This content was created by Victor Justin Rhodes. This content was uploaded by Victor Justin Rhodes. This is a YouTube vlog titled "We Got 130 Chicks in the Mail! (Eggs + Meat)" (created 2022-04-25T19:00:16Z, last edited 2026-04-10). The video features two speakers (hosts) documenting homesteading activities: ordering and receiving day-old chicks, setting up a rat-proof brooder (heat lamp, hover brooder, 1/2-inch wire mesh, deep shavings), caring for chicks, and preparing a homemade tonic (“magic water” with garlic, apple cider vinegar, and honey) and a brewed remedy called "Firesider." They also discuss marketplace plans for Abundance Plus and show product listings. The clip includes the emotional event of many chicks arriving dead from the post office and later receiving healthy meat chicks (“sea monsters”). Tone is conversational/vlog-style and focused on small-scale poultry keeping and homestead preparations.
Chapters
In this video, we're getting 130 chickens, also known as the gateway drug into homesteading. First up, we gotta get this mama hen out of the brooder and her chicks. Does she only have 2 chicks? Yeah. When you introduce chickens to a flock and chicks, you want to do so at night. Oh, don't lose it, don't lose it, don't lose it! Put them in here. And then everybody's kind of half sleeping. They're not going to bother little chicks. See how these chicks did. I hear them. Is that her? Is that the mom? They're all right. She jumped back up in there. You bring them out. You bring them out to the food. If I don't fix this wire, the chicks are gonna get out away from their mom and they're gonna get got. Ask me how I know. What is going on in here?
I am— oh my Oh my gosh.
Horseradish, hot peppers, onions. Are you insane?
A little bit.
What is it?
It's Firesider.
Almost 3 gallons of milk today. Mom's piling this up. What are you gonna put in there next?
Uh, I think I have to do the garlic and cinnamon sticks.
Okay, and then what liquid are you gonna put in there?
And then I have apple cider.
Oh my gosh. Are you actually gonna take this?
Yeah, so then once it's brewed, I like to brew it a really long time, which is why I'm starting it. How's a long time? 30 days? Like 6 months. Oh, you can do as little as like 4 to 6 weeks. And so I'll brew it till like the fall, then I'll strain this out, and then I'll add honey to it, and I'll mix that in really good, and then I'll put it in quart jars, and then that's ready to go. So it's— there's a honey flavor also that will go into this once it's brewed completely.
Let me show you guys something. When you go to homestead, you do imagine some problems, you know, You imagine maybe the livestock dying, uh, predators, stuff like that. Do you imagine this? I didn't do that. Hey, Gideon, come here! Gideon, are you already picking that up? No, you're getting more shavings. That's good. But would you pick this up, please? Yeah, all this. I think you might have done it because you were getting out your stuff for your birdie hen. Okay, it's saying in transit. I think it would say delivered if they were at the post office. It can take up to 72 hours, so it could be tomorrow until we get these chicks. Speaking of chicken, this is the kind of stuff you can make with chicken. Look at that, bam! This is handy because you have tacos one night and the next day leftover and you can make nachos. We've got a very important meeting right now about the marketplace we're going to launch in Abundance Plus. Some exciting stuff coming to our marketplace, but members are going to be able to post. The public will be able to buy. The public not till May 9th. More on that in a bit. So this is their stores, Justin. So you can see here, it's, uh, this baby balm and body balm. It's $15 and it's sold by Farmhouse Teas. Um, so I can even go to their store page, which they set up. I don't do any of this. It's 7:30 in the evening. PO is not coming today. They must be coming in the morning or we're gonna have dead chicks. Yeah, we do have the perfect brooder setup, starting with a rat-proof brooder. I mean, are these storm doors? 1/2-inch wire mesh, wooden framing, deep bedding. Look, this is already heated up. We, we added water and stirred it. It's warming up, breaking down. We've got 1/2-inch wire mesh all the way around, even a roof, tin on sides and bottom. You can see where a rat has tried to get in there, right there, but they had no luck. Here's the perfect setup: heat lamp. They prioritize getting warm more than they like food. So we're going to put over their food the cord wrapped around there for double security in case it falls. A feed pan on top of a 2x4 framed— I don't know— dirt trap. Half-inch wire mesh so they get on here with their— see that? And the wood chips fall right through. I should say wood shavings. And then the Hover Brooder from Premier One. Mimic's mama hen. They can get under there, get warm, and this is going to be a happy place for them. Good night, little chick. Good night. We'll see ya.
I just opened the door and leave.
Got the waters ready. We'll add the garlic in the morning right before they come. We should be getting an early phone call tomorrow morning, so you guys are going to stay right here. And we'll see you in the morning. 7 o'clock the next morning, no post office. If these don't get here today, those chicks are— they're gonna be dead. And we've had that happen to us before.
Yeah, this is Jennifer from the post office.
Hey, we got some chicks in here and I believe all of them have died. Oh no.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, all of them are dead. Oh, how sad.
Yeah, they had them outside.
Oh my. Bless their hearts.
I know, it's so sad.
Suffocation or something? Aww. Well, we were piecing together a hairpin for another video and Rebecca came and got us the chicks. You guys ready to get some chicks?
Yeah!
I'm calling mom because I think we were supposed to get sea monsters too. Let's get 130 chicks today. They're not there.
They might have shipped the next day.
Oh, okay. All right, get them warm. Somebody get the light on. We should have done that before. Put the light on and the hover on. Mince that garlic, 2 cloves per gallon. It's called magic water, folks. Garlic, apple cider vinegar, and honey. What you making, babe? Says snacks and finger foods.
Crispy walnuts and Brazil nuts.
They have soaked, they're now in the dehydrator. Magic water coming right up. How they doing? This is little. These are egg-laying chicks that will grow up and replace— well, add to our flock. We only have 45, we could probably use 60.
Ah, by the way, we also got a couple— like, one died.
Okay, yeah, and that's it. That's it too, because, uh, people die and these are— these are going to be their replacements. What, you got him on the second story? And 2 days later, our sea monsters arrived, our meat chickens, and everybody is fat and happy.
