Apparently, it's illegal to kill any snake in Tennessee. Including venomous snakes. I couldn't believe it, I had to look it up! So, even if they were to kill it, they couldn't post it.
A few years ago I lost my whole flock to hawks and eagles. Can't kill them as they are usually protected. We put an arial net up. As of this new flock I have had to kill 3 opossums and 2 racoons that were killing my chickens. Scaring them off does nothing. Chickens are easy prey.
I can tell you from experience that even grown hens are vulnerable to snakes. I had one that was getting eggs out from under a broody hen in the main livestock barn. When he got all of the eggs, I started taking the new eggs, trying to break her broodiness. I guess he got mad. Came back and killed her. Couldn't eat her, but he suffocated her - she was slimed halfway down her neck. I have some pullets in my house now that I have been growing out till they were big enough to put out in the coop. Now 2 months old, so I think they will be safe. If you build a more permanent coop, use hardware cloth, not chicken wire. Snakes can still get through the chicken wire.
Time to send the snake to Lala land. Also try not the anthropomorphize the animals. Life is not a Disney adventure. We have 6 hens and they sometimes are downright cruel to each other. Keep up the good work.
They are living animals who want to live. They love, hate, hurt, just like us. They can also be responsive pets. They deserve our care, just like children.
@@shirleyrice7093 I hope you are a vegan because all of life has a cause and effect. Perhaps we should spend more energy on protecting unborn humans than snakes. I don't believe that snakes have the capacity to love and hate.
Nylon bird netting helps keep birds of prey out. Golf balls, ceramic eggs for snakes. Snakes will kill the older chickens trying to swallow them. I always check my coops before locking up my chickens for the night. We do the best we can. God bless you both
Katie, I know it's hard to have a divided allegiance between work and the homestead: you are creating the security and resources to have the homestead be successful. All your efforts are making your dream lifestyle possible. What a blessing to have a husband with broad shoulders to manage the home and advance your mutual dream while you do your part. One day your divided life will be put to rest and you'll be able to contribute more to the homestead experience.
So sorry for your losses. Learning from your losses and struggles will bring knowledge and wisdom for your future success. Please don't get dishearted. Praying for y'all. God bless! 😊
So sorry for all the heartache with the chickens! I've had the same kind of attacks on my chickens! Since then I had to make a permanent coop with run attached. The run is about a 20'x40' made out of 5 foot chicken wire fencing, with t-post every 7 foot, the chicken wire has metal u-clips placed all around the bottom of the fence to secure it firmly to the ground, I took down 3 cedar trees, took the limbs and bark off of them, making them into Poles, positioning them upwards, standing out of the ground at 8 ft. for the middle pole, and the end poles were about 6 foot out of the ground at the beginning and end positions of the run they were all buried about 3 foot into the ground packed in good, spaced at equal distance from each other in the middle of the run going longways! I then drilled holes through the tops of the poles and made sewed long lengths of the orange (You can buy green if you like, orange was cheaper) safety fencing together, cut from a big roll I got, the safety fencing itself is about 3 foot wide, So I cut the pieces into 45 ft. lengths and sewed about 7 or 8 of those fence panels together by just tying them every foot with pieces of twine, tying the 2 pieces together and tying a knot, it was a tedious job, felt like I was making a plastic quilt or something! After I got my 45ft. by 24 ft. fencing panel made, I then took a spool of 14 gauge wire and made like a wire cable line threaded through the holes in the top of the poles. The next step you will need at least 2 people to complete so you don't pull all of your hair out, lol! And that is putting the safety netting over middle wire/cable buy using a ladder as the other person feeds you the netting all down the middle, then once positioned you take the perimeter ends of the Safety netting and securing it about every foot going down the top of your chicken wire fence line and stapling it to the top part of the Coop, under the roof area to enclose all aerial pathways off ! Yeah it might look like a circus tent, but I have not had anymore problems with aerial or ground predators, except for a snake that squeezed through the chicken wire one time to try and steal an egg out of the coop, which that was the end of it! It was a rat snake, and I used not to kill them, but they will seem to always come back to their crime scene again, no matter how far you move them, I moved one over 200 acres away, and that same snake came back about 2 1/2 weeks later! So I then had to add 3 ft. hardware cloth going around bottom of the chicken wire on the outside of the fence, securing the 2 fences together with wire ties every foot! I live in Florida, and over time I spent some money on these projects, but if I wanted to have chickens here, (predators: snakes, coyotes, bobcats, panthers, Hawks, Owls, Racoons, Mean possums) I had to build it like Fort Knox! I was tired of loosing so many chickens and my money raising them! I gave them all a job in that run, they are my compost makers, I put a short round wire enclosure in the middle of the run, where I piled up debris, grass clippings, wood chips, and daily food scraps poured over the top, they spread it out, I re-pile it in a couple of days, and add more debris, etc. etc., repeating the process! In about a month, I have good compost to get for the gardens! The Chickens feel safe, I do let them out to free range, but only while I'm outside watching over them, when It is time for them to go back in, I get a piece of bread and yell "Come on beep, beeps", they all come a running ,they follow me in, the ones who want to be ornery and don't want to go back in, I use my wooden cane to direct them in then, throw pieces of bread to everybody, then close them in and go to my other run and let them out to free range, as I have different flocks of different types of chickens in different runs! One egg layer Run, and One meatbird run with my Dark Cornish breeding Chickens. Another thing I had to learn the hard way was that you have to kill the snake, otherwise He has your place pegged as a meal spot! And when you kill them, you should always leave their bodies to decay above ground (of course away from your homes line of your smell), because other snakes will smell it, and it acually deters other snakes from wanting to move into your area! Homesteading is never easy, that's for sure, but so totally worth it in the end! Don't give up ya'll two! I hope these suggestions help you in some way! ❤& 🙏's, May God bless you and your Homestead!
