Check out my friend Michaels channel and his epic artistic treehouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3BV2llMdEE
Hey ya’ll, I’m Jess from Roots & Refuge Farm
Welcome to a place that feels like home. A small farm with a big family. We hope you’ll pull up a chair, grab some coffee and visit awhile.
There was a time that all I wanted in the world was a little farm where I could raise my family and grow our food. Now, that is exactly what exists outside my door. In watching it unfold, a new dream was formed in my heart – to share this beautiful life with others and teach them the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Welcome to our journey, friend. I am so glad you’re here.
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WHERE TO FIND US (Some of the links here are affiliate links. If you purchase through our links we’ll receive a small commission but the price remains the same – OR BETTER – for you! Be sure to check for any mentioned discount codes.)
– Our Website: https://rootsandrefuge.com
– Sign up for our newsletter: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-signup
– Abundance+ (Grab a FREE 7-day trial): https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-wilder-still
– Shop our Stickers & Shirts: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-shop
– Order my book First Time Gardener: https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-ftgbook
– Pre-order my newest book First Time Homesteader: https://rootsandrefuge.com/first-time-homesteader-yt
– Our music is by our friend Daniel Smith : http://instagram.com/phillip_daniel_smith/
– Instagram: www.instagram.com/roots_and_refuge
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rootsandrefugefarm
– Email Us: rootsandrefuge@yahoo.com
– To drop us a line:
PO Box 4239
Leesville SC 29070
– To have a gift sent to our house from our Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/SFA0IZHZRCOZ?ref_=wl_share
– To support us through PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/jessicasowards
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PRODUCTS WE LOVE – You’ve probably heard me talk about these things a million times, so here’s where you can order them (and get a discount with my code!):
– Greenstalk Vertical Gardens (Use code “ROOTS10” for $10 off your order): https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-greenstalk
– Squizito Tasting Room (Use code “ROOTS” for 10% off your order): https://rootsandrefuge.com/yt-squizito
– ButcherBox: https://rootsandrefuge.com/butcherbox
– Growers Solution: https://rootsandrefuge.com/growers-solution
#rootsandrefuge #homesteading #gardening
42 Comments
Check out my friend Michaels channel and his epic artistic treehouse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3BV2llMdEE
I'm so thankful I have had chickens just cuz eggz are right at home 🏡.. even after all these years it's still fun
Comedy night at Roots and Refuge! Another round on me! 🐣😎
There's something called chicken math and I'm afraid I have it. I have way more chickens than I need, but I'm able to bless others with the extra eggs.
I live in a small town neighborhood. I want to try to have chickens but I’m wondering in a backyard situation how do you keep their yard area dry. They will be able to graze the whole yard some but not long. Maybe an hour or two at a time.
Do you feed your chickens any supplemental calcium or their egg shells? I’ve seen some do that but haven’t heard you mention it. 🙂 Looking forward to having chickens one day… 🙂
Chickens make me happy. My girls are not laying much. They molted in fall. Then they just stopped altogether due to the darker days. They are about 4 now. Over the years we have had skunk issues, other predators and then something viral that wiped all of my chickens out about 5 years ago. I started with eight in 2012. I added more for the egg colors but quickly learned that some hens get broody and some eat a lot but don’t produce much. In past years I have ordered whitings true blues from Murray McMurray but got mostly roo’s. I culled those because they were very mean. Then a skunk got all of three of the hens despite the concrete borders we had built the coop with. The new coop is on a concrete slab and I’m thinking about putting electric fencing around the whole thing. I won’t let them out of the covered run because of that avian flue. We have a lot of migratory ducks and geese flying over all times of the year and a creek that they flock to. My original chickens free ranged during the day and I would find eggs all over in my flower beds under the plants. They did poop everywhere too which I did not mind but kinda did on sidewalks and wherever else we had to walk. We live on 14 acres which is not much. We are growing British White steers for meat. We did decide to buy a heifer this year too. My husband has had cattle and loves having the mommas and the babies. This will be my first time raising cattle. We had black belly sheep and I had no idea what I was doing when it came to lambing. I lost so many because I did not research where the sheep came from, how they were raised and if they had parasites. All of the bred mommas were sick with parasites and could not support the lambs once born or left the lambs out in the rain to die and rejected them. One even died while giving birth to the second lamb and her first lamb died as a result of not getting colostrum. I bought replacement colostrum at the feed store but the vet later told me that it never works. All this to say that having farm animals is not glamorous. It is hard work and the fails are debilitating to the soul and so so hard on my heart. I sold the rest of my sheep because I had no idea what I was doing. I needed research first. Infrastructure was not as good as we thought. We could have done it better and that would have helped too.
Jess, I have a video idea! You mentioned that if you clip their feathers they can't fly out of the pen. Can you show us how to do that? And, maybe any other little maintenance tips for keeping the girls fat and happy?
Just wanted to let you know that when I comment on your channel I get emails to contact you in different ways. The last one wanted me to contact you through What's App Me. I thought you would want to know so you can warn your viewers that you are not making those requests.
I love my chickens! They are my friends.If they hear me my rooster crows in the morning. My chicken free range,if they hear me outside then here they come to see me.
you crack me up jess. thanks for the chicken 411.
