Dirtiest Job on Farm | What they Don't Say in the Books

Almost gagged. They don't put this— they don't put that in the textbooks, do they? It's 7:30, a little behind what we were yesterday, but it's just now getting light. But we don't have quite as much maintaining to do on the chores, hopefully. I'm trying to clean it up, get it real smooth before my surgery on Friday. We've been doing teas in the morning to help wake up. How did it help you this morning?

Good.

Just as good as yesterday? Well, that's a sign of a good mood. Buenos días, Pollos.

Whoa, turn me off because I don't think I can get out.

That was off the whole time.

Old apple cider vinegar bucket we can turn into a water bucket. How are we gonna get around this huge log just there? We're heading straight towards it. Well, let's go. I think we have room to go this way. It's not gonna last you. You know it's gonna be 66 degrees this weekend. It means we picked the most wonderful state to live. Okay, no gusta. They're cute together, Nacho and Escalito, the luchadors. Nacho's our breeding ram. He's not going to get busy until the ladies are 2 years old, which will— and we don't want to have lambs during the winter, so we won't set them together till almost a year from now, December. Will give us 2021 May babies.

How long are they pregnant until they, um, until they give birth?

They're pregnant for 5 months.

Rabbits only take 1 month. That's until they get—

yeah, you ever heard this phrase, breeding like a rabbit?

Yeah.

We soaked our feed last night. We remembered soaking makes it go 15 to 25% further because it's more digestible, plus it soaks up any of the powder. Jonah, we fed our pigs too much yesterday. That's probably a day's ration right there. Let's just add a hair of skim milk and give them half this morning and half this afternoon. Check for poop. We're not looking for eggs. We check eggs in the evening when we put them up. That one needs a little bit of hay. There's a couple eggs in there. Dry run, a mulched run, carbonaceous diaper, clean water, enough food, 1/3 pound of grain per chicken, 1/4 if you're gonna soak it a day, clean nesting material. That'll go a long way to keeping chickens happy and productive. Just that. I did notice some eggs in the bottom of the Chickshaw. Oh, Trace, I designed my Chickshaws the way they are so I don't ever have to go in a coop. I hate it, I hate it. I have to go in there. All right, I'm in here, I'm in here. The only other time I have to go in a coop is when you get a buildup of nesting material and the crud doesn't fall through, like right there. You know what that means? I gotta grab that. I'm gonna get the eggs first. And then I'm gonna get a spade shovel, I think, to get that out. I could gird up my loins and just grab it, but I got my limits. I'm just gonna put them in here so the kids get them tonight. See, this kind of stuff is what's not gonna happen when I'm out of commission on Friday, on Saturday and Sunday. What'd you say?

My flock's the easiest flock and you spent 10 minutes in there.

Hey, that's what it takes sometimes, bro. And guess what? I gotta go back. We're maintaining it, my friend. Yeah, sure, on a zero day you want to just go let your animals out, but on a normal day you want to keep maintaining it. So you can have days where you just go let them out and not have to do anything. Do you need hay on your ICs? I can open it for you, Josie. Do you need hay in your ICs?

No, they got plenty.

I know, I know. I could use Vaseline. I know, I know. I really didn't get it that cold too much around here. All right, how's your icy bedding, Josiah?

Good.

I don't know what the ice is. I'll put the water down. See how they're pooping in that? That means you need to turn— when you go get the eggs at night, turn this box sideways. I did. So they can't get in there, and then open it back in the morning. Okay, you guys want to go in and scoop this out or put the nesting material in? You better choose nesting material. Are you crazy? Okay, here I go. God help Help me. Oh, help me, I'm afraid.

Lord, help me, I'm afraid.

I'm having to be in here, you guys are having to be in here with. You guys are going to get a little taste of the glory. Chicken's running on me. Really? I'm rolling it up like a carpet. Dare I touch this?

Ew, everybody say ew.

Everybody say, "That's the reality." Holy chicken squat on my hands. Almost gagged. They don't put this— they don't put that in the textbooks, do they?

Nope.

Took me a while to figure out I wasn't crazy. It's totally acceptable to gag when you get some chicken poop on your hands. It's all right, you could still be hardcore. Oh my gosh, stop looking at it. I need to add rubber gloves to these coat pockets. You know, it looks like I'm coming in here to wash my hands. I can't not show this part of the story. I've already washed my hands, but it won't hurt twice because how am I gonna set you all up on the counter after I done set y'all up and then chicken squat? Well, I had to wash your— I had to wash the tripod first.

