You Might Be The Crazy Chicken Lady If...

When I go and speak at conferences like the Mother Earth News Fair and Homesteaders of America, I have to find out who's a crazy chicken lady. Incidentally, you don't have to be a lady to be the crazy chicken lady. Many burly men, mightiest of men, I've also been proud Crazy Chicken Ladies. But since we can't have any large events now, let's find out here now who's a crazy chicken. Josiah, grab the feed bucket there, please. So raise your hand if you answer yes to any of these questions, okay? And keep your hand up until you get a no.

Is that good?

Yeah. So let's start with the first question with you, Josiah. Do you want or own chickens?

Uh, I don't know if I own them. I see them.

Yes, the answer is yes. I see them every day. Yes, the answer is yes. Okay, let's continue our quad pasture system. We got one more move before they've had 4 moves right there. You ready? Yeah. Well, he starts. I'm gonna set up this time lapse. Where can I set that up? You guys tell me, what's the second question? What is the second question? The question is, do you have more than 12 chickens per person in your household? If you do, keep that hand up. You might be a crazy chicken lady. Next question, have you ever had chickens inside your house? You might be a crazy chicken lady. Let me show you the system that we move this. Seriously, we move this in less than 5 minutes. You could tell this Energizer has been here a while, right? 4 weeks, it's going on— well, 3 weeks, it's going on 4 weeks. We kept it in one spot. We started up there, move around clockwise, and you can keep one wall up. This is an easy way to move chickens around on pasture. You got their feet out. What were you gonna say?

Every wall has moved because we're going around in a circle.

Ah, that's right, that's a good point. So at first when we, when we were over there, that wall stayed. Oh no, that wall stayed, and then this wall stayed, and then this wall stayed. Yeah, okay, to continue to restore our pasture With your scratching and manuring. Have you ever put an outfit or a leash on a chicken?

He went out of the chicken poop.

How'd he get out of the coop?

He dug a hole.

Oh, let's look at this. Okay, do you, do you put feed in that bucket? Or is that bucket for water?

Water.

Here, let me put your feet here. I got you some. Here, let me put— this doesn't have a handle. I'll just pour it into there for you, save you some time. All right, have you ever— oh, this would be awesome. You ever named a chicken?

Yeah.

What's your name?

Penguin.

That's right, we have Penguin. You might be a crazy chicken lady. I am. You think? Are you a crazy chicken lady?

Maybe.

Are you a crazy chicken lady?

No, I'm a crazy man.

Hey, are you a crazy chicken lady?

No, I'm the crazy— I'm the crazy chicken kid.

Well, I'm gonna ask you the next question then. Have you ever had a— kept a chicken longer than 2 and a half years past its prime?

You have.

You turning me in? You have? Yeah. Oh, that's right, Kai. Oh, we have two names. Penguin and Kai. We're getting real cray cray. After 2 and a half years, they stop— their egg production drops in half.

Yeah, she's, she's not laying, so you gotta, you gotta be crazy. Penguin doesn't lay eggs.

Oh, another crazy point for us. We've been named a chicken that doesn't even lay eggs, but I don't think he laid eggs before. You might be a crazy chicken lady if you keep a chicken that doesn't lay eggs.

It'd probably be pretty easy.

Yeah, for all we know. Penguin, penguin, you gonna lay eggs easy? You just fall right out?

No.

Somehow penguin escaped.

Look!

Oh, is this how it happened?

Release the goosey crazy man!

No! Hey, that answers that. Who are you talking to? Are you talking to the goose? Okay, that's my next question. Hey Donald, you got to be quiet. He's so loud. Have you ever talked to a chicken? That's the next one.

You have?

Ready? Oh, you want to let them out? Oh, is that what you do? Now how are you going to get out without getting bit by that goose? Okay, no, wait, wait, hold on. She's got to do the water. Donna's little bath. Okay, now how do we open this and get out of here without getting bit? Okay, here, let me get out of here. Go! Oh, he stopped. Okay, that's how you do it. You better not fall down right there, huh? You do that every morning, don't you? Okay guys, so have you ever talked to a chicken? I don't know.