When it comes to predators you have to deliver something a lot of people don’t have the nerve for so either learn to build live traps and relocate many miles away or swiftly eliminate the problem, dad always loved his 12 gauge cure which worked every time.
hey guys, just started watching your channel. About the chickens i have raised them all my life, and for an area like yours, you are best off not dealing with the wind chimes, tape etc and just going to walmart and getting that black plastic mesh thats about 6ft tall, about 20 bucks a role, and spread it across the remainder of the open areas around the trees/brush and keeping it up with tea posts, when u do that, tie red/orange flagging tape in areas around it so birds can see that its covered, worked for me for years! def worth the try!
Yeah, that’s why we have a permanent coop that is closed at night & a completely fenced & covered (with chicken wire) chicken yard. We do open a fenced but not covered yard with a bunch of trees for them during the day, but if we lose any to predators that gets shut off for awhile. Good luck! ❤️
The wood does look like brand new wood!!!! ZERO mold. Great job!!!! I get trying to relocate the black snake, BUT enough is enough. BYE snake!!!!! I’m sorry for your losses. Keep on plugging along!! You guys are doing great!!
Buy several geese, they're great for predators protection. Not only because they can be loud to scare off predators but once grown their size is daunting to aerial ones too
okay on the coop, hardware cloth the whole thing so nothing can get in except for the door and the full roof lift, you use a stick to hold up the lid to gather eggs,then latch it after you close it. So at night they are safe, also check the coop at night before locking up to make certain the snake didn't sneak in during the day. if you still have aerial predation, get some bird netting and hang it randomly so flyers are not inclined to try to get into the bird padock. the hardware cloth and bird netting should be fairly cheap.
Snakes will start eating your eggs if it doesn’t have any more little chickens 🐓 to eat. 😞The good will always out weight the bad it’s just hard to see sometimes when you are right in the middle of it. Keep up the great work. You are one of my favorite channels to watch. 🥰
You need to ask yourself this question, “What would a veteran farmer do about the snake.” Find the answer to this question and your snake problem will be solved.
most I know will tolerate a snake as long as it doesn"t bother the livestock. Get caught in the coop though its time for a sharp blade to the neck. A snake will not willfully leave a steady food source, nor will you have much luck moving him , best to axe him now than to keep feeding him chiks and eggs
@@67charged I live in Tennessee and was raised on a farm. farmers around here would kill snakes on seeing them around the chickens .. but they did like to have snakes in the barn to keep down rats and mice .. and my grandpaw told me the safest place for chickens are in a pig pen and i have actually saw farmers that kept their chickens in a big pig pen that was large
Lucky truly was lucky to live with you guys, and he has left quite the legacy behind. These were the best few months of his life, and I'm so grateful that you guys took him on.
So sorry to hear about the bird loss. I liked Lucky, and I didn’t even know him! You’ll figure out what’s best for the protection of your animals and homestead. Keep up the great work!
Sorry but that would be a dead black snake…I have to protect my livestock! I lost 9 birds in one evening due to over heating! Homesteading is not for the weak at heart!
You guys are doing awesome I know nothing about Homesteading . But, wish I did I enjoy watching I believe eventually y’all will get everything ironed out. Keep up the good work! God’s blessings ! ❤️
Hi guys. I wanted to say how sorry we are you lose so many chickens. Specially the sweet rooster.😢 I have 2 roosters that I can’t keep due to restrictions. If you guys like one of them we will be happy to send it to you. Let me know. I hope you guys don’t lose any more. Blessings from the Hovenkamp’s
So sorry for your losses! Please sure up your coop with hardware cloth asap!! Snakes can’t get through the 1/4” holes. Bird netting would also be life saving for your chicks. Good luck!
Very hard working couple, I applaud both of you and are in my prayers so you can keep going with the same stamina. I think you have found that happiness comes with working to get her as a family. Congratulations with this huge project.
Hello from 🇨🇦 near Sudbury Ontario ☺️ I just started watching your vlogs and Enjoying them immensely 👍🏻 Saddened by the losses 😔 Black Snake deterrent, Spraying Vinegar all around the peramiter of the chicken yard also maybe a Guard Goose for the Birds of Prey. Looking forward to catching up to date with your posts to see what's been happening. Blessings to you and yours 🙏😇🕊️💝
On our farm we had a problem with hawks and we put a chicken run with a wire roof on. The wire of the run had to be 1/2 inchd to keep the snakes out also. They can get thru the smallest of openings.
That's why I had to get LGD's, and when I had black snakes come in they were dispatched cause they'll return, I've lost too many and tried to move the snakes, I actually spray painted a spot on a couple of them and sure enough, the same ones came back. After I got the dogs and trained them, no more problems. Trial and error, sorry for y'all's loss!!
That was a hard month and a steep learning curve, we are still in the planning stages for the garden and animals and are thinking of a permanent coop for many different reasons, but never thought through the snake thing, that could still happen... thanks for sharing :)
Ironically the same thing (barrel rolling into the pumpkin garden) happened to Billy Corgan as a teen and that is how he came up with the name Smashing Pumpkins for a band later in life.
I made my chickens & turkeys a pallet coop that's on 2 ft legs . I have 3 bar levels in the coop which the lowest is around 16in off the ground. Look into getting some free pallets , 10 would make a decent size coop ...sorry about all the loss you guys been having lately. The hot weather have taken out 6 of my 1 month old babies and it was tough finding those little ones like that....I'm now looking into getting 2 kitties pools that they can lay in ,that way I can add half a bag of ice to both of their water...animal husbandry is always a learning lesson try not to take it so hard...have a nice day!
