How We Grow Pastured Organic Chicken (just $2.50 a Pound)

[@k.c.8535]

Austin's editing is pure entertainment..................good job.

[@lindarepin568]

Austin, I really like how you have changed the editing compared to a few months ago. I really enjoy the channel again.

[@evelyncook3156]

I am a 73 year old widow watching from southern Aotearoa New Zealand. I live in a small city with no intention of farming on even a small scale but I watch Justin and his family to better understand regenerative farming, organic, small scale homesteading, family life, friendships etc etc in a part of the world I don't know a lot about. I am never going to buy any of the products that the vlog promotes but that he has product placement doesn't bother me, there are many many vloggers where everything stops for the pitch while mostly, with Justin, it is just him explaining where he sources things for those for whom this may be the first vlog they have seen. If it bothers YOU, don't watch. Also, because they seldom sell the excess food, the time and investment in infrastructure is just part of their food raising business. Rather than merely saving money they raise food for health, for their lifestyle and because we armchair voyeurs like to watch! Bless you and your family, Justin. This old lady is a fan

[@astorybookfinish5055]

Well said. Similar perspective here, except I’m in Alabama.

[@batpherlangkharkrang7976]

Hi..... Justin Rhodes and Rebecca thank you for showing your video homestead chicken 🐓 duck 🦆 ghoose farmer garden BYE 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋👍👍👍

[@paulsorensen5996]

This is really good Justin. I like you talking about homesteading and showing us how you do things. We know you’ve got money. We know that you’re building a great house. We know you’re trying to buy less from the table. But tonight you don’t sound like you’re preaching. You just are telling us about homesteading.

[@marilyn5208]

This video is. Much better than the previous ones that you've done in the past few months.

[@jillianstolling2602]

We bought three guard geese last year because of a raccoon issue. We sold one with the flock of ducklings we raised them with and kept the other two. We have never had an issue with them not doing their job. We trained them with ducklings from the moment we got them but they identify with any bird that is white. (Only one is white and the other is a standard grey brown.) They are best buds with one of my turkey hens and their favorite duck just died so they have been on a rampage with anything that gives their birds a second look. Most days, one will choose to go with the older ducks to the front of our property and the other will stay with the younger birds in the back near the coops. We didn't train them to do this, they just chose to do it. We were going to butcher one because we were told they wouldn't guard with more than one but for whatever reason they work as a team so we have just let them carry on.

[@donnamays24]

“EUPHEMISM”…is the word you’re looking for Justin/Austin. It’s a great day! Blessings❤😂

[@Carolynfoodforest355]

I love new country organic feed. I've done a few batches Cornish cross. My next meat chickens I want American Breese chickens. American Breese get harvested at twelve weeks. The difference is the American Breese will lay eggs at sixteen weeks and when you have a rooster to get fertilized eggs, you can incubate or let a hen go broody. That makes them more sustainable.

[@doriwells5778]

Wow Josiah drives better than me At 57 years old!!!!

[@home_edventure]

Great to see Gideon becoming one of the big farm boys

[@joellynparks7805]

🐔Just saw a guy on tic toc that uses Japanese beetle traps to catch beetles by the thousands to feed to his chickens. The traps are avaliable on Amazon. He refrigerated the beetles in bags until needed. Seems like a great way to take infestation off the land and get wholesome food for the chickens 🐔

[@rickayers3150]

I think it's great that you are teaching your children to manage the farm. The problem is when they get old enough and leave. You can tell that they don't want to do it. That Is when you hit the wall.

[@kathleenoverton3263]

They re teenagers. They re most probably rebelling a little. Mark my words they ll come back to the land. It’s in their blood.

[@rickayers3150]

I truly hope so.

[@brandynash1409]

They have said that they know this. But if they want to, they will know how to do it. If they don’t want to do it, they will also be educated enough to go find what they want to do. And they’ve created a human that has a good work ethic. A productive member of society. My husbands dad had an handle mill. They helped work the mill all summer long and every weekend. They all hated it. Said they would NEVER do something like that. But you know what it did... created 3 hardworking men who do what it takes to take care of their family. They also.... don’t mind wood working now.

[@forced4motorsports]

Mine are probably twice that per lb since I only buy 10-15 at a time and was paying a penalty. Now I use a hatchery that does not punish customers for buying under 25 and I'm working on my own hybrid. I don't care about the cost anyway. I care about the quality of the feed that goes into the bird. They could be $6-7 per lbs and I'd still raise my own. I actually use freedom rangers for egg layers too and they are rock stars. For feed I make my own 22% grind and all birds get that for life. 2 parts floating catfish food, 1 part Black Oil Sunflower Seeds and 1 part Timothy Alfalfa.