I don't mind our chickens not laying in the winter…by the time we get home from work they would freeze/crack (it's happened.) Not forcing them to lay extends their egg production, in my experience. Our 6 yr old hen laid 2 eggs this week. So when we get that influx of eggs we save them for winter.
MY DAUGHTER SELLS SM MED 2.00 EX LARGE 3.25
First, thank you for the video. Second, what is going on with your camera, your body looks distorted, super skinny in some areas, etc.? It isn't natural for sure. Perhaps, a different type of Lense? Thank you.
I ONLY GOT SIX BUT ONLY 2 LAYING ONLY 8 MONS OLD
You guys! She said $5 for a dozen?? I kid you not in SF today I bought 18 pasture-raised eggs for $11.99 I think you all might be on to something with homesteading.
Yes! I was hoping for this video 🥳🙌🏽💝
I have 15 now I had 34 but gave 19 to an elderly gentlemen who lost his whole flock. Anyway, I get about 2-4 eggs a day right now. Just 2 of us so that's plenty. I have a Rhode island red that's 9. 1/2 years old and she lays an egg occasionally. So she will just live out her life here, she still contributes so she stays.
My husband's family lives in England just South of London. They are paying the equivalent of $8 for half a dozen eggs!!!
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🥃🥃🥃☕️☕️☕️👀👀👀👍👍👍🍻🍻🍻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
and let's face it…nothing like some Chicken Television!!
I love your laugh and happy demeanor.
My husband laughs at me because I told him that at some point I will have a chicken retirement column going on somewhere in the back yard. I just can't bring myself to do it either, especially after they've been so good to me all their lives and given me so many eggs… dot
Hey a hen that isn't laying much, won't be eating as much as her productive sisters, and to my mind I value the chook poo, and the girls dedication to digging out grubs and pests from under my fruit trees, just as highly as their eggs. My contract with them is that they give me eggs and help me in the garden (they turn weeds into compost so quickly) and I care for them and feed them for whatever their natural span is. Ps here in New Zealand eggs are $9 a dozen in the supermarket for ordinary barn raised ones, and they are about to get more expensive due to battery cages finally being outlawed. Love your Vlogs. Best wishes to you and yours for the New Year…
This year is the first year I have had to feed the wild turkeys because of the cold and the deep snow we have here in Central Washington State. I don't usually feed the wild life but I just couldn't stand watching them day after day huddled around my chicken coop hoping for some food. I just figured God sent them to me to feed so I did.
A friend told me $17.00 for 2 doz. regular cage free (State law) large eggs at Walmart in a Southern California city this week. Ouch!
You forgot to mention your big dogs. Another good reason the predators leave your chickens alone. Love having chickens. They help with weed control before and after the garden starts and ends and fertilization of my garden.
We are first time chicken owners since last June. Still learning. We have 5. I want to get maybe 4 or 5 more. But we have to build onto our run. I need to figure out how to add new chicken into and old flock. I know I have to wait until they are approx the same age. But when they are younger I want them outside too. Need to study.
Good Talk ,thanks Jess🤗.
JO JO IN VT 💞💨❄️☃️
I use my lids old Easter basket
So glad I found your channel. I'm so close to getting my own land to really start my own homestead, and you are proving to be a wealth of information. Thank you!
wow, its amazing how varied prices are between different countries here in Australia $5 per dozen is standard and has been for many years, and thats for caged eggs, farm fresh run from $6-8 per dozen and free range can range from $6-12 per dozen.
Our hens recently started laying and we couldn't be happier! We officially don't have to buy eggs from the store anymore. It's the coolest feeling ✨️
my cousin gives me all his eggs about 18 count a wk love them I cook for him something everywk great man love the blue we egg ha also has black Indonesia one beautiful
My current flock of three (2 hens and a young rooster) keep me endlessly entertained. I'm on a fully fenced (6' cedar) third acre and they follow my yellow lab everywhere she goes. When they first started doing it, she would look at me like "Mom! Why are they following me???" Now she's cool with it. When I lose her (she's 15), I'll invest in the deterrent fencing. Excited to have gotten my Murray McMurray's order in this year — ordered 16 because it was the most economical, but I don't need that many. Plan is to hand raise them, keep half and give the other half away to chicken keeping neighbors. Back up plan if I get attached is to share the excess eggs instead. Even when eggs were cheap, the cost of keeping chickens was well worth it to me. I've loved them my whole life, starting with pet chickens as a kid. I even had four pet hens in Alaska who lived in the back yard and had a pet door into a penned off section of the garage where they laid their eggs and roosted. Keeping chickens is a pure joy.
Many of the egg farms unfortunately have had to have their flocks destroyed due to the bird flu. If even one bird is found to have died from it the rest of the flock is destroyed.
In California organic and free reign chicken eggs is $11 for a dozen!!!!
Eggs in Utah are 8.00 a doz now so they're really expensive.
$9.00/dozen here in California.
Pastured, grassfed eggs in Calif are almost $10 a dozen….maybe some farms are in $5 plus and are raised well
I tried to email you but can you post that video on how to do You Tube? Please hopefully I can follow the directions but really want to move forward!! Missy
Jess that's what Travis has at Lazy Dog Farms he has a mobile coop