Wow, what a month for sure. Sorry about the birds, I can sure imagine how you feel. :-( Nate did an excellent job in the underside in the walk space, what a job. Yikes! That is one task I would not like esp because of critters and snakes etc........Beautifully done Nate! Katy, that traveling is exhausting and then to face the chores and then to do your own transportation via car travel.....You two need a break so thankful you have youth on your side. The gifts are wonderful and such thoughtfulness........so so nice! Things are looking great and I hope things calm down and the birds stay safe. Take care and blessings to you both.
Another thing to try is elderberry. I had a rooster with wheezing that elderberry seemed to help and he recovered. He could not crow either and he panted. My plan is to grow elderberry in the chicken run. You have done so much of tried and true methods to keep your chickens safe. I have found that multiple layers of protection is needed and you still lose some. Snakes are our worst problem. Not stopped by electric fence and can get into very small holes including chicken wire. Hardware cloth might help.
guard geese can keep predators from above away.. as for snakes, best we did was dig down the perimeter of our coop about 6" and attach chicken wire to the foundation, then put the dirt back around the wire. we also had to make sure there weren't any holes in the building snakes could get through. hope you can solve the predator issues!
You are such of good hard working people I was thinking is not easy for you to have short hear and more easy to handle whit all the work you have ? Eny way I admire you guys God bless you !!
So many people go into this thinking there is a formula for success. But it’s just finding what works for you through trial/error/failure and eventually finding what works!
Hello Michigan here. HOSS Sales garlic salt blocks also keeps tick away and there is. Pumpkin seeds too. You are both making your place a beautiful home stead🐣🐔🐑🐷🐕💕✌😎
Sorry for all the loss on the homestead, great to see you all doing all you can, the wood under the house where Nate sprayed and all looks like new, and I am so glad to see the progress you two have made. Safe travels for work Katie. I am now living in Middle Georgia and loving it here. It's not quite the homestead I dreamed of but its home and no one wants to be homeless. I have quite the array of beautiful flowing trees, shrubs and plants that were here already and on the 17th I planted several different veggies in some containers and hope to get some more soon with some more compost and soil so I can plant more. Love yas and special hugs and kisses to Floyd and Kenzi, eenie, meenie, mini, mo, the sheep, and whats left of the chickens and anything else you all have out there of the furry or feathered kind...that leaves out that darn snake LOL
You really need a permanent coop, or at least you need a netting over your fenced area, what you've done so far hasn't worked for the falcon which is still getting in the area. Good Luck with keeping what you have left.
yes at least a mile away, but If the first snake finished his meal I doubt it would have been the same snake that took the second bird. Once fed they don't need to make an effort to find food for quite a long time, certainly more than a couple of days.
You have had a very busy month in June as well as a sad one. I am so sorry you lost lucky and so many chicks. The black snakes are supposedly good but I guess once they get the taste for chicken, mice are just not on the menu. I do hope July and August will be better months for y'all. Have a Blessed day.
Hola ❤ so sorry about your chick's and Lucky 😢 I love your channel and I am learning so much from you guys. Stay strong. Sending Dominican hugs from❤ NYC
Hard when things go wrong despite all your efforts. All you can do is pick up and carry on. A successful person is one who gets up once more than he falls down. Your homestead adventure is only just beginning. 💕💕🌻🌻
You have made the best of a sad situation. Farming is hard sometimes. Keep your heads up. Katie have a safe work trip. Nate, Katie will be back before you know it!
I used to love canning and jam making....I used the low/no sugar surejell and added a small amount of sugar or sugar substitute....less than 2 cups of sugar. Instead of jam tasting overly sweet and mostly sugar, it brought out the flavor of the fruit! It was like spreading mashed fruit on your toast or biscuit!!???
Also we put our chickens up an hour after sunset. We invested in an automatic (battery run) door so they can be let out of the coop into the covered run (with the 1/4 inch hardware cloth). We built it with plenty of room because that prevents issues with chickens not getting along.
6 years ago Justin Rhodes shot a vlog called "this snake ate my chicken alive". It is amazing what they can ingest. Don't fool yourself into thinking there is only one roaming your place.
🦋❣🦋 I really like how your farm is coming along. Just a thought, to keep birds away, my mom hung aluminum pie pans around areas to scare birds. I do hope that your baby chicks make it. 🦋❣🦋❣🦋
Hi. I did this for the hawks and a ranger told me that it's illegal to do the pie pans in the trees WHAT lol. Nope they r still there😉 also was told by an agent that hawks can be shot if it's damaging live stock..idk about that but I wish you well
Hardware cloth is the only way to prevent snakes. If you can encourage crows they are territorial against feathered predators. Adult roosters are usually plentiful and are often given away
Sorry you lost some chickens. I don't know what you used to build the coop but it's important to use half inch hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Snakes can easily get through that. We built an outside run that's about 8x12 ft. and about 7 ft high. There is hardware cloth on all 4 sides including the top. If anything wants to dig under then lay some chain link fence on the ground around the whole run. We bought the half inch hardware cloth online. We got the 4x100 ft roll. I dont remember what we paid for it but it was a good price. Your homestead looks great. Looking forward to seeing more videos.
This is Hank and maybe. e for the chickens but some aluminum pie pans and hang them with a string so they can move freely. from a tree. several of them might help. I did that when I was raising chickens earlier in my life
My granddaughter’s Rooster got very sick and was at the point of death. I suggested she give him colloidal silver. I make it so we had plenty. She gave it directly to him and also put it n His water. Long story short, Maverick is a healthy gorgeous rooster. Hope this helps
You have to build a large pen. Build with posts and a gate. You have to put chicken wire over the top. That way the larger birds can’t get to the chickens or ducks. You have to build a chicken house for them to lay eggs or chicks, also to protect them from rain and cold.
