How We feed 50 Hungry Mouths on a Budget | Meet The Babies! - Free Range Homestead Ep. 66

Join us on the Ramshackle Ranch as we show you how we save money feeding our animals during the summer when natural food is scarce. Discover our creative solutions and meet the adorable babies that have recently joined our farm family!
#homesteading #babyanimals #workingdog
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FREE PROVISIONING GUIDE
Pascale has put together a FREE 40 page Provisioning Guide. The Guide explains and provides examples of how we can travel eating a variety of healthy and delicious meals for up to 6 months at a time on our tiny boat with no resupply. There has never been a better time to start learning how to increase the food storage potential of your home. I hope this guide will inspire you to make more informed long term provisioning choices for the future! For more information visit the Provisioning Page on our website ( www.freerangesailing.com/boat-provisioning ) or to grab a copy directly by clicking on the link below.
LINK HERE: Download your FREE Provisioning Guide: bit.ly/3adbloF
Also if you want to find out more about what I am cooking up every week for us at the homestead (and previously aboard SV Mirrool) you should follow my foodie Instagram page! gourmetsailor
Music Credits
Our theme tune (outro and/or intro song) Aquarium by TEVO. You can listen to his music here: soundcloud.app.goo.gl/4MAfa
All music sourced from Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)
On the request of one of our patrons we put together a playlist of some of our music on Spotify. Follow along and listen here: open.spotify.com/playlist/4Qe...

[@johnphillips519]

Yes Kelpies are very smart , I once gave one a lamb chop off the BBQ, She picked it up with her teeth and dropped it in her water bowl, Waited for it to cool down and then ate it, That's some above average level intelligence for a dog

[@atir4u]

Your little girl on your back is just darling to see. She's loving it. Thank you for a wonderful video of your new babies and all of the animals.

[@tototere]

I loved and enjoyed your sailing adventures and learnt so much. Even more so now as your adventures continue. From agriculture, animal husbandry, whatever you put your hands to seems to get the Midas touch. Lots of work that we don't see but I know gets done. I wish you all the best for continued success and happiness.

[@twc9000]

That's a great family farm. It's amazing how much food you two are able to grow.

[@ImTheDudeMan471]

You two grow enough food for a rugby tournament.. 👍

[@colinmorley6983]

I look forward to each episode. I am amazed how you have built and raised such a delightful small holding. You are both so practical and hard working. Keep up the good work.

[@richardp4544]

Wow ! Life on a farm. You two are truly masters of your environment and Constance seems to be loving it as well. She's growing like a weed even though she's a flower. I thoroughly enjoyed the update.

[@serenecandle]

You two absolutely amaze me!!!

[@philipwilkie3239]

We had a kelpie/staffie cross who lived to the grand age of 19. A remarkable dog we still miss - so much so we've never quite had the courage to replace her.

[@knackfarm]

Looking forward to having you both present at our upcoming Balingup Small Farm Field Day. I'm a member of the organising committee -- let us know if you need anything in the lead up! ❤

[@raincoast9010]

Beautiful cow.

[@jenwall3963]

You guys are just beautiful to watch ..... love what you do and how you do it frugally. Jen - Kybong Queensland

[@johnfarmer1691]

from durham england thanks for showing interesting

[@woodsmn8047]

when I had my own little homestead I had also many mouths to feed and I happened into a deal ... there was a nearby rail head where the grain harvest came into silos to await shipment the building where the trucks were unloaded and dumped into the elevator silos had a space below the floor and spilled grain would rattle down thru cracks in the floor and I would hire out my services to do the cleanout after harvest was done so I got paid to do the work and kept the mixed grain ...mostly wheat and barley with a scarce amount of corn mixed in ... I stored this grain and fed my chickens and pigs with it most of the year

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Fantastic story. I need to work out a contract to clean up the acorns and hazelnuts that litter the local truffle orchards!

