A Fistful of Firsts on the Farm

A Fistful of Firsts on the Farm #homestead #smallfarm #farmlife
SUBSCRIBE and help support the channel. And don't forget to drop a comment. It helps us to build this channel into something special. We're transforming this 90 acre property into a self reliant homestead and farm stay vacation rental. We're building infrastructure to accomodate future growth such as barns, duck house, 7 coop chicken house, water hydrants, planting an orchard, building a garden etc. Chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, barn cats and two old english sheepdogs make up our team here at the farm. Please follow along on our journey of transforming this place into something special.

[@judyk2378]

We planted corn one year, in a small backyard, in town, garden - it was delicious (best ever). So we planted it again the next year and yielded nothing. My Dad was a farmer and when I told him about the corn he kind of chuckled and said, you can't plant corn in the same place every year - you have to alternate crops to feed the soil.

[@alfilkemper9240]

I built a brooding pen for my chicken right inside the chicken coop/ run area. I kept mother hen & chicks safe & they were slowly integrated with the rest of the flock. All were safe, Mamma chick kept them warm (no electricity involved), taught them to peck, scratch, socialize. Once they were big enough, I had little to no problem integrating them into the flock. The broody hen cage 2'x4' has served me well throughout the years.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

that's a great system

[@samanthasteen350]

I like how u keep mama with her chicks!

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

My father planted our veggies using a Native American system. Make a small mound. Plant corn in the center, pole beans around it and squash in the outside. We had veggies fresh until it became too cold and frozen in the freezer until planting time the next year. And gave away a lot all from a backyard garden. Before became disabled I used the same method withtge same results. You may find a few Godzilla zucchini!

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Sounds like a great method, I may try that too.

[@sharonkaczorowski8690]

@@HiddenSpringFarm I think you will be pleased.

[@Kelly_Australia]

My cat has a time limit on hugs too, haha. Can't wait to see Billie's piglets. The lillies are very pretty, but be very careful if near where the cats spend a lot of time or play in the garden. They are probably the most toxic plant to cats, even some pollen that they may rub on their fur or is blown around and then licked off could be deadly. All parts of the plant are toxic, stem, leaves, pollen and even vase water if on display. A small nibble of the leaf or flower petal, or licking a few pollen grains while grooming can cause a cat to develop fatal kidney failure within 3 days.

[@nancyhelpinstill1834]

Very true about cats and lilies. (retired vet, here) If you even suspect they have chewed them, licked them, or gotten pollen on their fur, RUSH them to the vet ER. The first 24 hours will determine whether they will live thru any exposure!

[@watchersmith806]

Really love watching your videos and your personality and how you interact with the animals 🥰 You are strong and hardworking. Take care of yourself!🌸

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Glad to hear it 😊

[@bettyc.5070]

I love the black one OMG they are so good. Yes you did the right thing. I would have put the hen in with them.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

😊

[@myst9591]

Your chicks are fine that's the way they are raised for centuries.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I thought so too, the mom can take care of them. But why were the other hens pecking the baby chicks? I’m worried I’ll come in the morning to see dead chicks.

[@myst9591]

@@HiddenSpringFarm that is just nature. I remember when I was little many years ago there was an old man lived on the same street that has kids were on and he did not like little kids that's we rode past his house on the bicycle and he was out watering the lawn he would squirt us. Most Farmers separate the hen and the chicks from the other ones, and you already took care of that

[@patriciamorrison5372]

So Wonderful to see how Happy you are over Chicks!!!

[@Jerry-Hany]

You were right about the chicks, but it's better to put their mom with them in a separate enclosure .. she'll show them how to eat and search for food .. and at the same time she won't be heartbroken !

[@naegwut]

Thanks for the fahrenheit info

[@doriskuhberger8559]

Hello Chad. Hope all is well. You did right with the little chickens. For the weeds. I would put weed mat down. That will keep the weeds away. Then plant the corn in the weedmat. Same thing goes for the cucumbers, cantaloupes etc. Less weed that way. I hope that helps. I have never seen white mulberries. We have only the black ones here in Penrith. They look the same. They are yummy with some whipped cream. Thank you so much for sharing. Lots of Love to you all. ❤❤❤❤ Doris, Penrith 🇦🇺🦘

[@AiH929]

Another awesome video Chad,you had me cracking up when you said you didn't know if it was poisonous then popped it in your mouth hahahahahhaha 🤣 wish your videos were one hour long hahahah

