We need more space! Building an extension for our chickens

Want to support us and these videos? Get early access (ad free!) to videos and more on Patreon: / ourportuguesehomestead
Or become a supporting member of our channel: / @ourportuguesehomestead
For one time donations you can use:
Paypal: [e-mail]
Buy us a coffee: www.buymeacoffee.com/portugue...
If you would like to send us something (please only from within the EU), the address for our PO Box is:
Lea van der Eems
Apartado 001144
EC Zona Industrial Castelo Branco
6001 - 901 Castelo Branco
Portugal
Music: Epidemic Sound
New here? My name is Lea and I live with my partner Maarten, our daughter Puck and toddler Bo on our land in Central Portugal. We left the rat race in the Netherlands in 2018 and moved south in our old campervan. Two years ago we bought land in Portugal that had been abandoned for several decades. After lots of hard work we now live in a beautiful yurt and keep ourselves busy growing our own vegetables as well as producing olive oil, wine and honey on a small scale. This channel documents all the different jobs we have to do, and sometimes some nice footage of this beautiful country we now call home.
Want to see more updates? Don't forget to subscribe!
Email: [e-mail]
Instagram: / ourportuguesehomestead
Facebook: / ourportuguesehomestead
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction, main garden
4:50 Chickens
7:50 Introducing the new pallet build
14:40 Taking all the parts down
16:20 Assembling the extension
20:00 Back in the garden
21:00 Plan for the upper terrace garden
24:56 What I'm planting now
33:21 Chicken coop result and new chickens
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @ourportuguesehomestead

[@christines5430]

Cover cropping is a great way to build up the soil nutrients. I totally agree with you approach to buying as little compost as possible and building up your soil in a more sustainable and cost effective way. All the best!

[@ChristineKelly1000]

It’s great to see you in such good form Leah. You all look lovely and healthy 😊❤

[@nigeltown6999]

So great to see you including the children, at every level now. They will be able to benefit from the skills they are aquiring for the rest of their lives!

[@oliveoil4487]

I am very happy to see Lea, and the whole family. You are always busy doing something to improve your property and i think we the viewers are very proud of you both. Maarten great job!! Excellent video

[@lieuwina]

A lovely video Leah and Maarten and I am impressed in how you made the chicken coop bigger. Lovely to see you all again. The garden is looking great as does the whole property.

[@juanitakauffman6336]

You are doing so well with the gardens. The meals you make with your garden produce always looks delicious. I think the dog has the easiest job in the family! Cover crops are a excellent idea. Great for the soil.

[@teresakeightley4909]

You should paint your chicken coop. Let the kids help paint it.

[@candynewton4945]

Great patient teachers who love spending time with their precious children. Thank you for showing us one example of the best family values in working together daily. Everything is coming together for you. Congratulations!🎉🇺🇲

[@afrlala3593]

Bo is a real little farmer. So glad they have such great opportunities to grow up on the farm.

[@charlenequinilty7252]

Composted chicken manure also is very good for the soil

[@suepittel426]

It.s delightful to see you and your family again.

[@janenewley1014]

Lovely to see you. I have this morning planted out my hugelbed with field beans as a cover crop. Hopefully they will survive the uk winter…and perhaps give me a food crop…as the bed will not be used until courgettes need to be planted there next summer😀😀😀🤞

[@debbiealleva5959]

❤ love the Bo and Louie hugs

[@JD-gz8ko]

I know I have recommended this before but you can raise worms that eat discarded scraps, dead plants, ash, manure, etc. These worms then produce a super high-grade fertilizer that actually has to be cut with plain soil to use it (one part worm castings to 2 parts soil). This will also let you add excess worms to your garden.

[@4evermetalhead79]

What types of worms are these? Any info on the process as well is much appreciated.🙏

[@JD-gz8ko]

All my info is from video. You can search youtube for vermiculture composting. Here is one link with the basics, kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3eQm62NgLKXrac . I think people usually use Red Wiggler worms but you can also use two types of worms, one is the Red Wiggler and the other is a deeper living worm that actually eats the bacteria from the Red Wiggler. They live together and support each other. My best advice is to watch some videos there are lots of them @@4evermetalhead79

[@skaraborgcraft]

I spat my coffee on the "such a sweet man" comment. Lots of constructive work and a idyllic place for the kids to grow. Had first dusting of snow cover last night up here, no more gardening so will have to watch you flexing your muscles. Look forward to see how your earth-works pans out...there is always human waste composting, but needs doing right.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Sorry 😂 We're lucky we don't get snow, it's predicted to be a mild but wet winter here. I find human manure too tricky for the garden, but we'll put some around the trees when it's ready.