[@HomesteadCashCow-eo4dt]

We run about this many and use the same feed at the same price. We also order monthly and we are about twice that per pound plus labor.

[@theresawilliamson433]

They have other breeds that grow slower and have fewer problems. Call Murray McMurray Hatchery and ask. I have thought to raise enough to start supplying some extra food.

[@tylermiller2768]

We had exactly the OPPOSITE effect with rationing our C-Monsters. We got about 1.5 lbs more per bird by rationing this time.

[@Grunttamer]

Haven’t watched yet but I’m betting the cost of electric fence, energizer, chickshaw, “bullet proof” brooder, heaters, feeders waterers, that grit he shovels out of the creek aren’t factored in. Also, probably not valuing the time spent to grow the chickens. How much time do you or the kids spend traveling to/from the brooder or chickshaw, moving the chickshaw and fence l, feeding, watering, etc. that is all cost.

[@forced4motorsports]

and worth every penny when it comes to knowing where your food comes from an what it ate. When they start filling the stores with vat grown cancer meat and not telling people that it's vat grown and not from a real animal, knowing where your food comes from will start to matter a whole lot more. They could put anything into that sludge and never tell you.

[@tireddad6541]

Especially if you want a small amount but need a plucker etc. Justin has gone over the equipment costs I think before. I am sure if you were able to find a processor that costs a bunch.

[@Grunttamer]

@@forced4motorsports potentially true, but still isn't $2.50/lb . You don't have to misrepresent the costs to justify healthy food.

[@tonicook3023]

@@Grunttamer I asked the same questions. Additionally, Justin didn't factor in the storage cost of his chickens after he dispatches them. Freezers are costly and take lots of AMPS that add to the electric bill that should be factored into the total cost per pound of his organic chickens. In his last video he advocated that ordering and raising 125 chickens once a year is cost effective. So, based on that principle, Justin is feeding 125 chicks for approximately 2 months; he dispatches them and stores them all year. Justin apparently doesn't really know about business, or even worse, he thinks his KZbin audience is stupid and doesn't know about doing business.

[@Grunttamer]

@@tonicook3023 I don’t think it’s really either one. I think he just gets super jazzed and only examines the superficial aspects. At first glance it’s easy to make the mistake of thinking “wow those chickens only cost me $2.50/lb” if your business isn’t the chicken but the video.

[@adventuresofroblana2619]

I'm paying 90 cents a pound for corn free/soy free organic layer pellets from my local feed shop. The brand is Modesto Milling and I'm in San Diego California. I actually think thats not bad considering I only have to buy 40 lbs at a time...

[@tonicook3023]

Justin---Thank you for your good information and experience with growing chickens organically on your homestead. And, your chicken "tractor" is an interesting build. One question: You created your formula to calculate total cost to produce organic chicken---Did you include the infrastructure and storage costs, i.e., chicken tractor construction costs, freezer capacity, and electricity to power your freezers once you dispatch your chickens? I'm really curious and would like to know if your $2.50/lb. includes all costs to produce your healthy organic chickens.

[@underthetornado]

I fell so in love with my 6 chicks. They're sweet, loving, funny as heck. I could never eat them. But the eggs were nice.❤

[@reneeodayok859]

I understand but...if you raised Cornish x omg you would think differently. They can be gross haha😊 by the time that 58 days is over you reconsider doing it again till you try the meat 😊

[@ninabooker2904]

Justin refers to his chickens as people 😆😂🤣 Farmers love the animals they raise . . . And then eat. Nothing wrong with that.

[@amyharrell251]

What do you get from Cargill or Tyson at least they know how the food was raised without vaccinated and no growth hormone's deffinatly healthier than the store.

[@theresawilliamson433]

I do like that plan.

[@gabid.560]

I know the Cornish cross grow fast. But they are Frankenstein Chicken to me. We raised them, once. And done. We started American Bresse flock and now we hatch our own. That way we know for sure they are not vaccinated. You can't trust TSC or the hatchery. Yes, the Bresse take longer, but boy they are delicious and juicy

[@cynthiamackie6947]

And can raise their own chicks.