[@darrylmcleman6456]

My Mom and Dat took me on a long trip to Grandma and Grampa"s Farm in another province when I was 9 yrs old.I remember the pigs on the farm getting table scraps on a daily basis and I noticed bits of bacon in the scraps going to the pigs. CHEERS from HERE!!!

[@Lana_Warwick]

Black soldier fly/larvae diy farming to stretch that grain out is worth considering. Could also farm your own table fish in an IBC, drip feeding it's water change to the veg garden

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I want to breed them up, but winter kills them here. My brother in law is building a large greenhouse. Perhaps he might let me put a fly farm in there, but it will be some sales job.

[@americanbornwalkaway9110]

YOU Two are SO Amazing with ALL you have done!!!! SO AWESOME to keep up with you!!!! Your Homestead is AMAZING😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 GOD BLESS

[@jeffslaven]

The ramshackle ranch is really growing up! I'm sure that you guys are very proud. Great video!

[@normclarke6609]

Hey guy's, we had a dog like your puppy, Kelpy cross Lab, he looks exactly like yours, we called him Mozart. He was so smart and yes enjoyed his food. He has been gone now for a while and we miss him every day. Really enjoy your dogs they are such great company. Cheers Georgie and Norm.

[@iainlyall6475]

are you shore you two haven't done this before? you seam like naturals. well done 😃

[@Mminnehoma]

Thanks for your effort to share your lives with us 😁 The only good advice a city boy can offer is look both ways before you cross the road 👍

[@victorbitter583]

Great vid to watch and I hope Pascy won't find me too forward for saying how great she looks. Cheers.

[@kranzonguam]

3 F farm! Free-range Fertility Farm!!😁 Great to see that things go well for you all! Take good care!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Very catchy

[@wilfrennecke9501]

🥰👍👍👍 You guys are just GREAT !!! The animals must just love you.❤❤❤ If you ever have enough time you are invited to come to British Columbia and sail our Panda 40 and be our guests . Love from Canada ☮☮☮☮☮❤❤❤

[@brontem3015]

Love the channel and the content you two produce. Being a fellow Aussie, it's so helpful and more relatable/applicable in some ways to have content based in Aus, thank you very much for sharing!

[@druid201]

Thanks, guys! All the best for your family and the calving to come. 8 ) Hope the rain falls soon for ya.

[@alanrobinson5109]

Hi Troy & Pascale, you certainly have your hands full looking after all the animals, they all look really healthy. All the best to you all from the UK.

[@annhysell6064]

Well done all! Great that your research and hard work as become fruitful. (and on a side note, great that Sailing Tritiea was able to connect) Lovely that your daughter is so comfortable. Be well.

[@amandad7121]

Congratulations on your beautiful little girl ( the human one)

[@izaqueduffy235]

love your work guys :)

[@christopherforster6555]

Lovely video lovely to see all your animals looking fat and very well your baby is soon growing up and contented nice to see thanks.

[@mariemorrissey9378]

Thanks for sharing your story! ❤❤

[@boomer3305]

you are doin great love the farm

[@bruceday450]

really enjoy the regular updates re animal husbandry

[@johnburgess5534]

Wonderful video. Looks like you’ve got your hands full most of the time. I note they are all domestic animals. I would love to see you give some thought to the wild life in the area. Nest boxes, water provision etc etc. as if you haven’t enough to do!!!!! Oh I forgot you’ve a boat to build. Keep up your vlogs. I’m a sailor mainly but you’ve converted me to pigging out on your lifestyle!!,

[@FreeRangeLiving]

The main thing we do for our wild neighbours is to have a corridor of trees acting as cover through our property that joins the bush to our north with a swamp at our south. Also, I keep the dog(s) from the dam at spring, start of summer, while waterbirds raise chicks. We have an armada of ducks on there now 😆

[@keithh3463]

Happy to see you are doing so well

[@markroy3630]

What is the comp, in the garden by the water. For the rabbits? From Michigan, that says it all. Never heard of it.