[@rachelfrees1268]

So glad to see all of you again. Bo has grown so much. Growing the cover crop is smart. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. You four are blooming and the land and chickens are blooming.❤

[@karenrussell3896]

You’re very resourceful & who cares what people think ! It works for your family You have some great skills ! Love your homestead ❤

[@sgrvtl7183]

Wonderful projects! Good Luck with your new garden spot of beans and onions and the new chickens. You Two are doing great and raising two beautiful children as well~~

[@stephenmoss9842]

Well done on the chicken coop, use what you have timber here as you know is crazy money.We got some ducks to go with the 5 goats. Hoping for some duck eggs in the future. It had to get the soil built here in Central Portugal so we're using the duck and goat manure for soil amendment.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Thanks! I don't even want to know how much a coop this size would cost. I'd love some ducks in the future :)

[@rogercaouette6248]

ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO. THANKS.

[@joreggelt442]

Disinfection of chicken coop (painting it white with lime?) Special immune-building food for the chickens (so that they are stronger)? Tough chickens from your area, not ornamental (weaker) ones? Those are my ideas. And do not forget to give them some dairy (Ca) :)

[@AZJH8374]

New subscriber. Looking forward to your journey. Nurse Judi in Scottsdale AZ and Eucharistic Minister. Prayers for your family.

[@michaelmayes9689]

I prefer onion plants from seeds rather than onion sets. What i find is that onions grown from seeds are less liable to bolt/ run to seed in hot weather. Onion bulbs need to be planted with the stork out of the ground this is a problem for me in the uk as the birds tend to try and do pull them up when looking for material to build their nest with.

[@oakolive]

We’re also cover cropping this year - it’s such a science in itself! We also got some red clover and rye grass for crimping and planting in in spring. I really want to try out the Lupines tho since we’re eating them so much here!

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Let me know how that goes! It's definitely a big puzzle. Lupins are cool, I just got two kilos of seeds from our local agri shop :)

[@BreakingBarriers2DIY]

LOL! That “Captain Morgan” pose on the pallets while the crew is sawing…such an awesome shot!

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Have to get those kids to earn their keep 😂

[@AZJH8374]

Carrots, garlic, celery, Asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, etc but be sure to round your onions once the bulb starts. Celery keeps coming up to. Also artichokes. Awesome.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Thanks, I have many of those planted already :)

[@faithrada]

This is wanting me to start keeping chickens again. We had both a lovely egg layer flock which layed different colored eggs... and a not so pretty meat bird flock . which reminded me of dinosaurs! LOL. I love your creativity with the pallets. Wood / Lumber prices here in New England are crazy. If I were younger I'd explore getting a portable mill... ahh the energy of youth! 😊

[@magicwendy210]

great video loved all the different content, the new chicken extension looks good and new chickens are cute

[@susangranger3089]

Great Video, Great Content, you are an Inspiration to us all. Love watching your Kiddies helping you, they are so Cute, your Doggy and Chickens are Cute to. Keep on doing what you are doing and looking forward to seeing you next time!!

[@emmakavanagh3485]

So lovely seeing your children joining in and learning such important skills. Well done 🎉

[@celiapereira5223]

Loved watching the video and your little ones interacting on the farm progress ❤👍💯🤗

[@tenpennyguy]

The soil in the “new” patch looks good now - lots of organic material. Seeing the work you put into the patch made me even more impressed with the work that must have been done in the past to build the stone terraces.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

I'm so impressed by those walls! Can't imagine doing that all by hand

[@greggmcclelland8430]

The new chickens will make a lot of compost for the garden. I have 30 chickens and besides the eggs, the compost is amazing. I use wood chips as bedding and bagged grass, food scraps, and chicken feed with addition of fertrels nutribalancer.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

We only have 13 now, but maybe it'll help a little

[@billiegutierrez2506]

I love how you utilize the pallets there is so many useful things you can make with them here in the states people actually make furniture with them. Nice you have more chickens and awesome job on the cover cropping. You all are so busy you will reap your rewards. Have a good week be safe.