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Haha I thought no one would notice 😂 You’re good 😉

[@user-nc2hz1mg6m]

Your corn was strangled by the weeds. Planting corn about 2 inches deep watering lightly the first day, once they sprout up to aout 6" hoe them as corn roots are shallow and by hoeing the corn you help create for more roots that will provide for more nutrients and stability from high winds. Once corn forms with corn silk protruding from it get some of the dust from the corn tassles at the top of the stalk and lightly dust the silk on the corn that has started. This will encourage more fuller cobs with complete corn kernels up to the top of the cob. Always keep your corn weed free over the majority of its growing life.No weeds in the corn or between the rows of corn as they eat needed nutrients and water the corn needs to grow,

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

All good info thanks, those damn weeds. No weeds or grass when I sowed the seeds but that’s probably what happened to the corn. Disappointing, I’m gonna put landscape fabric at the end of the season to try to kill the weeds and grass then try again next year.

[@cpbird_lover9143]

Maybe build a holder attached to the wall out of wood. Then place the plastic water bowl inside it. Same thing with the food bowl. Might work😊. Piggy and bunny get along so well together.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

It’s an idea, the pigs are super rough though. It better be built extra durable. I can see it working though. 😁

[@eyesea123]

So much to celebrate at the farm. We all love the updates! We have rosemary that grows like a weed and we have a ton of bees, so if you need more bees, plant some rosemary. I have the best lemon rosemary chicken recipe if you'd like it. I got it off a video, so I can forward it to you if interested.

[@DD-qw8zc]

Put the mom and the chicks in where the geese and chicks are now and finish up that last pen for them

[@cozyhomemakingvibes]

Our cat, Lavender Barn Cat 🐈‍⬛, is exactly like Chewy. She meows every time I’m around. It’s like she’s chatty! 😂 I love it She was as much work to train too! Sheesh 😅 That’s soo awesome about the chicks 🐣!!! Could you lay cardboard and finished compost around the squash and melons? I water it to weigh it down and it settles in under the plants. I use cardboard amazon boxes etc. it works well but I save boxes all year for it. The best resource on this is Charles Dowdings KZbin channel. He has the easiest way to rid gardens of grass and weeds.

[@RJH_LIL]

Its been a busy start but im thankful for my job. Billie is looking uncomfortable with that belly. Chewie is more friendly. Will you eventually put a tag on him? Save some blueberries for your darling. Dont eat them all 😅 Have a great day.

[@peacockgrandma]

We used to watch the crop dusters over the corn/soybean or cotton fields in Missouri. They used biplanes and did loops and sharp turns as they crop dusted the fields. It was fascinating to me. The company had 2 planes and we saw them often near our home, or around the freeway where a lot of farmers planted fields and fields of mostly cotton and soybeans.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I’d like to watch em too, I just had to stop filming for an hour till it was gone 😂 Those old planes are very cool eh.

[@AngelaStazknee]

I’ve always wanted to farm, but the hard work & cold/hot temperatures keep me from doing so. Your channel gives me farming - I lay in bed and watch you work & tend to the animals. I truly enjoy your personality the most, besides the hunt for Chewie in each video. Also, have you ever been told how much you favor Will Ferel & Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)? You could be their Canadian Cousin ‘eh!

[@rosemarymoore3142]

Interesting about the black horse, docking has been illegal for decades i didn't know it still happened in Canada!☹

[@79PoisonBreaker]

the best thing i've found for maintaining gravel driveways or large gravel areas is a Grading Scraper attachment for behind the tractor. 2 or 3 times a year keeps the gravel on top working and looking good for years without needing new stuff constantly. I even put shanks down and reclaimed some really old gravel yard sites with 0 new gravel.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I don’t have that attachment yet, but that’s not the issue here. It’s all down hill and when there’s a heavy rain all the soil washes down and mixes with the gravel leaving little trenches. I can add more gravel and extend the road but still at some point the gravel has to end and if I don’t have grass before the gravel the soil will still wash down. I think the best thing is to have roots in the soil. I do need a box scraper at some point though.

[@GrannySanny]

The Walton's who own Walmart live here in my neck of the woods. Some of them own those antique planes and like to fly them around in our area. It is fun to see those old bi-planes in the air.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

First time I’d ever seen one around here, it was so much louder than I expected.

[@teresakooser5695]

Loving traditions homestead KZbin channel puts tarp down and then plants melons

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I’ve seen plenty of videos and it works similarly to what we did in our garden area. Trouble is if you’re trying to amend the soil over a few years you’ll need to keep removing the fabric and reapplying. I may end up doing it anyway just cause it gets so out of control.