I am so sorry for all your loses and poor Lucky he finally had his wonderful happy flock of ladies, I know it is hard but the time he had with you and his ladies he had the best life. Losing the babies is heartbreaking and the only way to stop the snakes is to find out how they are getting into the coop, it may be as simple as putting something heavy on nesting area roof or just reinforcing the wire around the coop, that will make it impossible for snakes to get in. I was watching Justin Rhodes not that long ago and he was talking about dealing with the negative things that happen and turning it round into a learning experience and not to give up as it is so demoralising when things go badly and it can be so hard to see any positives through such horrible situations but look at what happened to Justin last year when a rat distroyed every baby bird and just left them where t it had killed them, so the brooding area got redesigned. The Fit Farmer lost 30 young birds earlier this year due to very heavy rain, its very sad when baby animals are lost but please try and keep your gentle positive attitude, I admire you both so much and I am so glad I found your beautiful channel through The Hollers. Much love to you both and your beautiful dogs xx
I've been fighting birds, coons, and possums. I know you don't really want to kill the critters but you may need to. This is the only way I can keep my flock. Live traps help with coon and possums. Great gifts
Oh I am so sorry about loosing your rooster.... you are the third channel that I watched who have lost roosters... country road cure just lost theirs, and also Alder Farms just lost theirs too, both just found dead... nothing you can do... And sorry about loosing the little ones too... you both have done so much work and I will continue to follow your progress... Love your channel..
Sorry about the chickens. We have coyotes fox hawks. Eagles sometimes dogs . We used to free range when younger. Still had predators too. Old timers had chicken coops
You are going to have to invest some money into building a more secure structure, buy some chicken wire for around your pen ground up about 3-4 feet. Small gauge chicken wire will keep the snakes from getting in and a net covering over the top of the run will keep the falcon from swooping down. And most importantly, kill the damn snakes!!!
Usually with aerial predators and chickens you have to consider fully enclosed areas for chickens. That way nothing on the ground can be picked off by aerial predators. As far as ground predators not sure about that one unless electrified fencing would help with that part.
Base on my little experience I used fishing net as a roof to protect my chickens from aireal predator and it works, cuz once they got one and they keep on coming back to their hunting ground
Can you staple some cheap screen up in the hen house from floor to ceiling? Or can the snake get thru that also? Like start on the ground and go up the walls and then the ceiling.? First time watching ...I admire your dream and perseverance ❤✌
I love the tip about the garlic powder. Seems like something that could be done in an ongoing basis to keep the loads down. We had one sheep falling way behind that we wormed the other day. Maybe I'll do a followup with garlic powder. Maybe time for a pet mongoose? Or it would he nice if the falcons would take care of the snakes for you. Do the best you can with the time you have sums it up Nate. You can only do what you can do. Good work team!
So sorry that stuff is stressful, we have a permanent coop w electric fence around the base of the fence which helps w snakes and covered runs for aerial predators but even w that we had skunk get thru a rusted area in our fence but it didn't get any of our birds, thank goodness! But I feel ya homesteading and farming isn't for the faint of heart. Hopefully this month will be better🙂
Yes death of livestock is apart of farm life BUT also killing predators is apart of farm life also!
Yes! Please stop being so kind to the snake that is killing your chickens.
@@cekfraun California city ppl
Apparently, it's illegal to kill any snake in Tennessee. Including venomous snakes. I couldn't believe it, I had to look it up!
So, even if they were to kill it, they couldn't post it.
@@diannamc367 wow didn't know. Guess they'll have to leave that part out
@@dw2310 yeah, I couldn't believe that. I guess Tennessee isn't the only state with that kind of law either. Crazy!
You have to dispatch predators. They will always return for eggs or chickens. Snakes can kill full grown chickens.
Dispatch all predators and build better pens and coops. I learned the hard way once upon a time.
A few years ago I lost my whole flock to hawks and eagles. Can't kill them as they are usually protected. We put an arial net up. As of this new flock I have had to kill 3 opossums and 2 racoons that were killing my chickens. Scaring them off does nothing. Chickens are easy prey.
I would have killed the snake, they will always come back to a food source.
Deal with predators permanently and don’t put it on the internet for “do-gooders” to tattle on you to the authorities and get you in trouble.
I can tell you from experience that even grown hens are vulnerable to snakes. I had one that was getting eggs out from under a broody hen in the main livestock barn. When he got all of the eggs, I started taking the new eggs, trying to break her broodiness. I guess he got mad. Came back and killed her. Couldn't eat her, but he suffocated her - she was slimed halfway down her neck. I have some pullets in my house now that I have been growing out till they were big enough to put out in the coop. Now 2 months old, so I think they will be safe. If you build a more permanent coop, use hardware cloth, not chicken wire. Snakes can still get through the chicken wire.
I was going to say use hardware cloth. Snakes can get into anything.
Time to send the snake to Lala land. Also try not the anthropomorphize the animals. Life is not a Disney adventure. We have 6 hens and they sometimes are downright cruel to each other. Keep up the good work.
I thought it was just my girls😂
They are living animals who want to live. They love, hate, hurt, just like us. They can also be responsive pets. They deserve our care, just like children.
@@shirleyrice7093 I hope you are a vegan because all of life has a cause and effect. Perhaps we should spend more energy on protecting unborn humans than snakes. I don't believe that snakes have the capacity to love and hate.
Get a decent .177 caliber pellet rifle and it’ll take care of the snakes. I don’t kill snakes unless it’s necessary.