[@elaines5179]

How about putting in walking onions and Egyptian Walking Onions, chives and garlic chives. tuck in along the base of the retaining walls. They are all perennial or self sowing. Also swiss chard makes abundant leaves and get some comfrey and plant it wherever you want fertilizer but plan on it always being where you plant it and becoming larger clumps. But cut and drop fertilizer to build the soil under your producing fruit trees. Comfrey will also feed your chickens when leaves a wilted a day.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

I have some garlic chive seeds I still need to sow, and already a few swiss chard plants growing in the main garden :) Comfrey doesn't grow well here, too hot and dry in the summer

[@mediagreenhouse45]

Nice work in the garden... can you get some fresh horse manure somewhere close so you can build your own compost pile nice and big? At least now you have some good rain these days! 😅

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Not really anywhere close, sadly... I do have a compost pile where I put kitchen scraps and chicken bedding, but it never gets super big. This winter should be extra rainy!

[@mediagreenhouse45]

Can get you in toch wih a couple just 15 minutes outside Castelo Branco who have horses... probably happily give you a load to take home :)@@ourportuguesehomestead

[@joyguthrie964]

Love seeing how industrious you are Lea!

[@earlray72]

I’ve seen others actually wet cardboard before laying it down to use in the garden for weed suppression. So maybe you could try that with yours since you said it was already wet and tug didn’t think you could use it.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

It's mostly that they are big cardboard boxes and they're very wet, so a pain to move 😅. Might try to find a way though, because the olive trees next to it is loaded, so we need the space.

[@ram1brn]

best way to build the soil and quickest is rotted hay and straw also leaves can incorporate shredded paper and torn up cardboard as well anything that add fiber

[@paulbombardier8722]

Have you also considered using buckwheat (in French sarrazin)? It can be planted two or three times in succession, tilled in, and provides both nutrients for the soil as well as weed killer. Evidently the roots form a good thick mat type of structure to discourage weeds from sprouting.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

I'll see if I can find some seeds next time we are in an agri shop :)

[@deehalpern8988]

Puch is growing so tall.

[@teedub1990]

I love the terrace area as well. Perhaps plant a specific flower only there and call it the "insert flower name" terrace. Or a weird fruit tree like the jujube or loquat terrace. Consider an inexpensive way to add fertility to soil in Jadam or Korean natural farming. I think a pound of rice and some time creates a good amendment to soil. The Weedy Garden did a video on it a few weeks back I think. I love the memories you are creating with your children. When as adults they talk about their childhood, I will be they will have smiles and lots of fun stories of exploration and experimentation. The look you and Puck gave each other when sitting on the pallets was great 🙂

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Good idea! We do have a loquat tree on that terrace actually :) I definitely need to look into Jadam more

[@moragebbin5483]

lovely to see you back again - miss you and your lovely family

[@maximhollandnederlandthene7640]

Hi, Hebben jullie al een waterbron geslagen? Misschien een tip om niet al te ver weg een wichelroede persoon te zoeken. Bij succes zit je nooit helemaal zonder water. 👋😄

[@jeanettefrancis6473]

I think your tilling is so superficial that it won't damage the soil and is a great way to prepare a garden. It chops up all the organic matter which can rot down and allows you to get seedlings in straight away. We all work with what we have and also the weather and environment. Growing some food is the main priority.

[@athena7042]

Awesome music.

[@metamud8686]

Al met al een slim plan om veel meer in de 'shoulder seasons' te proberen te verbouwen en niet in top-zomer. Het kost jou minder energie want het is niet zo *expletive* warm en door meer koelte en regen, is het voor de planten ook vriendelijker. Heel veel succes!

[@rnggall9640]

argh, I am not getting your new uploads on my subscribed feed! glad I found this one!

[@Annazelfvoorzienendleven]

Een paar geiten zou mooi zijn in die omgeving, dan heb je ook je eigen mest/mulch voor op de tuinen, maar brengt natuurlijk ook extra werk met zich mee om die weer te verzorgen. Een boel werk gedaan weer, leuk hoor nieuwe kippen, succes met je herfst/winter tuin.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Geiten zijn veel te veel werk!