Pop, try the light.

Okay.

After it's gone. Nope.

Uh-oh. Okay. Blew the fuse. We did just call the electrician and we're getting a generator because we have like 10 freezers for all our meat we've grown. Hey, are you coming with? All right, you are going to find some different shoes in those rubber boots though because you soaked them yesterday in the creek. Oh, those are good, but wait, get sweater on first, man. Gideon's all about the cold exposure. But I reckon you can take it too far. Can't you take it too far? Hey guys, good job getting everybody down here. Did you guys get Stud some alfalfa?

Oh, we can get him.

Okay, let's get him some. Come on, little man.

He—

Fluffy left him, straight up left him. Come on, we gotta hurt him down there.

She left, but she left him. That's good news, you didn't have to hurt him. Yay! Oh, that's a change. You are— you feel so good, you're so soft. Yeah, I know he's pooping. Can you get a halter on him and get him tied up? No. What? What? Yeah, what's the deal? Sorry, guys. Let's try to work with him. You know, he likes to back up.

Come here.

Back himself into the wall. Look at that, look at that. He wants to back up, so, you know, he's not trying to be stubborn, he's just afraid. So why not let him back up? Get it to where he's backing up against the wall. And in nature, you don't get pulled, you get driven. All right, will you come and push his rear as I pull? Good.

Oh, stinky! But move, move, try to cover it up.

He's still pulling. You're still pulling. I've got her ready. I give her alfalfa, brush her off. Washed her, and you're still pulling. Bless you. Strong. Gallon and 3/4. Calf's still on her 24/7. Good morning, Birdell. Good morning. You guys ever noticed I call Lily Birdell? Bird. That's, that's in memory of her It could be her great-grandmother, not Granny. Remember that prayer I prayed this morning as I got into the chicken coop? Lord help us, I pray. Lord help us, I pray. And thank you, thank you, thank you. I forgot to flip the fuse. I don't know, it broke the last time I was in here to get the milking stuff. I forgot to turn it on, flip it. Sorry. Yeah, will you take care of that milk? There's way too much on that. Our computers, the hallway, the furnace.

Yeah, I mean, because it's going to be a while before the electrician actually puts the generator in.

Yeah, I'm remembering. Yes! It's amazing how quick I forget something.

There it is.

Welcome to the easiest move on our farm. The cows are milking there, they're going right here. We set it up yesterday. Why wait till the afternoon? There's no more grass where they were. So let's move them in here. And this morning, this morning, we can get Flossie out. They can get out to pasture. They don't have to sit in the stall. You be the lead, bro. Moose, you have to wait and keep your mom company, okay? See, you're getting used to us. He's getting used to us. This little guy, this little guy, I don't have to put you in a stall. Ever since reading Running with Sherman, you know, it talked about Trying to think like an animal, just trying to be a little more sensitive to these guys, try to figure out what they're thinking and maybe using that to help get what I want. Like this morning, we don't have to put them in the stall. It's not because the stall's dark. So there we go, put them out here. Interesting way to connect there, boys. Round 1. I've been jamming out to my audiobook, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, learning how to look at things from other people's perspectives. That's interesting. I'm learning how to look at things from animals' perspective. Learning how to look at things from other people's perspectives. What in the world? I'm just letting him run. Why pull back? He's going where I want him to go. Try another teat. All right, nope, he's got it. All right, let's, uh, turn him around, get him going. Thank you, Moose. Here we go, I'm gonna give you some alfalfa. Okay, there you go. All right, mucho leche, another gallon and three-quarters. Hey, it's time. Great, 9:30, family workout. Come, your mom's on it. 2 loads today, guys. We're running good on schedule. 2 loads.

You should do 3 loads.

Well, maybe if we, if we put down our snacks and got on it. Let's see if our fan's working to dry these things off. Moisture meter. If you're not testing, you're guessing.

How much is this?

It's 20.

21. We should see what it is off the Sally. Yeah, look, it gets better the further back. 17, 18, 18.1. Oh, look, that's 16.8, Rebecca. That's as dry as the wall.

Oh, the problem is that that's in the back.

I bet we'll fill this up today, this one. Then we got one more row. All right, we got that unloaded. We decided we're going to divide it. You would never know, but that little lady right there, Florida girl, suburbian Florida, but she likes this country life now.

What, what? Full load.