Great advise it’s important to strike a balance
Nylon bird netting helps keep birds of prey out. Golf balls, ceramic eggs for snakes. Snakes will kill the older chickens trying to swallow them. I always check my coops before locking up my chickens for the night. We do the best we can. God bless you both
Katie, I know it's hard to have a divided allegiance between work and the homestead: you are creating the security and resources to have the homestead be successful. All your efforts are making your dream lifestyle possible. What a blessing to have a husband with broad shoulders to manage the home and advance your mutual dream while you do your part. One day your divided life will be put to rest and you'll be able to contribute more to the homestead experience.
Amen
So sorry for your losses. Learning from your losses and struggles will bring knowledge and wisdom for your future success. Please don't get dishearted. Praying for y'all. God bless! 😊
Yes! Thank you!
So sorry for all the heartache with the chickens! I've had the same kind of attacks on my chickens! Since then I had to make a permanent coop with run attached. The run is about a 20'x40' made out of 5 foot chicken wire fencing, with t-post every 7 foot, the chicken wire has metal u-clips placed all around the bottom of the fence to secure it firmly to the ground, I took down 3 cedar trees, took the limbs and bark off of them, making them into Poles, positioning them upwards, standing out of the ground at 8 ft. for the middle pole, and the end poles were about 6 foot out of the ground at the beginning and end positions of the run they were all buried about 3 foot into the ground packed in good, spaced at equal distance from each other in the middle of the run going longways! I then drilled holes through the tops of the poles and made sewed long lengths of the orange (You can buy green if you like, orange was cheaper) safety fencing together, cut from a big roll I got, the safety fencing itself is about 3 foot wide, So I cut the pieces into 45 ft. lengths and sewed about 7 or 8 of those fence panels together by just tying them every foot with pieces of twine, tying the 2 pieces together and tying a knot, it was a tedious job, felt like I was making a plastic quilt or something! After I got my 45ft. by 24 ft. fencing panel made, I then took a spool of 14 gauge wire and made like a wire cable line threaded through the holes in the top of the poles. The next step you will need at least 2 people to complete so you don't pull all of your hair out, lol! And that is putting the safety netting over middle wire/cable buy using a ladder as the other person feeds you the netting all down the middle, then once positioned you take the perimeter ends of the Safety netting and securing it about every foot going down the top of your chicken wire fence line and stapling it to the top part of the Coop, under the roof area to enclose all aerial pathways off ! Yeah it might look like a circus tent, but I have not had anymore problems with aerial or ground predators, except for a snake that squeezed through the chicken wire one time to try and steal an egg out of the coop, which that was the end of it! It was a rat snake, and I used not to kill them, but they will seem to always come back to their crime scene again, no matter how far you move them, I moved one over 200 acres away, and that same snake came back about 2 1/2 weeks later! So I then had to add 3 ft. hardware cloth going around bottom of the chicken wire on the outside of the fence, securing the 2 fences together with wire ties every foot! I live in Florida, and over time I spent some money on these projects, but if I wanted to have chickens here, (predators: snakes, coyotes, bobcats, panthers, Hawks, Owls, Racoons, Mean possums) I had to build it like Fort Knox! I was tired of loosing so many chickens and my money raising them! I gave them all a job in that run, they are my compost makers, I put a short round wire enclosure in the middle of the run, where I piled up debris, grass clippings, wood chips, and daily food scraps poured over the top, they spread it out, I re-pile it in a couple of days, and add more debris, etc. etc., repeating the process! In about a month, I have good compost to get for the gardens! The Chickens feel safe, I do let them out to free range, but only while I'm outside watching over them, when It is time for them to go back in, I get a piece of bread and yell "Come on beep, beeps", they all come a running ,they follow me in, the ones who want to be ornery and don't want to go back in, I use my wooden cane to direct them in then, throw pieces of bread to everybody, then close them in and go to my other run and let them out to free range, as I have different flocks of different types of chickens in different runs! One egg layer Run, and One meatbird run with my Dark Cornish breeding Chickens. Another thing I had to learn the hard way was that you have to kill the snake, otherwise He has your place pegged as a meal spot! And when you kill them, you should always leave their bodies to decay above ground (of course away from your homes line of your smell), because other snakes will smell it, and it acually deters other snakes from wanting to move into your area! Homesteading is never easy, that's for sure, but so totally worth it in the end! Don't give up ya'll two! I hope these suggestions help you in some way! ❤& 🙏's, May God bless you and your Homestead!
When it comes to predators you have to deliver something a lot of people don’t have the nerve for so either learn to build live traps and relocate many miles away or swiftly eliminate the problem, dad always loved his 12 gauge cure which worked every time.
hey guys, just started watching your channel. About the chickens i have raised them all my life, and for an area like yours, you are best off not dealing with the wind chimes, tape etc and just going to walmart and getting that black plastic mesh thats about 6ft tall, about 20 bucks a role, and spread it across the remainder of the open areas around the trees/brush and keeping it up with tea posts, when u do that, tie red/orange flagging tape in areas around it so birds can see that its covered, worked for me for years! def worth the try!
Yeah, that’s why we have a permanent coop that is closed at night & a completely fenced & covered (with chicken wire) chicken yard. We do open a fenced but not covered yard with a bunch of trees for them during the day, but if we lose any to predators that gets shut off for awhile. Good luck! ❤️
Please get a guard goose. That will truly help
The wood does look like brand new wood!!!! ZERO mold. Great job!!!!
I get trying to relocate the black snake, BUT enough is enough. BYE snake!!!!!
I’m sorry for your losses. Keep on plugging along!! You guys are doing great!!
Buy several geese, they're great for predators protection.
