We’ve worked hard over the past year to build up our dream homestead. Eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables, all raised by our own hands.
Now, we’re shutting it all down.
What are we going to do next?
Watch the whole chicken coop build:
Watch part 1 here: https://youtu.be/khdNf4a-s7U
Watch part 2 here: https://youtu.be/TP3utDi0_yY
Watch part 3 here: https://youtu.be/E_goHTrihfo
Watch part 4 here: https://youtu.be/9Do7OVLUeB8
Quail Coop Build: https://youtu.be/Ow_vxG7q5wA
Rabbit Hutch Build: https://youtu.be/jZmRBV8Gs2g
A-Frame Coop Build: https://youtu.be/hBAIPQ23F8w
Where I get my music: https://share.epidemicsound.com/3l66im
My filming and camera setup:
Camera: https://amzn.to/3koDtjp
Lens: https://amzn.to/3GOF89n
Drone: https://amzn.to/3iOivtS
42 Comments
Are we crazy for giving all this up?
If you don't go into this with your intuition and heart, it cannot be anything but a burden. I think if you aim for doing the thing that brings you a sense of wonder and joy, that's what's gonna make you happy, not just going into it with a production mindset.
hyperindividualism is such a disease of the mind. total self sufficiency is a nightmare, we're meant to live in communities
Hi, what area you guys in? Canada ?
Nothing wrong with trying something and doing it good and then changing. Kiddos to y’all for learning the whole process and now changing. That’s life- it changes all the time. Hopefully you guys find a great home for these animals and find the happiness+adventure y’all are seeking for 🙂
Life offers a myriad of opportunities and experiences – guess what – you can't have them all. Sometimes grabbing for too much lands you with nothing in particular but pieces of a picture that will never be complete because you didn't stay long enough to finish it. Find something you love – and let it kill you. If you spread the butter too thin you get a tasteless piece of bread. Good luck on your journey.
I eat meat, i own cows. I could never eat bunnies. They are to cute and they can contain Tularemia…
Currently researching homesteading, and this video was recommended to me. My first thought, not having watched yet, is that they tried to do too much. The description: "We've worked hard over the past year to build up our dream homestead. Eggs, meat, fruits and vegetables, all raised by our own hands." That's too many things to pursue in too short of a time. This is like 5 years ramp up at least to be successful at so many facets of homesteading.
You cooked and ate those bunny rabbits!!??😧🫣🫣😭
Too much, too soon. Extremes never work.
It takes years to be fully self sufficient.
In only 1 yr… you did great!
I only hope that you dont depend on a YT paycheck as your reason for having a homestead. You have to want and be able to live the homesteading life. Its a calling.
Im a homesteader … but i don't post anything on SM or stream anything.
It's my way of life. I dont know how to explain it.
Im only 3 minutes into the video.
The feed for the chickens… can be easily forged around the land. It doesn't have to be store bought.
The same goes for a lot of wild foods.
Anyways. Good luck with whatever it is in Life that you choose.
Cheers
If you need people to love this land for ya I’m a willing participant!!
It's healthy to know when to walk away from something when appropriate. Congratulations.
Growing up in a family that hunted and raised animals, the way most Americans avoid the topic and presence of death has always struck me as strange and unnatural. And I completely agree that a person who eats meat should be willing to look the animal in the eye and do the deed themselves. Not that they should only eat what they've killed themselves, but they should be close enough to the process to properly understand it. As a hunter I honestly feel philosophically closer to a vegan than to someone who only eats grocery store meat (vegans probably disagree with that).
I’m so happy that y’all are making room for change, yet didn’t immediately sell what you’ve worked so hard to build. Sometimes you need a break, sometimes you need to follow a new path. Life isn’t ever static. I hope your family will learn new things while exploring. It’s ok to let go of some old dreams and pursue new ones. You may return to homestead in the future, but you may not, and that’s okay too!
Giving this up just gives you a reason to go ad visit communities which would value your skills and offer temporary or perminant place to call home.
different breeds of chickens are just like difference races of humans. Completely different in makeup
A year? You gave up after ONE measly year? LOL, hilarious. And pathetic. But that sure shows you're not cut out for it. I been doing this for 20 years now. And I have no choice. It's work or starve, THE END. So obviously you had no clue what you were getting into, nor did you really need to. Youth is wasted on the young.
We raise chickens, sheep and ducks in Texas, along with our 6 homeschooled kids. I agree with everything you say. It's such hard work, and it takes love, passion and commitment. Our kids enjoy the animals and learn so much from living with them. I understand your choice, though.