[@awatermelonGardens]

Love your channel. The cats and chickens are my favorite. Can you show more close ups of those flowers. I love learning about plants, gardening and especially flowers.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Aww thanks, yes I’ll most like include a country garden tour when everything is blooming. I have this weird skill that I’m able to remember the name of all our plants and flowers. Can’t remember anything else though 😂

[@MsAnnaBanana914]

Love the rabbit/pig roommates!!

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

They get along great too but sometimes the pig puts his dirty nose on the rabbits fry and messes him up 😂

[@samanthasteen350]

Isn't Chewy locked in the barn at night?

[@yeagerxp]

Well done . Informative 👍👍👍. Thank you for sharing. Be safe 🇨🇦

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Thanks man 🤙

[@vickychen9391]

Deers chewed at the bottom of my corns. Maybe there are deers going to your garden for buffet.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

We do have deer around but I don’t think that’s it, most of them didn’t even sprout up.

[@kayvelazquez4618]

Such great content.... i would of ate the hens picking at the baby chicks 😂😂😂😂😂❤

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Oh I was close but there are only 5 of them so I gave her a reprieve.

[@Jenny-si7ui]

Mulberry gonna change to black, I love them so much and it’s not easy to find in the super market! Envy you

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

They don’t change black though, kind of a light purple or pinkish then they fall off. These are white mulberries but I read if you eat it unripe you can hallucinate. The birds are getting most of them anyway. They’re not in grocery stores cause they only last a few days then go bad.

[@Jenny-si7ui]

@@HiddenSpringFarm yea right! This is different one that I used to see in my country. Good to know 😉

[@user-nc2hz1mg6m]

Easy way to fix this is to make a box a few inches larger than your watering pan.. Grease outside of pan. Pour the box about 1/2 full of concrete and press pan into the concrete, filling the box up to just about the edge of the watering pan. once the concrete begins to set remove pan and clean well. Once the concrete is set completely haul it into the pen area knock off the boards and then put into place where you want the watering area to be,, Replace your original pan into the concrete base which the pig can not upend,

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

This I can do, basically make a concrete form. It’ll freeze in winter though I wonder if I drop in a heater will the pig damage it. Seems like a good DIY idea though thanks.

[@user-nc2hz1mg6m]

yes usually can put a water heater into them.

[@manub6556]

🐤🐤🐤🐤🐣❤

[@micah06v8]

For the weeds you can put mulch down while the plants are growing as long as you put it around them and that will kill the grass

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

In my experience mulch does nothing to kill grass and weeds, it’s needs a barrier first like a landscape tarp. Similar to what I did in our garden.

[@micah06v8]

​@@HiddenSpringFarmThat's odd. My mom was a horticulturist and used to use mulch on her flower beds all the time to stop weeds. Did you use wood mulch or leaf mulch? Wood mulch is better for weeds, you just have to make sure you use enough to block the sunlight. 😊

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

@@micah06v8 I had this issue in our blueberry patch, that’s why I laid landscape fabric and I’m in the process of covering with wood chips. First year I just mowed really low then tilled the soil then out wood chips and all the weeds and grass just grew right thru. It was so frustrating so I decided on the fabric first and it’s worked wonders. I dunno I’m no expert.

[@Mysongsamp]

Barrel with faucet at bottom. You will need to insert the faucet . Find on KZbin

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I’ve seen those on KZbin but only in warmer climates, ours would freeze in winter so I’d have to figure that out.

[@nancyhelpinstill1834]

Jason from Cog Hill Farm got a self watering bottle for his pig,Peaches. Check him out

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I’ve seen it but they’re in the south. I need something I can prevent from freezing in winter.

[@nancyhelpinstill1834]

Oh, yeah - winter, snow, freeze, etc. Can’t relate. 🙄 (Los Angeles transplant from East Texas!)

[@cindym7234]

@@nancyhelpinstill1834 Hi Nancy. I'm a Palmdale, CA transplant to Bryan, Texas! Been here 9 years. This humidity is miserable to a born and raised Californian!!! 😰

[@nancyhelpinstill1834]

@@cindym7234 Precisely why I left Houston for Los Angeles! Finally refused to deal with the humidity. Realized I had never really gone outside for the first 30 years of my life!!🙄 Hope you moved to Bryan for a REALLY good reason! 😜Just stay inside in the AC all the time now. 🥵

[@cindym7234]

@@nancyhelpinstill1834 We moved here for my husband's work. I really like Texas, except for the humidity and the recent influx of thousands of people moving here from other states. This week will be 104° most days. I will never go back to California, though, unless I'm forced to for some reason. We still have family there in Moorpark, Simi Valley, and Malibu, so I visit occasionally. The beautiful weather in So Cal is unbeatable! I do miss that.