Yeah.

Have you ever said good morning? Maybe. They said good morning, ladies.

I'm more like talk to the cows. Hi, penguin. Penguin, you better get away. Whatever.

That's right. Oh well, Lily, you might be a crazy chicken lady.

I've talked to the cows.

Well, you might be a crazy cowboy. Jonah, let's go do your chickens. We got 2 more questions. Well, they are— well, let's get your feed and talk while we do that. You sang today? Oh my gosh, add that to the list.

I sing lullabies for they would get in the coop.

Did it work?

Yeah.

So best practice would be to actually soak this feed, cover this feed in water, let it soak overnight, break down the anti-nutrients, and be more digestible. And what you shaking those buckets around for him. All right, Jonah, why don't we soak, man? People be wanting to know, huh?

I just forget.

Because after you feed, you gotta come put the water on. But then if you get in that habit, it's not like you're doing extra work. Just do that every day. It's actually more work to wet it. We wet it because it's powdery. It's powdery. We feed chick start to everybody and it's powdery, so the water clumps it up and we don't lose any of it. Hey, you got a stirrer? Hey, Jonah, can you focus and help me? Stay focused. Can you help me and get a stirrer?

Sure.

What do you do to stir it? We have wooden spoons.

Hey, this is much better because you can go under.

Okay, well then get with it. Don't, don't spill grain there, my man. Maybe we should move that because then we'll get in our drain, our French drain. Two more questions, here goes, guys. Have you ever— this is a new one— have you ever read a book, The Red Jungle Fowl, which is what the chicken, the modern chicken, came from, or watched a documentary about chickens? They're just not a little chicken in the barnyard to eat. No, they have a special personality. Now you all have the same joy I have had knowing a chicken. No. Yes. Yes, you have. What was it called? Chicken People. The male stands right there and flaps his wings and says, you want a piece of me? Oh, that didn't we watch Chicken People?

Well, we didn't finish it.

And then we didn't we watch The Natural History of a Chicken? My Little Soulmate.

I watched your video.

You watched my video? You might have watched my video. You might be the crazy chicken lady.

So I have, I have.

Yes, you've watched 2 or 3 chicken movies. You're crazy. Can you say, I'm crazy?

I'm crazy. We can never finish yours because it's just too long.

Thanks for the nice plug there, Jenna. You got better things to do. Like what?

Farming.

Like live it, right?

Or build it.

All right, let's get it. Let's grab it and grab, bud. One more question, and I'm saving it for a special spot. Here we have 3 chickens. Okay, yeah, they flipped their water, bro. Look, Jonah, we just moved them out of here in 2 days. Look at this fabulous job.

It's not completely all the way, but you hand me that water. We're gonna have to go in there.

Those 3 chickens are in the midst of a very important job of showing people the power of chickens, what you can do even with just 3 chickens for making gardens. Look at the difference in there and right here, Lily.

We should move them.

Uh, 2 days, let's move them. Hope they don't jump out. Smooth the water, the water holder.

You laid one egg.

Nice. This is super easy, guys. Jonah's got our feet, our feed out here with a lid. Guys, this would be so easy. You could even run a hose out here for your water. Incredibly easy. Like 2 minutes a day in chores, easy. And with 3 chickens, say you get— let's be conservative— 3 eggs a week each. That's 9 to 12 eggs a week, guys. And that— you want to cut these guys some grass and your chicken some grass? Yeah, getting a little bit of green since they've already eaten most of their greens. Here, tilling and fertilizing for a garden spot. Look at this, the carrots, guys, coming up! We've got carrots! Yes! Hey, one final question. You guys coming? I imagine many of you guys have got your hands up proud. You're still— your hands are still up based on the reactions at these events. So far you're looking good to be a crazy chicken lady. One more question. Raise your hand since you got your— you've qualified so far. Here, bring the feed. That's fine.

