You Can Feed Chickens & Pigs in a Depression

[@AmandaDoll-hi4dr]

I like your cows and calefs and bulls and pigs a lot you have a nice farm's i like it a lot

[@thisorthat7626]

Great experiment. My suggestion is to read old farming books and learn how they fed their animals thru the winter. Other people have commented on feeding turnips. You get two crops, the root and the greens. Oats are another high protein food you can feed. Soybeans, corn and wheat are used now because they are subsidized. When people had to grow the feed for their animals, they feed very different crops. Cheers.

[@glengillis7775]

get busy young Mr. and take care of all that feed and grinding one pail at a time. Slow and steady will get it all done.

[@kemptonhewitt7100]

This is a truly amazing piece of small holding research…really well done.

[@davidhannan2023]

Great job, loved it. I grew, the knowledge is priceless and now you know you can do it if needed. 😃👍👍👍

[@shellyburman6862]

Zach we use comfrey plants here on our homestead. They have a great protein percentage, can be fed fresh or dried for fodder, and grow rapidly in any soil type. I now have close to 200 plants all from four original root cuttings. Each season you can take and dig up some root and cut it into 2” pieces and replant for more.

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

How many lbs of fodder can you get off a plant each year?

[@rob1484]

You might find harvesting beans easier by tumbling the pods in a barrel and then pouring it onto a tarp outside. Then let the breeze I heard on your mic blow off the light pods. A fan helps.

[@bako9974]

another great video!! keep up the good work guys!! kind regards from The Netherlands!

[@peterjones7895]

Try planting barley and field peas together. They will dry down together. Or you can green shop it off and seed a forge crop right back to it. And let him graze it or cut it. Think double crop.

[@ginnyharahuc6649]

You are so smart and I’m glad I found your channel.

[@holisticheritagehomestead]

I respect your willingness to try and learn. I am looking forward to trying to grow livestock feed. I definitely want to learn and also like the idea of knowing how to do it, for prepping purposes. Be well.

[@sandrahouse4820]

I haven't done it myself, but my mom used to talk about threshing dry beans with the wringer from a washer. A flail would be another option. Winnowing can also be done by pouring the beans and chaff on a windy day instead of using a fan.

[@beverlymacdonald]

As always you are very informative, absolutely very time consuming but you did a awesome job trying to figure out a cheaper way of getting protein for the pigs. I love that you love your pigs and all your farm ( home ) ❤

[@mmanning9547]

You can also plant rows of turnips as a winter crop for the pigs until you can figure out the soybean thrasher for the farm. Turnips have a sweet taste when mature, it’s also edible raw.

[@dianewebb738]

I found out cows love beets...I was growing the Detroit red beets in a garden and our cows got loose in our yard and I discovered they love beets....idk if their good for a winter crop for pigs or not...??

[@myurbangarden7695]

So true. Diakon radish,beets and turnips are so great for livestock

[@danabe3220]

I'm very impressed that youre experimenting with growing your own animal feed. If you can find an affordable, faster more practical way to harvest, shell and process the soybeans along with growing corn and other high protein crops I think you will be successful. Really enjoyed this video and subject. I grow corn to supplement my chicken feed.

[@beckyshell4649]

I think people have gotten misinformed about the ‘self sufficiency ‘ of the past. Being entirely self sufficient was probably a sun up to sun down job. Once society is established tasks get divided up to which members do what task better .It might work like a farmer grows grain and takes it to a miller who might have a mill powered by a moving stream.The miller might take a portion of the harvest as payment and trade to a pig farmer for pigs.He then might have a different person butcher and preserve the meat. All that to say networking with family,friends and neighbors of like mind is probably a good thing. People also grow turnip greens and pumpkins to supplement pigs.

[@calisingh7978]

Drug cartels in Mexico also turned into farming one migrant group gets into us other goes into slave labor

[@HowWereLivingGardeningChannel]

Farmer co-ops and strong community bonds. My idea is instead of doing everything myself, creating a community where we do everything for each other. The world needs self reliant communities, not individuals in my opinion.

[@davidoverwoods]

You probably could pick up a 1960s combine for $2k and a wagon for $500.

[@BlindFaith777]

Love this channel

[@emilycenatiempo4917]

You got to look up KOFFI - Kentucky Organic Farm and Feed they sell organic soy meal they have drop points all throughout the state maybe one is close to you. Also look into growing tree crops for feed especially hazelnuts, they are a perennial but take time to establish. We are in Meade KY, same amount of land as you, moved here two years ago from Utah. Your farm looks great.

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

We have looked into KOFFI a lot! I think we are going to definitely start buying from them in bulk soon!

[@calisingh7978]

Good work!

[@spoolsandbobbins]

Pigs also love sun chokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes! Just plant, keep pigs away from area then at harvest just let them help themselves.

[@jaefellows5024]

You should watch videos on how the Chinese harvest beans and how they make food food for pigs and chickens, they have good ideas.

[@ronaldlucas5360]

Interesting video

[@caka8662]

Love the video! I have personally thought of this many times, and wondered about growin ur own feed. I know u can get spent brewers grain, but then again ur reliant on someone else. Iv also looked at even old harversters on market place etc and am surprised how "cheap" they are. have also thought of making some sort of small harvester for grain etc. Great video and idea, would love to see if u go through all that grain and how much it is if u do at the end once u have finished it all!!

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

Ive looked into old "all crop" harvesters, about 1-2k. The tractor could pull them easily.

[@markpiersall9815]

Consider installing a Screech Owl nest box. Owls eat rodents which host ticks and attract pit vipers, Bobcats and Coyotes. Consider getting a hand Scythe, a file and a bottle of machine oil. Soak the beans overnight then pour any remaining water off and let it set another night. The nutrition will be better. In the Spring toss Turnip seeds into your briar patches.