Not only because they can be loud to scare off predators but once grown their size is daunting to aerial ones too
okay on the coop, hardware cloth the whole thing so nothing can get in except for the door and the full roof lift, you use a stick to hold up the lid to gather eggs,then latch it after you close it. So at night they are safe, also check the coop at night before locking up to make certain the snake didn't sneak in during the day. if you still have aerial predation, get some bird netting and hang it randomly so flyers are not inclined to try to get into the bird padock. the hardware cloth and bird netting should be fairly cheap.
Snakes will start eating your eggs if it doesn’t have any more little chickens 🐓 to eat. 😞The good will always out weight the bad it’s just hard to see sometimes when you are right in the middle of it. Keep up the great work. You are one of my favorite channels to watch. 🥰
You need to ask yourself this question, “What would a veteran farmer do about the snake.” Find the answer to this question and your snake problem will be solved.
most I know will tolerate a snake as long as it doesn"t bother the livestock. Get caught in the coop though its time for a sharp blade to the neck. A snake will not willfully leave a steady food source, nor will you have much luck moving him , best to axe him now than to keep feeding him chiks and eggs
They can catch him again and just drive a few miles away. Death to a healthy animal after WE just moved into its range/habitat has other solutions.
Pigs will kill snakes, it's an option
@@67charged I live in Tennessee and was raised on a farm. farmers around here would kill snakes on seeing them around the chickens .. but they did like to have snakes in the barn to keep down rats and mice .. and my grandpaw told me the safest place for chickens are in a pig pen and i have actually saw farmers that kept their chickens in a big pig pen that was large
I know you guts are gentle in spirit and love all animals but you gotta protect your livestock. Kill the 🐍
Lucky truly was lucky to live with you guys, and he has left quite the legacy behind. These were the best few months of his life, and I'm so grateful that you guys took him on.
So sorry for the rough month. Nate you make a great Vanna White showing & displaying the generous gifts. Deej💜
Most homestead have guard goose to keep flying predators away. One seems to do the job
They also keep snakes away
I will second the guard goose strategy
So sorry to hear about the bird loss. I liked Lucky, and I didn’t even know him! You’ll figure out what’s best for the protection of your animals and homestead. Keep up the great work!
Sorry but that would be a dead black snake…I have to protect my livestock! I lost 9 birds in one evening due to over heating! Homesteading is not for the weak at heart!
I completely agree. My animals take priority. Anything that may harm my animals won’t make it out alive
You guys are doing awesome I know nothing about Homesteading . But, wish I did I enjoy watching I believe eventually y’all will get everything ironed out. Keep up the good work! God’s blessings ! ❤️
I love the way the sheep pay attention to them while talking to us 😁
Just found your channel and am excited to see your new homestead evolve. God bless!
Hi guys. I wanted to say how sorry we are you lose so many chickens. Specially the sweet rooster.😢
I have 2 roosters that I can’t keep due to restrictions. If you guys like one of them we will be happy to send it to you. Let me know.
I hope you guys don’t lose any more. Blessings from the Hovenkamp’s
So sorry for your losses! Please sure up your coop with hardware cloth asap!! Snakes can’t get through the 1/4” holes. Bird netting would also be life saving for your chicks. Good luck!
Very hard working couple, I applaud both of you and are in my prayers so you can keep going with the same stamina. I think you have found that happiness comes with working to get her as a family. Congratulations with this huge project.
Hello from 🇨🇦 near Sudbury Ontario ☺️ I just started watching your vlogs and Enjoying them immensely 👍🏻 Saddened by the losses 😔 Black Snake deterrent, Spraying Vinegar all around the peramiter of the chicken yard also maybe a Guard Goose for the Birds of Prey. Looking forward to catching up to date with your posts to see what's been happening. Blessings to you and yours 🙏😇🕊️💝
On our farm we had a problem with hawks and we put a chicken run with a wire roof on. The wire of the run had to be 1/2 inchd to keep the snakes out also. They can get thru the smallest of openings.
That's why I had to get LGD's, and when I had black snakes come in they were dispatched cause they'll return, I've lost too many and tried to move the snakes, I actually spray painted a spot on a couple of them and sure enough, the same ones came back. After I got the dogs and trained them, no more problems. Trial and error, sorry for y'all's loss!!
That was a hard month and a steep learning curve, we are still in the planning stages for the garden and animals and are thinking of a permanent coop for many different reasons, but never thought through the snake thing, that could still happen... thanks for sharing :)
Being a farmer has never been an easy life but good for you!
So sorry that you lost so many chickens, especially Lucky ! I know that is has been devastating. Take care and God bless you both !
Ironically the same thing (barrel rolling into the pumpkin garden) happened to Billy Corgan as a teen and that is how he came up with the name Smashing Pumpkins for a band later in life.
I made my chickens & turkeys a pallet coop that's on 2 ft legs . I have 3 bar levels in the coop which the lowest is around 16in off the ground. Look into getting some free pallets , 10 would make a decent size coop ...sorry about all the loss you guys been having lately. The hot weather have taken out 6 of my 1 month old babies and it was tough finding those little ones like that....I'm now looking into getting 2 kitties pools that they can lay in ,that way I can add half a bag of ice to both of their water...animal husbandry is always a learning lesson try not to take it so hard...have a nice day!
Wow, what a month for sure. Sorry about the birds, I can sure imagine how you feel. :-( Nate did an excellent job in the underside in the walk space, what a job. Yikes! That is one task I would not like esp because of critters and snakes etc........Beautifully done Nate! Katy, that traveling is exhausting and then to face the chores and then to do your own transportation via car travel.....You two need a break so thankful you have youth on your side.
The gifts are wonderful and such thoughtfulness........so so nice!
Things are looking great and I hope things calm down and the birds stay safe.
Take care and blessings to you both.