Bring the feed for the chicken talking.

Bring the feed, guys.

Okay, go.

Who's up for turning this compost pile soon? We've gotta— hold on. These are our compost chickens.

They—

we've got a compost pile heated up, guarded from them. It's inoculated. Now we can take those pallets off and let the chickens have at it. Have you ever lived with your chickens inside their netting, inside their fence for 24 hours? Pretty sure this is the closest these chickens have gotten this all 24-hour challenge. I'd like to think they're getting used to me, but I'm pretty sure they want to eat me. Oh, who's the ultimate crazy chicken lady? You got it! I'm the crazy chicken lady!

I have seen a video.

You have? I have seen you do it. Yeah, if you catch your chicken's manure at night on a tarp to add to your compost pile, you might be a crazy chicken lady. Good job. If you can catch a chicken without even moving, you might be a crazy chicken. Oh no. So what's the point of all this nonsense? The point is, the point is this: you guys are watching this video, you may or may not even have any interest in raising chickens, but you do have interest in growing your own food, even if it's just to be entertained by us doing it. You have some interest. You're here trying to poop inside.

Oh, I was looking for my blue rig. No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Grab them, grab them.

So put them on the floor, please.

Come here, buddy.

Hoop it up down here, not up there. I need the blue ring. Oh, there isn't another.

Help find this blue scoop. And what you guys have most likely found out the hard way is your friends, family and neighbor, your closest ones. They probably think you're a little bit crazy. He did it!

He did it! I gotta get him a treat.

Now all you gotta do is find your rake. Did you find it? So you're getting him a treat? Yep. You found it? He found it, Mom, way over there. I guess since technically most people do get their food at the grocery store, technically you and I, we are in the minority. So maybe we are crazy. Oh, this is good. Hey Rebecca, are we crazy for growing our own food?

I don't think so, but other people probably think that.

Right here we got some turds, right?

Yeah, there's lots of turds.

Joel Salatin, the king of this food growing movement—

we call this mob stocking herbivorous solar conversion lignified carbon sequestration fertilization—

calls himself The Lunatic Farmer. Well, I have you here, Becky. We were watching Homestead Rescue the other day, and what'd Marnie Rainey say about homesteaders?

He says that they're— you gotta be crazy.

No, insane.

Insane.

Yeah, something like that.

Something like that.

You got to be crazy. You got to be a little crazy. I think he said you got to be a little crazy to do this.

Or what was it?

It was like, what's so crazy about it?

Come on over here. Well, it's just because not— it's, it's against societal norms.

Yeah.

Is the problem.

Well, it's not—

it's not— people do other— like, it's going against the stream, I guess.

It's like what people used to do and we don't have to do anymore. Yeah, because the grocery store is so easy and even inexpensive. I'm sure you viewers really wanted to see a tray full of fat turds. Hey, Mr. Brown, you going with?

Where?

Come.

Where?

Let's be crazy. Where? Milk the cow. Squeeze 7 teats. Why do they think I'm crazy? I'm milking another species. Okay, where'd they get the idea I'm crazy? Well, I mean, if you're buying it in the store, my friend, you're still drinking milk of another species.

Hey guys, go put that poop in the bush.

Okay, where's my tumbler? I'm gonna go get the tumbler. I don't— I think you can go out just like that. It's warm enough. Just put some shoes on. Maybe I'm crazy because this is what we do with our evenings. We put mulch down on our asparagus and strawberries. Everybody's involved. Everybody's excited. On our weekends, we take an entire day and work projects on the farm. Every day I milk this cow. Every day. Christmas, New Year's, Saturday, Sunday, sick day, uh, injured day. It don't matter, you still got to be milked, don't you, honey? Mr. Brown, have you moved?

So this is a low one that I got for the, um, the strawberry and asparagus garden.