[@SuccuNoob]

26C in my place it 36C

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Yeah that’s super warm, it gets hot like that here too sometimes. Stay cool my friend.

[@gardengirl7258]

Totally normal for the hens to sit on the baby chickens.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I figured to keep them warm, but is it normal for the rest of the flock to peck the chicks and the mom not defend them?

[@teresakooser5695]

Are they white or red mulberries? Makes good cough syrup. Trim the tree down to bush size and you can pick them better.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

They’re white mulberry trees that are over 30’ tall, I most likely won’t cut it down but I will leave the lower hanging branches for ease of harvesting. Cough syrup eh, that’s something.

[@RJH_LIL]

Morning Chad

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Good morning, hope you’re having a good week

[@digicustoms7699]

You like the loop di loops, eh.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Oh yeah 🤙

[@myst9591]

Did you get the video I sent. It has an idea and what you get from amazon in it. You can adapt to suit your needs.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

No did u email it? I’m happy for suggestions.

[@mersokol3771]

Hi

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

😁

[@manub6556]

Hast Du Deinen Nachbarn gefragt ...ob Du die Pferde filmen und öffentlich auf KZbin stellen darfst??? Ich frage.....da es bei uns in Österreich Nicht einfach so erlaubt ist 😊😊😊 Die Pferde sind sehr schön und gepflegt❤

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Oh yes it’s not an issue, especially since they are on my property. The neighbors are fine with it anyway.

[@manub6556]

Du solltest die Mutter Henne mit den Eiern die sie noch ausbrütet...mit in die Stallstelle geben zu den 🐥 die 😊

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Yes I could have done that I guess. All the other eggs she was sitting on were no good so I removed them so they won’t burst.

[@hellie_el]

i hope they're not poisonous...munch munch....delicious! ❤

[@cozyhomemakingvibes]

😂I laughed at that too

[@hellie_el]

@@cozyhomemakingvibes that's men for ya! :)

[@cozyhomemakingvibes]

@@hellie_el 🤣

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Haha I’m still here so that’s a good sign eh 😂 😜

[@OZARKMEL]

Why is that poor little rabbit in the pig sty? Seems it should have a much cleaner area to be in.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Long story, but the rabbit was there first. I think the girl pig is pregnant so I separated the boy into the rabbits pen. I’m trying to find the rabbit a good home and the only other option for him is to be in a cage. It won’t be forever, but they get along just fine too.

[@manub6556]

Biili hat Sehnsucht nach Bobbi😢😢 Bist Du Dir sicher das Du sie trennen musstest?? Ich kenne mich da nicht aus....aber können sie nicht zusammen bleiben??

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

The boy should be separated, it’s a bit dangerous for the piglets when they come. You don’t want the boy to be constantly nothing the pregnant mom to mate.

[@manub6556]

@@HiddenSpringFarm das verstehe ich.....das wäre ein Alptraum 🙈🙈🙈🙈....natürlich ist es so dann viel besser und vor allem sicherer für Mama🐷und Babys 🐖🐖🐖🐖😊danke für Deine Erklärung ❣️

[@helen1962]

You need to study up on your animals and crops.

[@trevor_4]

4:11 Please try not to cuss in the videos! I don’t watch channels that cuss but I love your videos!

[@AngelaStazknee]

Me again, 13:46 she’s looking at you like that because you just referred to them as ‘The Meat Chicks!’ I don’t even want to get to know that group, sad……….

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Haha you’re probably right 😊

[@evelynrogers7145]

Those mulberries didn’t look ripe

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

They’re white mulberries so they don’t get as big or as purple. You can have hallucinations if you eat em unripe, but probably if you eat a lot.

[@tigerwoman4411]

Do you know all your cats by the sound of their meow?

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I’m yes they are have different meows except for Tango and Mango they sound so much alike.

[@tigerwoman4411]

Poor rabbit living in pig poop and mud

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I know I’m trying to find him a new home, it’s not ideal.

[@tigerwoman4411]

@@HiddenSpringFarm Why not getting him fix and put in with the females?