[@99suspects]

If you are using these beans strictly for animal feed, you do not need to shuck them. Get a used hammer mill and pulverize the whole plant then make pellets with the feed stock. Easy peazy just don't get any soil mixed in there which means not pulling the plants with the roots as pelletizer machines do not like gravel. With a bit of careful shopping you should get away with spending less than 5k

[@ronaldcummings6337]

Mangel beets are another option.

[@barbaracarter8129]

You should save seed of everything tou grow for next seasson .

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

Yes! I make sure to do that with everything we grow

[@kathleensmith4853]

Find a local farmer that harvest their own on a large scale. Pay them to come do your fields on the side.

[@susanvaughn741]

A 55 gallon drum with a drill propelled shaft and whip chain would do good work on the pods. The you can screen them for size, then winnow with the fan.

[@paperbutterfli]

Why not have 2 fields and move the pigs to the harvest instead of moving the harvest to the pigs. Alternate fields yearly

[@scottulbrich5376]

trade a pig or two for corn and soybeans

[@abigailwurtz9106]

I was going to say that the title of the video is frustrating because I expected the video to show how a person could feed chickens and pigs during a depression, but the conclusion you gave was that your project wouldn't work out for you even when there isn't a depression, and while it still seems like a bit of a dishonest title, the comments are so full of ideas and suggestions that it might be worth it.

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

Well the in the video I talk about how it wasn’t very easy to harvest. But if you had to, it could be done. If someday I have to grow soy for our chickens and pigs to feed them, we can do that because now we have the experience. But today, I would choose other methods over soy just for the sake of convenience.

[@danuta.]

Do the pigs eat the soybean stalks?

[@HiddenBlessingsHomestead]

Well I was going to tell you to put the beans in a pillow case or sheet and step on them to get them out of the shell, but then you read my mind 😂

[@BigggRoss]

If they will eat it Amaranth would be much easier. Maybe get some sunchokes growing around their pen areas also. Cowpeas, faba beans and pigeonpeas are probably easier than the soybeans to use for feed anyways. Kowing pigs they can probably eat the giant sunflower heads without any prep work needed. Grow along edge of fields and when needed chop and drop them in. idk Just some thoughts.

[@billcampbell2943]

Lots of manual labor and u are just getting started

[@johnpark-jones4285]

You should have played music when you were stamping on the soya beans.

[@ladyfortunaadams8836]

seems to me that pigs would eat pods and stems if ground so you would not have to do that part of the work. maybe just take them off the stem. is that a possibility?

[@stevetaylor1904]

Put the beans in a small cement mixer and use a fan to separate the chaff?

[@TheRoadfarmer]

If you end up planting more grains in the future you might be able to trade some pork/chicken/turkey to a local farmer with a small combine. If you decide the time to harvest is worth more spent working on something else instead of doing it by hand. Just a thought.

[@williamsmith1171]

So that was a interesting video I was wondering how long your growing season is out there were you are.Did you figure out how much a half Acer will produce yet?

[@Kornn66]

You should try grow wheat for the bigs.

[@monikamccartney7096]

Don't laugh, but maybe go buy a used Bingo wheel. (Thresher)

[@myurbangarden7695]

Are nuts and acorns an option? Dwarf essex or buckwheat?

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

The problem is producing them at a large enough scale to feed our pigs and chickens

[@maplewoodhomestead2017]

Could you feed the whole plant to the pig?

[@ajc7295]

I thought that too but he mentioned having to roast the beans to make them digestible

[@TJP-on7hm]

Zac, how big a row of soybeans and corn did you plant and what was the results?? Soybeans are ify to me since a lot of people are allergic to soybeans and I have read feed to pigs and it goes into their meat. But otherwise soybeans you bet are high in protein. 5 dozen of AA large eggs are over $11 bucks highway robbery here! Time to get laying hens and indian runner ducks. Prices are so unfairly out of whack!! Awesome video Zac!!

[@ThePasturedHomestead]

about 5 100 foot rows of soybean and about 5 150+ foot rows of corn

[@MrDavidlfields]

Don’t shell the beans. The pigs and chickens both can work out how to eat them.

[@ronaldcummings6337]

Wouldn't it be easier to just turn your pigs into the field where the beans are?

[@Simple-d9i]

I believe he said you had to roast the beans to rid them of something that is not good for the pigs. Not easy to digest.

[@LoveGrowLiveFree]

I'm not experienced like you but couldn't you just feed the entire plant to the pigs? What do pigs eat in the wild?

[@wichitatxgal]

Can you grow buckwheat? I know you said Soybeans weren’t working.❤

[@stevetaylor1904]

Use a kids paddling pool to catch the beans?😀

[@russse2793]

You are seeing the bigger picture of what is coming, as evidenced by the goings on around the world right now. We should keep our eyes on Israel, as it is God's prophetic time piece. I hope and pray that whoever might read this post, will take a look at Romans 10:9-10. 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. There are other verses that also focus on eternal salvation, but please do not discount the warnings that are being brought forth, example, the fragile food chain as Zach mentioned. It is a small piece of the big picture. Zach, may God bless and guide you in what will be life altering times as never seen on a global scale.

[@billierichter1379]

I hope you decide to omit soy completely from your homestead.

[@Huer2004]

You know you can open your very own KFC branch. you're from Kentucky and you can Fry those meat Chickens that you raised, I guess this is a weird joke 😂...

[@michaelmartineau1373]

Way to much work for to littel reward

[@BlindFaith777]

Kiss sweet Rosy for me. ❤