Are you gonna figure that out this morning? Motion sensor sprinkler. Yeah, that's to— if it senses motion like a cat, that'll turn on and it'll hose the cat. Cat won't be happy if you're texting Casey about that sprinkler. Dex? Oh, I'm not—

I'm doing about the carrots.

Do you need to ask him? Our onions start to browning at the tips. Is that okay? Is that normal for— we did just transplant them. Okay, Mr. Brown, I'm going. You come when you're ready. Lily's going with me. You think it's cold out there? We'll go get your pants. I laid out for you there on your bed. Wait for you?

Yes.

Okay, come on, let's go. The reason I help him is because I don't want to wait for him.

Take forever.

Yeah, it's not that cold out there. I don't know what your problem is. Here you go.

No, it is cold out there. Okay, I'm not gonna have a sweater.

Okay, then let's go. We're leaving. Let's go.

That's fine. There's a spigot down there. You can drink water out of the spigot.

Do you see his shoes? Brown, you coming?

Where are my shoes?

Come on.

Oh, I like my snow boots. These are too tight on me. Okay, these are too little.

Go to where you put them off. No, actually they're over here, honey. It's our lucky day. Look, they're right there. You must have brought them back up. Good job. Okay, now I hope I didn't just get you dressed so you can run off and play. Hope you go with So if the world thinks we're crazy, and they're right, that only leaves one thing for us to do— embrace the crazy. But let's be crazy together, like right now when people are rushing to the grocery store and it's a self-quarantine, and instead of shopping for 2 days, they're shopping for 2 months. And then there's food shortages on the shelf. So while there's a bit of a panic maybe at the grocery store, all us crazy chicken ladies have some frozen chickens in the freezer. We have some— we're getting fresh eggs daily. We've grown some greens. We're making— we could have a salad and a chicken. We may be crazy, but that is smart. Just because we're in the minority doesn't mean we're not right. Or brilliant. In this vlog, I'm inviting you to join hundreds of crazy chicken ladies inside my member area. Like I said, we don't have to do this alone because there's always room for one more crazy chicken lady. Inside my member area, not only will you find guidance from the ultimate crazy chicken lady, you'll be amongst so many others. You'll find guidance, you'll You'll find fellowship, you'll find like-mindedness, you'll find a place for you to offer help and support. We've found help and support in the member area. Don't take my word for it, there are members who have shared their positive experience.

Hey everyone, I'm Colby.

I'm Misty.

We're the Mack.

To me, we can watch things on YouTube, and to me it's great to watch it, but ultimately we get a little bit more detailed information when we go to the website. It has information from cows, sheep, bees, entrepreneurship, and just about any animal that you can think of.

Where we're able to carry on conversations with like-minded people and knowledge share. We have been able to give advice to others as well as seek advice for the things that we feel like we need more information or knowledge about.

The webinars are so much fun. It's very personable. You know, when you you go on YouTube and you go to a live feed of anyone, livestream, if it's a bigger show, it tends to be a lot of people on there. You may not have that personal touch, the question and answers from the guests and also from the person that's running the livestream. But with Abundant Permaculture livestream, it's just for members only. It's usually about 40 to 50 to 60 in there. He answers questions that you've already submitted, also answers questions from, from the actual show going on, so from the website and to Facebook, to the personal webinars. Those are the reasons that we think that you should become an Abundant Permaculture member.

Hey, you about to go on your blood draw?

Yes.

Okay, here, let's, uh, let's take this moment. Here, let me pour this out. Say goodbye to your mom. The catchment pail. You guys resume milking for a little bit. I'm gonna get some shots of your mom watering. Everything's jamming.

Look at, look at, look at, look at, look at, look at, look at. I have one too.

Yeah, nice. I want to read this one. I want to read this review. There are actually, we probably have almost 100 kind things people have said in the member area. It's from Susan Coolidge. It actually spawned this whole idea of a chicken lady video here. One of the things I really like is even though I have never met anyone in the group We all have the same goals, which is to be crazy chicken ladies. No, we've got goals to grow more of our own food. Uh, we've read the same books, we know who someone is talking about when they mention a name, and we're all crazy chicken people. Here's what some other people had to say.