[@honey-bee-farmstead]

We are doing heaps of the same things and are finding that it works well too 😊

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I have wondered about using Apple juice to feed bees in hard times. May I ask your opinion? We are planning to get bees, and I've seen the local wild ones love bruised apples. Your thoughts?

[@honey-bee-farmstead]

@FreeRangeLiving well to be honest I have never done it but I can not see how that would be a bad thing at all, as long as there were no preservatives or nasties in it. We don't like having to feed the bees so we do a 2 box high brood area and do 1 box on top (flow top) for our honey harvesting. We've had our bees thriving right through thos horrible hot summer.

[@dylanwebb9584]

Love chooks.

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

A step ladder for mating. 😂 Troy, with all of the mating going on the Free Range Fertility Farm, a baby brother might slip through. 🤔 Thanks for sharing.

[@rogerc4196]

They all look very happy and healthy! How do you keep everyone watered? I'd be interested to see.

[@timothyjones6736]

😊

[@bryanb1259]

❤👍

[@mikegray-ehnert3238]

My ex-FIL was a dairy farmer here in Wisconsin, America's Dairyland. He grew up on a farm in suburban Milwaukee, at one time home to four major breweries due to the immigrant population and all the grain from our farmers. He would get a pickup load of spent grain on a regular basix, even after moving 40 some miles away. Mh late Uncle raised Duroc breeding stock, an heirloom pig breed and he had a large barrel of whey that he got from a chesse factory, dairy. He would pour aortion of whey on each day's grain and feed he put oyt for his pigs. He had a boar that c weighed 400 kilos! It gained about 4 kg a week as a small hog!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I wish we lived in dairy country. That would be amazing, but I do see us having a bit of whey once our cow comes into milk and Pascale can give full expression to her cheese making enthusiasm!

[@Mrbullet1952]

Hey Mum, you didn't say why you put apple cider vinegar in the goats food. I guess you use it to help with their digestion. I put a few splashes in my dogs drinking water, he likes it and it helps keep the green scum out of the water buckets.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

All of the reasons you said, and hopefully as a mould preventative on the grain during warm weather.

[@bryanbadger6841]

First of all, thank you again for yet another great episode. Just a quick query, Troy, where your incalf cow is, did I see a 1 second clip featuring some dry bracken? Now I know you're a bloke who's done a lot of research, but bracken has a major toxin, which is bad news for stock, and in general milking cows. However, I have a feeling it was probably my imagination. And finally, we have the authors, we have the subject, but is there room in the market for another book on Small Farming.?? I guess you have a tonne of subscribers who would buy, particularly those on this side of the Tasman. I think that is a question. Thanks again for the upload. Take care and atb from across the ditch.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

No, you are correct. There is bracken here, but our cow knows to avoid it. I know it was on the block she came from too. Perhaps we just keep her too spoiled to eat such low fare.

[@MyColonelSanders]

Hey guys, i'm new here, binging on your homesteading content and love what you are doing. I'd really like to see a cow vs goat comparison down the track on cost, labour, risk, produce etc. Anyhow, looking forward to the next video.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Great suggestion!

[@TheBeaker59]

Thanks for that Oh Boy you guys must be busy we only have chickens and 4 steers on our little block.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Can your block feed the steers all year or do you supplement?

[@TheBeaker59]

@@FreeRangeLiving yes, its 1 adult steer per acre here and I have 4 acres however as the steers are young and its a good year for growth this year in Bay of Plenty New Zealand. I will process one late winter then get another 4 about August as 4 day old calves I suspect if we get a dry summer next year then we may struggle for feed at which point we will be eating allot of beef.

[@TheBeaker59]

Sorry didn't answer your question really, no supplements apart from bikkies as bribes, like you we get the animals socialized so they are easy to manage.

[@dougsrepair1060]

I’m curious if you have any problems with foxes, weasels or rats due to all the range feeding?!