[@trinapellegrino621]

🙋🏼‍♀️🕊. It might do well to put a water collection rig on the chicken coop s 💞🕊💞🕊💞🕊. Blessings 💞🕊

[@Scipiogirl]

Fall c-monsters here were 10#! at 8 weeks. I’m definitely thinking the fall is the best time to fill the freezer on chickens.

[@joshuadicker]

the fam is growing up glad to revisit y'all channel! sheeesh Keep creating I'l be binign soon :)

[@lastdayshomesteading6288]

We butchered ours at 49 days. An average of 7.63lbs before butcher and had 3 over 9 lbs.

[@renitameares3838]

I am a bit turned off by the thought of a chicken that’s bred to gorge itself until it dies unless you process it first. Also you have to buy more because you can’t breed them yourself by hatching their eggs. There will never be eggs. I am not judging anyone that does, just not for me.

[@forced4motorsports]

This is not exactly the reality, but there is some truth to it. Hopefully I can clarify. It is true that they may not breed true, but they can breed. They can also live a full and long life if you have them on a feed schedule. They do mellow out as they get older, too. I have two year old Freedom Rangers with the CX gene and they behave more or less like your standard chicken but weigh 13lb. They forage, dust bathe and even jump up 18 inches to their roosts to sleep at night. I also have 2 slow red broilers. These 4 birds are rock star egg layers, producing 3-4 eggs a day on average between the 4 of them, though have slowed down slightly in the Florida 95+ heat. I also have 3 Cornish Cross that are now coming up on 13 weeks; one cockerel and two pullets. They will join the egg laying flock in two-three more weeks. The boy is already starting to edge out my biggest hen, but he still runs away from them if I let them intermingle. I will start breeding these birds and mixing in some Delaware genes over the next few months and into next year to produce a larger and faster growing heritage/dual purpose breed, which only seem to exist on paper/by former reputation here in the US. For example, I have some New Hampshire hens; a supposed dual purpose bird, and they are less than 2 lbs in weight at 13 weeks, which is ridiculously small, and they have no real fleshing.

[@renitameares3838]

@@forced4motorsports thank you. That’s good information. We do want to start a meat bird flock but I would rather it be a regenerative flock. Not one we have to buy year after year.

[@MattDonahue]

The biggest problem is that we are conditioned to want Cornish cross chickens, whether we know it or not. I tried raising heritage meat birds on my homestead, and was pretty taken back by how different the carcass was from what I was used to getting at the grocery store. I like Joel Salatin‘s opinion on this issue. He admits that Cornish cross are a compromise, but if you are doing it on pasture and doing it with higher quality feed at least you’re getting something that is much better than the grocery store. If we truly want to go back to eating a bird that produces true to type, we have to be OK with a much different chicken on the dinner table than we are currently used to.

[@renitameares3838]

@@MattDonahue just curious. Have you tried American Bresse?

[@jasonhatfield4747]

I’m turned off by cornish cross too. Especially since everytime you purchase a cc chick, you’re directly supporting the big industrial farms that created them. Cornish cross genetics are owned by Tyson and the other mega industrial players. People need to raise heritage breeds for meat again. Just like Frank Reese still does at Good Shepherd Conservancy. They have a hatchery now and they are the only source of true heritage breeds that are still good for meat.

[@joshcrowther7275]

With fresh water running right through your property and being on a slope with gravity on your side maybe to give a new look on your farm and help your goal to no grocery store, fish and hydroponic growing maybe a way to freshen up the channel better dietary needs also will give your farm different nutrients as well with minimum effort maybe even a great project for your boys

[@Morerhapsody]

Excellent

[@grammadonutsquashdog431]

Have you ever checked out the possibility of keeping a few chickens? Say say can pens and a rooster and then hatching your own Eggs. Would that be more cost effective than buying from mcmurray, That way you would also know the heritage of the chicken you're getting. The children are old enough now to help you with all the extra work, So let us know. If we could save money going that route.

[@ingridbrowne6083]

Handle the chicks gently. Their little legs are not so invincible.

[@littlecountrykitchen]

Brain fart... What were you talking about, a short mental relapse. Lol. Yes I was with Lily, thought it was sea monsters lol. Funny 😁

[@aarontrask7105]

Timestamp 45 seconds just in the word I believe you were looking for is acronym

[@lajohnson1967]

Need to patch the hole in the roof Justin and put sides half way up and a back. Dry chickens are healthy chickens.