Got the whole wall up right here. Started on the last one. That's a lot of wood right there, y'all. Trying something different. Normally we kind of like to stay warm right to the polar plunge. But what if that's the wrong method? Instead of warming up before we plunge, maybe we need to cold up. Going down there in our shorts. Look at that, they haven't touched their hay. Ay, mucho grass. When they don't touch their hay. I think Stud Muffin's finally getting some hay. That's good. And it's like January 8th. We had stockpiled that grass for them. Don't have to feed as much hay. Let's now edit. Hopefully edit. Hopefully edit the vlog and then get on this movie about me being a pregnant lady. I've been editing. The boys have been hauling some more. That's some starter wood right there. They're wanting to do the chores, which is fine. Listen to me, which is great, uh, but I want them to document it. Hey, where are the boys?

Uh, I think down there.

Can you, can you go tell them that to come see me before they go move the sheep? Why? Yes, Papa.

Yes, Papa.

Because I want them to film it.

Here we are on top of the mountain. Here's Josiah putting the fence up. Let's let them in now. Tell me if that was crazy or not crazy. I'm lying, lying, my pants are on fire, can't you tell, guys? I was your baseball champion.

Bleh! Ate all the well water.

Papa, we're gonna come jumping off this ledge, so stay and watch 'cause we still gotta go get our helmets.

This is the hot action!

Pinkalicious is trying again.

Go! And she did it!

But she did not take the full jump. We've made another jump and made the other one a little different. That one's called the crazy jump hump.

Jenny, get out of the way!

He's gonna do it! He's not gonna do it.

I can't make it high enough!

Ah!

I did it! Woo! Whoa! Wow!

See?

It's the next day. It's Thursday as I film this. It's actually the day before my surgery. I go in surgery on Friday. By the way, we got a movie for you guys Friday about me being pregnant.

How's it feeling?

Tired already. She's got a sandbag. Pushing on my bladder.

He was like, I can't believe we're gonna put more weight on this.

This is for all you homestead mamas that gotta go. The boys are up and at them, excited. Come on, guys! We've been up and at them early. It's time to move the sheep. The sheep are— wait, I already did the chickens, my man. Sheep are up there, they need to go down there, which is actually terribly convenient for me not being available to them, the family having to take over the farm. The cows and the sheep are about as close as they can be. We gotta hook up the trailer, get the sheep in, and move them down there. You ready to pet some sheep, my man, my woman?

Yeah.

All right, let's put a ball on the tractor. Why not move them with the tractor? We've been moving them with the Suburban, which is fine, but why not move them with the tractor? Where's your fresh hay, Lily? Just get them some fresh hay quick. We're gonna be ready. You got the fence off? Don't move them yet. Hang on. All right, open our door. Look at here, they don't even need Lily in the hay. Come on, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep, sheep. I'm gonna shut this so they don't just run out. That was an escape for Lily. Hoping to get some hay in there to have a nice reward. No pressure, no pressure, just stay right there. Maybe Lily will get here, or they'll just go in by themselves.

Just wait, stay right there.

Oh my gosh, you got to be kidding me. Really? They're going in the trailer. They're going in the trailer by themselves. All right, go ahead. There's Lily. Throw them in there. This hay bale, Bear.

Now they're already in there.

Yeah.

Wow.

Here you go, guys. Here you go. Of course. There's your hay. Let them have their hay. Yeah, just hold on.

What audio book What are you gonna listen to?

Uh, okay. All right, now Lily, your job is to just go in there and pet them. Make sure you pet everybody, okay? All right, enjoy your book. Put that up on the shelf so it's out of the way. Let's see, do you guys— hold on— do you guys want to see us pick up nets or Lily Pet sheep. Why do I even ask? How'd it go, Lily?

Good.

Did you get a hand on all of them?

Yeah.

Or did you just watch them?

I, I petted them like this.

Oh, okay. Either way, you're spending time with them, getting them used used to. You want to go tell Mama, ask her if she wants time with her sheep? I'm starting to set up the sheep right here. It's looking really nice. You can really enjoy it. Look who's here, the beautiful one, spending time with your sheep.

Good.

All right, here we go. Mom's petted them. Hey, did you get hands on all of them?

Oh yeah.

She's gonna call sheep, sheep, sheep, and she's gonna walk right out and they're gonna follow her, and they're hopefully not gonna go around the cow. Yay! So fun working with these guys. So compliant. Do I have the little shirt hanging off? My heart rate's beating. It's busted my zipper. I hope nobody comes driving by. Ah!

We're about to take our first pee break.

I gotta pee. Are you pedaling? I was pedaling. That's good. It's hot.

Are you getting oxybutyric hormone? Did you talk about your pregnancy brain?