I feel these days mostly because of social media the line between homestead and hobby farm is getting quite blurry. One doe’s truly need acreage to live off one’s land and even make a profit. Usually hunting and trapping is key part as well
😂 white liberal cityslickers
You guys should consider actually try to understand what being vegan is about instead of trying to shun them with the “don’t tell the vegans” comment. Veganism is a moral philosophy which seeks to exclude the support and consumption of animal abuse and exploitation. Shouldn’t that be our moral default? It’s not good to harm(yes killing is harming) innocent animals solely for your pleasure(there is no need to eat animals to survive and be healthy) and it’s def not good to teach kids to build bonds and fondness with animals and just to betray them when it is all unnecessary.
I couldn't imagine having baby bunnies and chicks, raising them as pets and then eating them. Nope. Not me.
beautiful reason ♥️ goid luck, find your destiny and grow your spiritual understanding beyond any organized religion and see mother earth and how people are living naturally still without the effect of Christianity and islam and organized religions interfering either there natural living as in Asian villages without church or muslims
Your statement about wasting food resonates for me. My roots are in the Midwest where my ancestors raised at least some of their own food for generations. My dad is 81. He still has a huge garden. My mom, also 81, gets tired from all the cooking and canning to use and preserve what he grows. So, yes, it is a lot of work, and I can't stand to see it wasted! My husband feels the same way.
I honestly thought this was satire for a good 15 minutes before I realized it wasn't. I'm so sorry, but it's funny. Or maybe it is a joke and I'm just missing the ball? either way funny video I enjoyed it.
After only 1 year? That’s crazy… after year one we had only built a garden with 2 beds and acquired chickens lol… we’re at year 5 and now have 4 garden beds, more chickens, fruit trees and I’m only now learning about preserving the foods. I think for anyone interested, my two cents would be to take your time and start slower… adding new things as you get the hang of the old skills. That way you work it into a lifestyle instead of too much too soon and get overwhelmed.
By the way, we have easily figured out how to take 4 -5 day vacations while maintaining gardens and a small flock of birds. Automatic feeders, waterers, solar powered doors… all the diy poor man’s way. It can be done. But you know the story, slow and steady…. 😊
This is why farmers never take a vacation. I mean never. Subsistence is just that: subsistence. It's okay to want more.
imagine my shock a couple of lazy millennials are tired of work
We found a long time ago that the cost of feed and the time needed was more than we wanted to invest but we and our kids did learn and enjoyed much of it when we were doing it!
Ok, so what I learnt as a fellow 30 something city rat, that this lifestyle is not worth the effort, the commitment and probably not sustainable financially. All the reasons I would have never done it in the first place.
Maybe try joining or building a sustainable community.
as a former poultry farmer: I get it. It can be tough! But complaining that you can't go away on the weekends as an excuse to close the homestead really is a cop out. We managed it… and you had a FEW chickens: We had 400 grown birds and probably half that in chicks… but we still managed it. How? Automatic feeders, automatic watering systems, heaters in waterers and pipes wrapped with insulation. I never had to mess with buckets multiple times a day. Thats sheer lunacy! Same with rabbits! You didn't set up your homestead with self suffiency in mind. Part of that, is figuring out how the essence of the phrase: Work SMARTER not HARDER. you def chose the hardest ways possible. Same with gardening. We used the deep litter method for our hen houses, and the no dig gardening method on our acreage and believe me… our place was MUCH larger than yours, in the cascades of Washington state. So yes. It does work here. If not for having to get a divorce: I would still have my farm. I miss it TERRIBLY, so does my son. We would gladly trade you this awful existence in the city for moving back to a homestead. It's hard: but so are the best things in life.
Way too much too fast! Perhaps whittle down to one meat species (you could become the local rabbit or quail specialists and sell/ swap locally?). Especially when they also have kids, people have to make the choice to be a genuine multi product homesteader, or be a youtuber with a few projects. Much faster to get things done when you're not setting up cameras and thinking angles and lighting.
It looks more romantic in videos than in reality. Having a garden is one thing maybe some chickens. Everything else pulls away from the rest of your life.
did you look into ANYTHING for sustainability?
😊 this is why it's important to remember that heritage living (still mostly in the south) matters. Yall gave it 💯, and that's incredibly honored where I come from. I completely respect that yall are young and generally ties in the country bind us so that we CAN call on community to assist. But yall have done more than billions of others. Utterly commendable.
Undoubtedly the locals are relieved. Fingers crossed you go back to the city.
Context is key. Most people leap into the "homestead" idea not thinking through all of the things they'll have to do every day to sustain it, the skills required, the knowledge that is lacking, and the resilience and perseverance that is required to make it through good times and, most importantly, bad. Better to bow out now than become bitter and miserable.
HA
Looks like you're in the Anacortes area of WA. I lived on Whidbey Island for 4 years when I was in the navy and I have to say, you're in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. But you're right, it is a big world out there so why not explore while you can. Best of luck to you on your journey.
To be honest, at least they gave it a try. Some people can and or cannot do this. I was born and raised on the farm and don't know anything else. If I moved to a city cause it was exciting and cool to get a job in an office and live the city life I would give up pretty quick.