We made our chickens a flight pen to protect them. It is a large pen and the are happy. We added a shade cloth to the wired roof as well.
Another thing to try is elderberry. I had a rooster with wheezing that elderberry seemed to help and he recovered. He could not crow either and he panted. My plan is to grow elderberry in the chicken run. You have done so much of tried and true methods to keep your chickens safe. I have found that multiple layers of protection is needed and you still lose some. Snakes are our worst problem. Not stopped by electric fence and can get into very small holes including chicken wire. Hardware cloth might help.
They don't like mothballs; they get used here in Florida a lot. I have them around the perimeter of my chicken area and haven't had a problem..yet
lol funny pig. The watering container is kept clean also. The pig is so funny! Wow, you got some very nice gifts. Nice knobs!!! Cute sign!!!
Thanks so much
Oh boy, oh boy that’s quite a story! Good luck Nate and Katy
guard geese can keep predators from above away.. as for snakes, best we did was dig down the perimeter of our coop about 6" and attach chicken wire to the foundation, then put the dirt back around the wire. we also had to make sure there weren't any holes in the building snakes could get through. hope you can solve the predator issues!
I buried mine in concrete, so far so good!
Have a safe trip Katie.
Stay blessed ✝️ 🇺🇸
You are such of good hard working people I was thinking is not easy for you to have short hear and more easy to handle whit all the work you have ? Eny way I admire you guys God bless you !!
That man was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Fun to listen to his recommendations. Great video.
Love and hugs to the remaining peeps
Pumkin seeds are a great de-wormer
So many people go into this thinking there is a formula for success. But it’s just finding what works for you through trial/error/failure and eventually finding what works!
A joy to be part of your lives thank you 😊
Hello Michigan here. HOSS Sales garlic salt blocks also keeps tick away and there is. Pumpkin seeds too. You are both making your place a beautiful home stead🐣🐔🐑🐷🐕💕✌😎
Sorry for all the loss on the homestead, great to see you all doing all you can, the wood under the house where Nate sprayed and all looks like new, and I am so glad to see the progress you two have made. Safe travels for work Katie. I am now living in Middle Georgia and loving it here. It's not quite the homestead I dreamed of but its home and no one wants to be homeless. I have quite the array of beautiful flowing trees, shrubs and plants that were here already and on the 17th I planted several different veggies in some containers and hope to get some more soon with some more compost and soil so I can plant more. Love yas and special hugs and kisses to Floyd and Kenzi, eenie, meenie, mini, mo, the sheep, and whats left of the chickens and anything else you all have out there of the furry or feathered kind...that leaves out that darn snake LOL
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY GOD BLESS YOU
You really need a permanent coop, or at least you need a netting over your fenced area, what you've done so far hasn't worked for the falcon which is still getting in the area. Good Luck with keeping what you have left.
My friend kept losing birds the same way and finally built Fort Knox. I'm sorry for your losses. Snakes need to go over a mile away.
yes at least a mile away, but If the first snake finished his meal I doubt it would have been the same snake that took the second bird. Once fed they don't need to make an effort to find food for quite a long time, certainly more than a couple of days.
Snake needed to meet Mr. Shovel. Or Mr axe-to-head. Really hate snakes lol.
@@gailmaree7719 i agree but they are city slickers.
You have had a very busy month in June as well as a sad one. I am so sorry you lost lucky and so many chicks. The black snakes are supposedly good but I guess once they get the taste for chicken, mice are just not on the menu. I do hope July and August will be better months for y'all. Have a Blessed day.
Hola ❤ so sorry about your chick's and Lucky 😢 I love your channel and I am learning so much from you guys. Stay strong. Sending Dominican hugs from❤ NYC
That’s so sad about Lucky and the little ones. Know you will come up with the right protection when you can. 🙏🏻❤️
Still smiling, that's what it's all about. Have a nice week end.
I do hope you have a good weekend, and your week gets better.
You are a hardworking caring couple. God Bless you❤️✝️
Thank you so much!
Hello, I always admire your uniqueness, thanks for sharing this wonderful video, keep up the good work my friend, good luck!
Hard when things go wrong despite all your efforts. All you can do is pick up and carry on. A successful person is one who gets up once more than he falls down. Your homestead adventure is only just beginning. 💕💕🌻🌻
Oh boy, you guys that totally sucks! So sorry! Well I am glad that you had some good things as well. Hugs🤗🤗🤗
You have made the best of a sad situation. Farming is hard sometimes. Keep your heads up. Katie have a safe work trip. Nate, Katie will be back before you know it!
Thank you! Will do!
Michelle Bond has very good knowledge about natural remedies for sheep.
hugs from pam and john keep on the video we ben sick me and hubby john keep in pray 🥰😀😍🤩🤩
the snakes will keep coming back, you are providing for them
I used to love canning and jam making....I used the low/no sugar surejell and added a small amount of sugar or sugar substitute....less than 2 cups of sugar. Instead of jam tasting overly sweet and mostly sugar, it brought out the flavor of the fruit! It was like spreading mashed fruit on your toast or biscuit!!???
We love you and sharing your progress on your homestead 👍🥰
Also we put our chickens up an hour after sunset. We invested in an automatic (battery run) door so they can be let out of the coop into the covered run (with the 1/4 inch hardware cloth). We built it with plenty of room because that prevents issues with chickens not getting along.
You need to build and enclosed chicken coop that is enclosed. Or a chicken tracker that you move.
6 years ago Justin Rhodes shot a vlog called "this snake ate my chicken alive". It is amazing what they can ingest. Don't fool yourself into thinking there is only one roaming your place.