[@NextStopThailand]

So exciting to see the new bed take shape… please keep is updated. I am also putting in my peas and onions. Diluted human urine is a fantastic soil amendment🎉🎉🎉

[@JudySnyder-dv5ld]

Great ideas for adding chickens and growing useful plants. Your children are sweet , as they play and learn watching you.

[@AlongThePathsOfNature]

Love your videos! Loved the redness of your "pilriteiro" or "espinheiro alvar". A suggestion: I know that this is not cheap, but a dumper like the one I have and show in some of my videos would be an awesome help for you. Best regards!

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Glad you liked it! So many different carts to buy, we'll have a look at your suggestion

[@christinelanham1936]

Your compost pile will get super big if you add things like leaves from the forest and strimmed grass..especially when you have the digger working....youve got to think big...add comfrey and stinging nettles...anything you can get your hands on...even add a bit of dirt

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

We don't really have any big deciduous trees on our land, so the few leaves from the oak trees I prefer to stay where they are. It's too hot and dry at our place for comfrey and stinging nettles. The only way we can do anything big, is if we have bigger animals. But we're not there yet, so we do it like this.

[@RaymondChipLambert]

You could start composting. Clippings. Chipper. Chicken manure. Weeds from the garden. Strimmer waste. You have all the ingredients...

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Yes, I do. Makes very little compost though

[@manuelrodrigues6083]

Tremoço is good to build good soil, I have already saw farmers plow the soil to berry the tremoço plants. Then almost there is no need compost.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

I'm excited to see what they can do for our soil :)

[@assuncaomeireles198]

Adorei este vidios adoro ver as suas adoraveis crianças a ver a plantar os campos é muito interessante eles adoram. O galinheiro ficou muito bom e as galinhas sao lindas. Nao disse nada acerca da construçao da sua casa gostava de saber. Desejo a toda a familia uma boa semana e cá espero para a semana mais vidios. God bless you a lot Thank you so much ❤❤❤❤ 🐕🐕🐕‍🦺

[@athena7042]

I'm sorry the chickens died. I hope your pallets really don't contain formaldehyde, or arsenic (ACA?) or weird chemicals some wood products do in the US. I wonder if there's a way to make sure. I live in a large city in the US but feral chickens are everywhere. They are glossy and healthy looking. They basically live outdoors.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

From what I know there shouldn't be anything crazy in the pallets, the rules are pretty strict here.

[@juliad1768]

Lovely to see you mixing what your growing to fix the soil, lovely new chickens too, have a blessed week xxx

[@manuelteixeira1155]

Good job God bless you familia

[@karentrokey3852]

You are wise to plant more and raise more chickens.

[@raimbowraimbow]

Lovely garden works and kids love helping!!!! What is the veg you mention at 32.40? Interesting plant! Thank you and keep going. What you guys are doing is beautiful! I would like to send/exchange seeds if possible! :)

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

They're Couve de Galega, the tall Portuguese perennial cabbages.

[@mandyedmund5929]

lovely ! are you in anyway connected to 'Raising Voyagers' the family restoring a stone house in Italy?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Thanks! No, I don’t know them

[@Starrynite11]

Loved this video! ❤

[@deborahlozano7134]

Love your videos.

[@philipbutler6608]

Chickens get worms and respiratory infections. Get a rooster and a silkie and you can hatch all the chickens you want. You ever heard of a chicken tractor? It would be good to run a chicken tractor over your garden in the winter.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Our current set-up is not good for breeding chickens, but I'll definitely build something better in the future :)

[@hakankucukbaskan120]

Be more careful in nature. I believe things will get better for you and your entire family.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

We're doing great, thanks

[@hakankucukbaskan120]

@@ourportuguesehomestead OKAY. 👍

[@hakankucukbaskan120]

I would also like to point out this: I would like to thank those who liked my comment. I consider it a debt of gratitude to you.

[@joketendam5806]

Great work

[@andiet8629]

i have fava beans as a cover crop/green manure which i will til in

[@INDAmedia]

Use what we have, love it. And what a great taste in music. Jack Johnson makes everything better ;)

[@margarettt7675]

Have you rejected the idea of mounding rows a bit to mediate the wetness?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

You know, didn't even think of that! Mostly because that's a bad idea in the summer. But maybe this wet winter I should do some mounds.

