A Series Of UNFORTUNATE EVENTS | Off Grid Homestead

Indiziert: 2026-05-15

[00:00:43]Today starts the super long process of getting a bigger duck coupe. This is like a ripple effect of things that have to happen before we can install the bigger coupe. And we have to install the bigger coupe. Now we're on a time crunch because >> Daisy's gonna have babies.

[00:00:59]>> Daisy's having babies. Do you want to kind of give them like a playbyplay of all of the things that have to happen before we can build the coupe?

[00:01:06]>> Yeah.

[00:01:07]>> Okay. Baby count.

[00:01:17]>> So, we got the chicken coop here, right?

[00:01:19]That is going to mirror the new duck ce.

[00:01:21]So, it's going to be same style running everything. Cattle panel exactly the same, just different houses. Right.

[00:01:26]First thing we got to do is move the shed. I don't want to move this shed again. I only want to move it the one time. So, to move the shed, we need to pour a slab and make a permanent foundation for it. So after we get the slab poured, then we can move the shed.

[00:01:40]Once the shed's moved, then we can take down this tree that is hovering over the shed and the chicken coop. So >> the tree is a little intimidating because of the way that it's leaning is right over our girls.

[00:01:52]>> Which also means we're probably going to have to move all of this and we're going to have to take all the chickens out of the coupe and do something with them while we cut the tree down just in case.

[00:02:03]I'm hoping with some pulleys and >> the Jeep probably >> and the Jeep and some ingenuity, we can get it to fell this way.

[00:02:10]>> It's a big old tree, but that's a whole lot of firewood right there. Then once that's done, once the tree is gone, everything's moved, then we can put the duck coop here.

[00:02:19]>> Then we got to level the ground and then we can put the duck coop.

[00:02:22]>> And the new duck coop has its own set of challenges because it was previously our greenhouse and we never welded it. So the whole thing has to be welded. We're probably going to do hardware cloth on the bottom probably. Don't quote me on that. Got to put in a little pond for them because more ducks means that we're probably not going to allow them in our pond for just a bit. We're working on getting a well. So maybe after the well, neither here nor there. We're going to probably put a little pond in there, which means we need to add a drain. We need a bigger house because more ducks means means bigger house. So it's going to be a whole lot of projects. Be on the lookout. A lot of videos upcoming. Where do we start?

[00:02:55]>> I guess let's go mow over there.

[00:02:57]>> All right.

[00:03:01]And what?

[00:03:04]>> Look, living off grid is not about fashion. This is all about tick control, okay? I don't want to hear it.

[00:03:09]>> The socks are treated. But you look like a dork, my love.

[00:03:13]>> Okay, you know what? My feet sweat, so I need the holes, okay? Because I'm working outside, first off. Second off, the long socks have perimethanol over them so I don't get covered in ticks. So >> what are those?

[00:03:24]>> Tick prevention.

[00:03:32]have one, two, three cedar trees right here. We really like to keep our cedar trees because they're great for privacy obviously when they get bigger and we want to try to salvage them. So, we're going to build the shed past this cedar tree, so there's only one we're having to take out. And the goal is to try to salvage it, save it, plant it somewhere else. I don't know how well that's going to work. Your guess is as good as mine, but we're at least going to try to attempt it. We also have to move this big old log. What is it?

[00:03:58]That's grapes.

[00:03:59]>> Oh, is it? Yeah, >> that's grape leaves.

[00:04:03]>> Not fruing.

[00:04:04]>> See that one right there?

[00:04:06]>> Mhm.

[00:04:07]>> And those right there. That's all grape.

[00:04:10]>> The more you know. I feel like those are going to be too big for loers. We're probably going to have to use the chainsaw.

[00:04:15]>> That one's probably going to be a chainsaw. All right. So, you go get the loppers, some gloves. There's poison ivy in here, so don't touch anything unless you know what it is. I'll go get the tractor and the chainsaw and start moving this log. We'll be back here in like 5. Ready, team? Break.

[00:04:31]>> Oh, are we not going to? You're just going to leave me hanging? How do you do it? Oh, okay.