[@fatimaperez9181]

I’m with Lily, I thought you called them sea monsters 😅

[@karenmc4592]

He does

[@fatimaperez9181]

@@karenmc4592 he just said he calls them C (Cornish cross) monsters not sea😅monsters. Sorry if you didn’t understand me the first time

[@Circuit_Design_Services]

chicken manure doesn't fall through the 1" gaps for us. It's terrible, i have to clean my chickshaw 😞

[@chrystal4roses122]

I miss you saying happy day at the end of the vlog

[@albrightfs]

I was with you Lily.. I always thought it was "sea" monsters.. But "C" monsters make more sense!.. We might try one of those blow up things.. We've never been able to free range because of aerial predators. We love our mobile coops but have to keep them inside the coop.. We built cattle panel mobile tractors. Would love to let the chickens out to the entire pasture during the day. Gonna try one of those blow up stick men!.. Question on the chick shaw - Do or would hawks/owls go under that to get at the chicks?..

[@tjnorth8285]

You can talk & work! Why kid doing all the work.

[@njkay0033]

Dumor is .33 a pound for those that are curious

[@cynthiamackie6947]

It's also not organic and is full of gmo corn and soy. No thank you.

[@darkskinwoman]

Any advice on how to choose between the meat-shaw and the chick-shaw?

[@crzren]

2:23 wacky wavy and inflatable balloon man 😁😅🤣😂

[@higheriam]

16:13 intentional contentiousness Asert alfa insecurity . Petty .

[@Bulldogges12]

For the longest time , I thought you meant Sea monsters. I imagined Ursula from the little mermaid😂 Ugly and evil. One day last year, I was listening to one of your vlogs, and when you said Cornish cross, it clicked!!😂😂 We raise meat birds and I now associate them with Ursula the Sea monsters.

[@mariatrask3764]

Don’t feel bad Lily, I thought it was “SEA MONSTER “ too.

[@ivabasquill5764]

How do you keep them safe from predators at night

[@forced4motorsports]

The goose and the electric fence.

[@jeffmcdaniel8058]

Was the word you were looking for "acronym?"

[@runningcreekfarms3530]

I totally believe in homesteading with out chemicals to but I’m really sad to see your not treating the sheep’s ailments correctly (and this is why they are suffering. They need wormed correctly and need certain things homeopathy stuff doesn’t cover. Sometimes these things are not the direction. When your herd is suffering and can’t walk and such you need to seek better advise, (bad advise for brand new people if your treatment worked it wouldn’t keep happening ) almost looks like white muscle disease and needing more selenium and a good wormer) because of this and myself being a shepardist and you not teaching anything and it just being about other non homesteading things I’ve not hardly watched either. You need to get back to what you used to do. Even the daily chores was better than what you’ve been showing. Please don’t take this disrespectful I’m just giving my thoughts on my views.

[@marilyn5208]

It makes me sad about how many sheep they have lost over the past year.

[@TheRedneckprepper]

Wow the net is 6 months out ?

[@coincrazy3563]

Whos bike?

[@steveddavis]

Josiah's 👊

[@francineshea4723]

They are genetically modified chickens! How can they be good for you?

[@forced4motorsports]

They are not genetically modified, they are a selectively bread set of chickens; specifically the Cornish chicken and the White Rock - thus the name, Cornish Rock Cross.

[@jeffbeck0101]

@francineshea4723 So are Bananas...

[@nancycusson8861]

They are NOT "genetically modified"!! They are a product of breeding two chickens together, over and over again, until selection made the breed.

[@lrkfam]

$2.50/lb is super expensive compared to $0.99/lb at the grocery

[@michellebogle5428]

i can't wait for the Lord to grant me the opportunity to have my pwn chickens. Praise God i know its coming 😊

[@jfife4211]

I think you forgot to include in your chicken price per pound the hours you spend working with them. Feeding, moving fences, butchering and cost of chicks. Hours x hourly rate equals what?

[@Acresoflife]

Mannerisms?

[@noxinixon1]

Anecdotes not aneurysms. Haha

[@jasonstevenson617]

Austin electricities

[@rickstaten399]

Man I miss the days when you just vloged, feels like your channel is becoming advertising to sell me something, I’m getting to the place where I don’t watch every episode anymore. Just my opinion

[@forced4motorsports]

His own book. Nothing wrong with that. You also don't have to buy it since many of the plans are free...

[@rickstaten399]

@@forced4motorsports yeah completely understand that, didn’t say anything was wrong with it, it’s his channel, just said I missed the way it was when I started watching and looked forward to 10 minutes a day with them. Just feels like watching a used car salesman anymore.