[@johnross440]

Troy, Do you have any problems with snakes or predators in your farming community? …. Thanks, John, Ontario, Canada

[@FreeRangeLiving]

No to snakes, and Jet kills foxes. We are worried about some resident eagles who are raising a brood, but so far, they haven't swooped our piglets. Very young chicks sometimes get snatched by hawks but that is rare. Our hens and the rooster are very alert.

[@RobA-Me]

Well that was more interesting than i expected! 😮 Great to see how you get the free feed, so what do you have to spend per month on feed you need to buy?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

I have an idea that it's around $5/ day, but we do want to nail it down and give an accurate answer in a video.

[@tlowe2502]

Thanks guys, from your fans here in the central Florida swamps. ,👍🏻💕🐖🐾🦴

[@colvardy8691]

We have copper defficiant goats and would appreciate more info on your system , do you use copper sulphate ?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Yes we do. We did a video entirely on our goat experiences here, including some good references. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoHVhKyolt6KhZI

[@blueclue57]

How do you manage the flies? No salt blocks laid out?

[@FreeRangeLiving]

The cow does have a mineral lick. The flies mostly get eliminated by dung beetles after an unpleasant 3 weeks, but the biting flies are a local menace as long as certain eucalyptus flower ( about a month)

[@thomasthornton5737]

😀😀👍👍👍❤

[@cesarmuttio506]

those pigs are not hungry!!

[@FreeRangeLiving]

They have noisier days than others.

[@timsharkey_LensN2Shutter]

Homebrew: Greetings from the PNW. I know you love your homebrew and with the abundance of apples I wonder if you have considered making hard cider. Even when using store bought apple cider it is by far the cheapest and easiest homebrew to make and bonus - you already have all the equipment. It can be made in the usual way or sparkling (with bubbles). If you like something a little stronger, you can even make AppleJack. Jacking is an extremely simple process where you freeze the hard cider and remove the ice as it forms on the top. The more ice you remove, the harder or more jacked the cider becomes. You don't even have to buy a how-to book as the internet has plenty of information on how to make hard cider. And of course the leftover pulp can be fed to the critters. It's always nice to have a little work that's a little play at the same time. After seeing this video I see that it's midsummer there so I believe the blackberries have yet to come into season. I can't strongly enough urge you to try making the freezer blackberry jam I suggested to you in a previous post. It takes much more time to pick the berries than hour or less time it takes to make the jam. It is well worth the effort. I should mention not to feed the seed ridden pulp left over from the sieve to the critters. It will pass and reseed your farm with blackberries. Thanks for the abundance of knowledge and entertainment you two have provided over the years: TimSharkey_LensN2shutter

[@FreeRangeLiving]

You will be happy to know, that I just primed and bottled 50l of hard cider last Friday. It's been in a glass carboy since July. I topped off the natural yeast with a little wine yeast and added about 150g of dextrose to each 25l batch. Hopefully, next week, it should come out dry, but sparkling. Apple Jack next. Thanks for that technique.

[@FreeRangeLiving]

Oh, and just wanted to say that our goats eat blackberry, and the grinding of their teeth makes them one of the few things that will destroy blackberry seed. Another vote for goats (there are a few against 😉)

[@timsharkey_LensN2Shutter]

I know you two like history so here goes, Applejack reportedly was accidentally discovered in the colonial times back in New England. A pub owner stored his hard cider outside in the winter so that it could be served cold but forgot to bring it in one night and found it frozen on top the following day . With thirsty customers he broke the ice that was on top and removed it and then served up the cider below only to find it was stronger much to their delight. Jacking makes the strongest alcohol possible without distillation. You won't get the 40+% alcohol you can get with distillation but If you start with 10% alcohol and remove 1/3 of the total volume (as ice) you raise the alcohol content to 15% (according to the math). I suggest you take a sip each time you remove the ice and stop when the flavor reaches your liking. You can always add water back in if you go too far. Lastly, on your adventures to the thrift stores, keep your eyes open for a quality juicer and try it with the blackberries when you make your jam. A low quality one will get the job done but the plastic tends to melt due to their lack of precision and they will only survive one or two canning sessions.