[@Void_And_Absent]

You should eat the isa brown Chickens before they die. A majority living for between 2-3 years.

[@thomascallaghan5988]

Great video

[@metamud8686]

28:46 de reden om uien van zaad te starten is omdat uien in het 2e jaar gaan bloeien. Begin je met 'onion starts / bulbs' zoals je nu doet, heeft een grotere kans op doorschieters omdat sommige uien dan "denken" (ik weet: een plant denkt niet) dat ze in hun 2e jaar zijn. Door met uienzaad te starten en de groene sprietjes die je dan zelf hebt gemaakt uit te planten, heb je dat risico niet. Hoe zich dit in de praktijk verhoudt tot wat jullie kunnen doen in het najaar in Portugal weet ik niet zo goed. Je moet bij uien nl. ook rekening houden met of het "korte dag" of "lange dag" uien zijn (in relatie tot hoeveel daglicht ze per dag krijgen) en jullie gaan nu juist in het najaar uien planten, terwijl de dagen korter worden. Dus ik ben heel benieuwd. Lijkt me leerzaam en ik hoop op een goed oogst! 👍

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Veel mensen planten nu uien, dus ik volg dat maar 😅

[@ralphsullender2474]

Good luck with the garden soil nutrient build.

[@BirdYoumans]

❤❤

[@simonedb3146]

Awesome, I just found your channel and we're also from the Netherlands. I'm dreaming of having a homestead in Portugal and am exploring the opportunities to visis some fellow Dutchies. Are you open for visitors? And in what area are you located?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Welcome! Definitely recommend moving. We are not open to visitors though, these videos are our way of sharing what we have here. Good luck!

LOL You abandoned the camera. 🤣

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Oops 🙈

[@OaktreePaula]

😊

[@teresakeightley4909]

Have you thought about raising rabbits 🐇 a good source of protein and they taste a lot like chicken 🐔

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

I have, but we don’t want to take on more animals for now. Maybe one day :)

[@Void_And_Absent]

Australorp chicken last longer.

[@AZJH8374]

Plant garlic!

[@portugal1969]

😃

[@alberthameijer9037]

de uien worden vaak als je ze plant opgegeten doormuizen ..beter voor planten en als ze ongeveer 10 cm zijn poten ....

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

We gaan het zien :)

[@philipbutler6608]

Do you have Ann Easter Egger or chickens that lay green eggs?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

No, from what I've seen they're expensive to buy

[@Ida-fz3ir]

for sure You have Your own compost? ...why You are not taking it to mix it into this field?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Sure, I have a compost heap. It just never get very big, not nearly enough for such a big patch.

[@adamantine101adamsteel4]

What's the song at 23:06/35:31

[@stshnie]

Someone in another comment mentioned the music and Jack Johnson. Maybe that’s the one.

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Sorry for the late reply. The first is Victor Lundberg - In Bloom and the second is Biddy Sullivan - Day of Mine. I get my music from Epidemic Sound.

[@Void_And_Absent]

That type of Chicken only live 2 years.

[@srenloe43]

Onions from seed are cheaper with greater varieties available. Sets will work but need lots of water or mounding due to shallow roots

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Sure, I grow other things from seed. I'm more so confused by the purity dogma some seem to adhere to, but to each their own

[@srenloe43]

@@ourportuguesehomestead sets will tend to Bolt or flower easily as they are already an onion. If you like green onions your good but if you want big bulb onions then you start from seed.

[@coby6417]

🌟👏👍🍀💐

[@anadorsamp3560]

Hola! Ahí no hay fuertes vientos?. Porque esa gallinero saldría volando!. Nunca se sabe. Aquí en Huelva ha habido vientos de 100 km, algo inaudito, y ha habido muchísimos destrozos... 😢

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Should be ok, it's very heavy and the area is quite protected

[@NextStopThailand]

Do you have a rooster?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Not at the moment. Our set-up is not great for breeding because the coop is not protected against predators from above

[@metamud8686]

23:20 lol dat zijn bijna homeopatische hoeveelheden compost die jullie toevoegen. 😀 (je vertelt er later over, zie ik)

[@judyreed6198]

Your chickens potty is even Betty then house. Great way to get rid of it.

[@Void_And_Absent]

Always depressing music, Why?

[@ourportuguesehomestead]

Because I'm depressed :)