🦋❣🦋 I really like how your farm is coming along. Just a thought, to keep birds away, my mom hung aluminum pie pans around areas to scare birds. I do hope that your baby chicks make it. 🦋❣🦋❣🦋
Hi. I did this for the hawks and a ranger told me that it's illegal to do the pie pans in the trees WHAT lol. Nope they r still there😉 also was told by an agent that hawks can be shot if it's damaging live stock..idk about that but I wish you well
Hardware cloth is the only way to prevent snakes. If you can encourage crows they are territorial against feathered predators. Adult roosters are usually plentiful and are often given away
Crows eat chicks, and eggs, where we live. Unfortunately
Sorry you lost some chickens. I don't know what you used to build the coop but it's important to use half inch hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Snakes can easily get through that. We built an outside run that's about 8x12 ft. and about 7 ft high. There is hardware cloth on all 4 sides including the top. If anything wants to dig under then lay some chain link fence on the ground around the whole run. We bought the half inch hardware cloth online. We got the 4x100 ft roll. I dont remember what we paid for it but it was a good price. Your homestead looks great. Looking forward to seeing more videos.
This is Hank and maybe. e for the chickens but some aluminum pie pans and hang them with a string so they can move freely. from a tree. several of them might help. I did that when I was raising chickens earlier in my life
My granddaughter’s Rooster got very sick and was at the point of death. I suggested she give him colloidal
silver. I make it so we had plenty. She gave it directly to him and also put it n His water. Long story short, Maverick is a healthy gorgeous rooster. Hope this helps
WE LOVE REAL
We have learnt, overtime, to do what you can and nature will take its course.
keep on keeping on 💜💚💙 so great that you are sharing all of your experiences🤩
That are very happy pigs. 🥰
Good videos I learning for sheep thanks 😊
You have to build a large pen. Build with posts and a gate. You have to put chicken wire over the top. That way the larger birds can’t get to the chickens or ducks. You have to build a chicken house for them to lay eggs or chicks, also to protect them from rain and cold.
Get a goos e. They are very protective of your flock. You can also stretch some netting over your chicken area to protect t from airborne predators.
I am so sorry for all your loses and poor Lucky he finally had his wonderful happy flock of ladies, I know it is hard but the time he had with you and his ladies he had the best life. Losing the babies is heartbreaking and the only way to stop the snakes is to find out how they are getting into the coop, it may be as simple as putting something heavy on nesting area roof or just reinforcing the wire around the coop, that will make it impossible for snakes to get in.
I was watching Justin Rhodes not that long ago and he was talking about dealing with the negative things that happen and turning it round into a learning experience and not to give up as it is so demoralising when things go badly and it can be so hard to see any positives through such horrible situations but look at what happened to Justin last year when a rat distroyed every baby bird and just left them where t it had killed them, so the brooding area got redesigned. The Fit Farmer lost 30 young birds earlier this year due to very heavy rain, its very sad when baby animals are lost but please try and keep your gentle positive attitude, I admire you both so much and I am so glad I found your beautiful channel through The Hollers.
Much love to you both and your beautiful dogs xx
Stop being Barry White and stop being nice too snakes for starters!! Loved the canning sign!! Cute!!
Staple netting from the trees and connect to the fence will help with the falcon. The snake needs to go to a local national park.
Tack!
Super! Thank you!
I've been fighting birds, coons, and possums. I know you don't really want to kill the critters but you may need to. This is the only way I can keep my flock. Live traps help with coon and possums.
Great gifts
Oh I am so sorry about loosing your rooster.... you are the third channel that I watched who have lost roosters... country road cure just lost theirs, and also Alder Farms just lost theirs too, both just found dead... nothing you can do... And sorry about loosing the little ones too... you both have done so much work and I will continue to follow your progress... Love your channel..
Sorry about the chickens. We have coyotes fox hawks. Eagles sometimes dogs . We used to free range when younger. Still had predators
too. Old timers had chicken coops
Cleaning the crawl space was a huge task I'm sure!!
It was a huge project
You are going to have to invest some money into building a more secure structure, buy some chicken wire for around your pen ground up about 3-4 feet. Small gauge chicken wire will keep the snakes from getting in and a net covering over the top of the run will keep the falcon from swooping down. And most importantly, kill the damn snakes!!!
Sorry for the bad but happy for the good.
Usually with aerial predators and chickens you have to consider fully enclosed areas for chickens. That way nothing on the ground can be picked off by aerial predators. As far as ground predators not sure about that one unless electrified fencing would help with that part.
Wish you had dispatched the snake first off as they will always come back to a food supply . Keep up the good work good luck 👍
So sorry about Lucky, I know the pain. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do . 😢
Base on my little experience I used fishing net as a roof to protect my chickens from aireal predator and it works, cuz once they got one and they keep on coming back to their hunting ground
Can you staple some cheap screen up in the hen house from floor to ceiling? Or can the snake get thru that also? Like start on the ground and go up the walls and then the ceiling.? First time watching ...I admire your dream and perseverance ❤✌
That may be an option. I think it got in through the nesting box. It doesn't latch.
I love the tip about the garlic powder. Seems like something that could be done in an ongoing basis to keep the loads down. We had one sheep falling way behind that we wormed the other day. Maybe I'll do a followup with garlic powder.
Maybe time for a pet mongoose?
Or it would he nice if the falcons would take care of the snakes for you.
Do the best you can with the time you have sums it up Nate. You can only do what you can do.
Good work team!
So sorry that stuff is stressful, we have a permanent coop w electric fence around the base of the fence which helps w snakes and covered runs for aerial predators but even w that we had skunk get thru a rusted area in our fence but it didn't get any of our birds, thank goodness! But I feel ya homesteading and farming isn't for the faint of heart. Hopefully this month will be better🙂