I'm, uh, Coop from Wonder Why Farm and Homestead. Victor Justin. Reading the stories that other people have on this site, watching Justin, has changed my entire outlook on working with the land instead of working against it all the time. Trying to use natural methods. I want to get chickens to help me with the garden. Those kind of things which I would never would have even thought about. I would never have believed until I watched videos of chickens turning, you know, a compost pile, that they would do that. I was never exposed to those kind of things. That kind of symbiotic relationship with the land, with what we're given, just, it means more to me than, you know, the 40+ years that I spent here, you know, in traditional farming. So that's what it means to me.

My name is Daniel. This is my beautiful wife Rachel. We are members of Justin and Rebecca Rhodes' Abundant Permaculture member area, and we have been for over a year now. Yeah, because I've paid— I paid twice so far, so it's been more than a year. We raised 75 meat chickens last summer, and we still have some in the freezer now, and, uh, 25 left. Yeah, and so actually we're raising fewer next year because, you know, we overestimated last year and now we know, now we know how many chickens we eat in a year. But, you know, without Justin's inspiration through the vlog, which is available to anybody, on the member area there are plans, there are more information, you can have access to Justin, you know, there are several different things that, that, that he provided for us that gave us the confidence and the ability to raise and harvest meat chickens for the first time.

If you want to read more testimonials if you want to see more videos from members speaking about it. Plus, that link will take you to our Do-It-Yourself Abundance registration page. Right now, spring registration is open until April 15th midnight, so 11:59 PM, almost midnight. Guys, we're giving away bonuses. The registration closes, the bonuses including books from me, a book from me, a book, Attainable Sustainable, to get more sustainable, and packs of seeds, guys. So you want to take advantage of that, the spring offering. You want to get these seeds now. They're spring plants like the spinach. Uh, here, I'll show you. Uh, it's gonna be kale, lettuce, and spinach. So you want to get on that now. Link for that down in the description.

Casey texted and he said that I do, I should get the Agribon on my carrots, so if you guys want to take that jar if you want.

Oh boy.

And then he said the onions is totally fine. That's totally fine with onions.

Okay. All right. What, you already lost a shoe?

No.

Watch this!

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

I'm heckling Phyllis. I used to ride in that one too. Yeah, that would milk that little bunch of milk.

2 strong gallons. In or out, Gideon? Hey, I got something for you. You running from me or you coming to me yet? As soon as we get them trained to this bucket, we can get them out on pasture.

Daddy introducing.

So this one's not scared, so he's getting a reward. He's getting a feed. Slow movements. Like Josiah there.

Daddy, no, you can't eat that.

That's pig food.

Can you get me water?

It's off.

Catch it. Can I?

Weird. Let's cover these carrots or polar plunge.

I think we should cover the carrots because it needs to be done and I forgot to do it.

Is that gonna work? Okay. Oh yeah, that's huge hole, but let's just overlap it. Oh, but then it won't go the whole length, will it? Yeah. Oh no, maybe Is that okay?

Well, you know what, we could use a portion of this and just put it over that.

So it's much wider too, so you can do some foldage. Want to do that? Look, you want to fold it? Check it out. Because it's 60 inches wide, it should double up.

Yeah, yeah, we're gonna fold it.

Put a sandbag on each side, please. All right, we got it down. This will help our carrots germinate. What does it do, Rebecca? Just keeps them hydrated, keeps the moisture on them. Look at this bread. Well, niños can have the bread, I guess. Adults can have the lettuce, the chicken salad from the land with bacon bits in there. All from the land. Brussels sprouts, not from the land, but most of it. The broth, it's gonna be delicious. Should I kiss the chicken?

You could try.

It's a kid. It's a She won't let me. Okay.