratch anywhere I have been digging in the dirt...so, I'm moving my compost bin to the Bresse run! Bless you both!
Great composter. Ben Holler uses chickens and wood chip in a wire ring right in the coop. He seems to have great success. This is a larger version. Be Blessed
This is a wonderful idea for a large compost pile for the chickens to go through. Chickens are like children…. As in they need entertainment and something to do…..if not they pick on each other. Btw- I haven’t found a composting fabric that crab grass or Johnson grass couldn’t poke a hole through. I have to put 2 layers down 😢
I think that is an amazing way to build a compost area. And no turning...the chickens do the work and add their own manure to hasten the composting.
It's always fun watching you guys hammer in those ground staples. Here in the Florida panhandle, we just push them in with our fingers.
Ben Hollar over at the Hollar Homestead has been using his chickens like this to make compost for several years now. Great system! He puts wood chips and scraps inside a big ring made of chicken wire. Then he only puts the chickens' food atop the pile in the ring so they know that's where all the good stuff is. He makes compost very quickly that way. Very excited to see your new garden get going this year!
I think this is a great idea because it is bigger and the sun can get to it better, it's more spread out to help dry it out. Great job with reusing things you already have. Nancy from Nebraska.
The thing I find super frustrating with that green mesh fencing is how quickly it degrades and makes a mess! Makes me wonder if it’s even UV stable. It may not even be an issue in Missouri but in Colorado at almost 7000’ feet elevation the UV’s are intense!
I have used it for 3 years now in Toronto and it hasn't been an issue. Elevation is 548 ft.
Having one or two other separate compost piles would be best, as each one started at varying times wiill give you a continuous supply of compost.
Fantastic idea and your chickens will help break down the compost a lot quicker.
I’m in my mid-seventies and only have 7 chickens, we don’t generate enough compost from our small gardens and from our bins so I go to the local landfill and get 4 yds. a year for my garden and orchard. What I can make, I put directly back onto the plants as soon as it’s finished. My chickens take great delight in spreading all over creation also!
This a great idea. I have been using it for years. Plus I have chickens and roosters that are retired. The chickens have finished laying after 3 to 5 years and they are put out in large garden areas to scratch and eat the new shoots as they appear in the spring. I never have to till. Plus there is a layer of soiled straw, leaves, grass, tree trimmings, etc. If an old chicken dies it is cut up and fed to the dogs and cats. Nothing on the Muddy Dog Ranch goes to waste.
Plus this idea has been used for years at the Holler Homestead in North Carolina and Edible Acres in New York State.
God Bless Joe Scott Muddy Dog Ranch
No question about it, you two come up with some of the best ideas! I learn a lot from you. Right now we are in Missouri too, we just moved here the beginning of January. Unfortunately we weren't able to find a suitable place with land so we could do all that we wanted to do, so we moved into town (and love it!). We will continue to search for the right property for us and start our own homestead. I'm excited to find that spot to call home(stead) and start using all the tips and tricks you have shared with us!