[@jeantaylor9119]

Miss the kids. Just like farm workers now.

[@kathleenoverton3263]

Watched this whole 19 minute vlog and there wasn’t more than a few minutes talking about his book. Not that he’s not allowed to considering it’s his channel and not yours. But anyway - that leaves you more than what you consider your fair share (10 minutes). In the future I have 2 suggestions - 1 fast forward if you don’t like what you re seeing at that moment and/or 2 just simply pass by totally. No one is making you watch. There are those of us that don’t mind because he has a right to promote anything he wants to promote on here. And believe it or not he just may have watchers that have no idea he has a book that could be very useful to them. He s not making these videos just for you!!!!

[@jeffbeck0101]

@rickstaten399 Yeah... I know right? It's a good thing he's making these videos for you and you alone..

[@tenzinnidup1815]

Hello 👋👋👋 Sir

[@SuziesCornerInLove]

ACRONYMS

[@clairechoo]

I was thinking ANALOGIES 😂

[@veronicajean3612]

If you were paying your kids a living wage …you can see how expensive it really is.

[@dianeoliver9356]

Did you mean mannerisms?😊

[@indianacryptid6020]

👀👀❤❤🙏🙏

[@amyb5339]

Euphamisms

[@roseeckstein6534]

Your boys look so bored.

[@jeantaylor9119]

Might just need a break from being in front of a camera……..my opinion. No getting nickers in a twist…..smiles

[@roseeckstein6534]

@@jeantaylor9119 whose nickers are in a twist? I just made an observation.

[@loraypruitt5922]

😅

[@dgmills5351]

I'm certain your Chickens have better taste than the chicken I buy! Store bought doesn't have much flavor until it gets marinated and seasoned!

[@chamqual6480]

Taste better

[@ericcawith2cs11]

I think the word he was searching for is idiosyncrasies... 😂

[@ronanpaulsen]

Does anyone know where they get the unvaccinated meat chickens at? 🐣

[@tsw6521]

mannerisms :)

[@MrsGator7]

Justin, you’ve really found your niche on KZbin!

[@Jason_615]

Mannerisms or idioms

[@tlasher36912]

Really!!! Another sentence with manure love in it!!! Please stop.

[@theresawilliamson433]

I need to replenish carpentry tools.

[@forced4motorsports]

I just finally bought a table saw after 50 years... It was time to be able to rip 2x4s in half. I'm just finishing up converting a 15x6.5 hoop house into a fully enclosed coop with a 19x24 foot run.

[@nunyabidness7824]

I think you’re looking for the word idiosyncrasy. : )

[@SheriLatulip]

Clutch your new slang word..⬇

[@peggyannparkes1863]

Your poor kids 's faces tell me they are tired of hearing your spiel. I hope your enthusiasm doesn't turn them off to homesteading.

[@henklenting2821]

Mannerisms

[@Brahmlullies]

Anybody get tetanus yet? Just here for the lock-jaw update..

[@carolynmalkowski3654]

Hey Jonha what's up young man your being a little mean Latley or should say Nasty relax young man maybe you need time off Love you all New Jersey Here😘😘

[@reileywicken5391]

He is darn polite compared to most teens i would say!

[@LexiJoFarms]

I wish you just did vlogs. I don't really want to see the advertisements. Especially not every episode... not everything has to be thought out and over explained.

[@MattDonahue]

I’m not trying to argue, there’s another perspective. I’m grateful that he shares product info. I’ve been looking for a source of organic chicken feed for me to do broilers affordably. This video put me over the top for doing broiler chickens this summer.

[@LexiJoFarms]

Just not EVERY VIDEO. haha

[@thomaspfenning1434]

Let's see, just feed alone. Organic feed here is $1.25 a pound , and assume 1/3 lb per chicken per day. Let the days to harvest at 10 weeks or 70 days. And since they are a smaller breed, not cornish cross, say 3.5 lbs finished whole hens. So $2.92 cents a pound. Now add supplements, special care, cost of chicks, amortized cost of equipment and housing, loss of hens during growing period and it might be $4 lb. Then add labor at $20 hr. say 30 min day or 35 hours , which comes to 700 dollars. For a 2 person house household with 1 chicken a week requirement . Thats about 50 birds , but 50 is too many , so do 25 at a time. Oh , the labor comes to $28 per bird in this scenario . Forget it, I will pay you $10 per bird since my labor doing my technical work brings in $75 hour and be way ahead.

[@estrogenacres801]

Lily I thought it was sea as well lol