[00:04:38]Super quickly, I want to take a quick second to talk to you about today's sponsor, Real Link, and their awesome cameras that we actually use on our property every single day to keep us and our animals safe. We've tried a few different options over the years. We've reviewed a ton of cameras, but Real Link has consistently been our go-to. They've never done us wrong. And when you're out here relying on your own setup, that really matters. This one right here is their new solar flood light camera. And what I like about it is it's not just a camera, it's actually pulling double duty. You've got a full flood light built in, so at night it lights everything up really clearly. And it's also a 2K camera with a really wide view, so you can actually see what's going on. The night footage is in full color, which is a big deal. So, you're not just guessing what you're looking at. And another huge thing for us in particular is the fact that it's solar powered, so we don't have to run wires everywhere. And the setup is not complicated. You pretty much just install it where you need it and it works.

[00:05:37]The connection has also been really solid. We've got cameras set up all around this property, and being able to check everything right from the app just makes it so much easier. It also has smart detection, so it can tell the difference between people, animals, vehicles, and you can actually set it up so the lights or alerts respond differently depending on what it picks up. So, if something comes up to the house at night, the light kicks on, you get a notification, and you actually know what's going on rather than just hoping for the best. You can adjust the brightness, the color of the light depending on what you're wanting, which is really nice because then you're not just stuck with one setting like most cameras out there. Overall, this is just one of those setups that gives you more awareness about what's going on around you without making it complicated. If you want to learn more about what Real Link, their security cameras, has to offer, I'll have everything that you need to know linked right down in the description. And a huge thank you to Real Link for keeping our property and animals safe and sponsoring today's video. All right, let's get back to it.

[00:06:42]I've acquired the first item of gloves.

[00:06:44]And I don't know if you can hear me over the tractor. Probably not.

[00:06:53]Second item acquired. Loppers.

[00:07:06]Not in those socks and shoes though. I'm just kid. Hilarious.

[00:07:10]>> I know. I'm honestly just a comedian.

[00:07:13]Truly through in and through out.

[00:07:42]We've gotten a few comments before in the comment section asking how do we get over like fear of spiders and other creepy crawlers and snakes. Whenever we go into like the coups or do stuff like this or somewhere where there's going to be a lot of like critters, I just don't think about it. I don't look. I just do the task that I need to do and I don't think about it. And usually I'm pretty good. Now, a few times I've had some spiders crawl on me, but for the most part, I just grab what I need to grab, go drop it, and don't think about it. Or like if I go into a coupe, I don't look up. I just focus on the task at hand.

[00:08:14]Because more times than not, my fear is going to just give me anxiety and then I'm going to just be worried the entire task rather than just doing it and nothing happening.

[00:08:25]>> She's lying. She does think about it.

[00:08:26]She does scream.

[00:08:28]>> Way to call me out.

[00:08:31]The bulb broke.

[00:08:33]>> What does that mean? That >> it's leaking gas.

[00:08:36]>> Oh, all of that. That's gas.

[00:08:38]>> Yeah.

[00:08:39]>> What does that mean?

[00:08:40]>> But I need to go change the bulb.

[00:08:45]>> Come on. Just give me a little bit. Just give me a little bit.

[00:08:56]>> That's a problem for a different day.

[00:08:58]Honestly, if we just start it right here, we don't have to take out any of the trees.

[00:09:02]>> Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do.

[00:09:06]>> I'm strong like Thor.

[00:09:09]>> Jeez. Almost took me out with it.

[00:09:10]>> My bad. Sorry.

[00:09:11]>> I thought you were joking at first and then you actually almost took me out with it. I'm like, she has no idea.

[00:09:25]Anything can be a bush hog if you believe.

[00:09:35]>> Oh my god. This one right here, baby.

[00:09:43]We're trying to salvage this little baby right here.

[00:09:46]>> I think this is one of the ones we planted.

[00:09:48]>> Really seems to be doing good. Oh, beautiful.

[00:09:53]What now, baby boo?

[00:09:55]I ram stump >> with the tractor. You're going to ram it. Hope for the best.

[00:09:59]>> We're shot.

[00:10:00]>> All right.

[00:10:14]>> Am I making any progress?

[00:10:18]>> Not particularly. What happened?

[00:10:21]The tensioner on the throttle keeps loosening itself. So, I'll rev it up and then it just slowly goes back down. I need to put some Loctite on it. See, look. Every time I rev it up, I'm loosening it.

[00:10:35]>> I see. I think if you come at it from Yeah, that way. Oh.

[00:10:39]>> Oh, she's loose.

[00:10:40]>> You can get her. You want me to get the loppers? Cut the cut the roots around it. I mean, obviously, you can't cut that.

[00:10:47]>> That's not a bad idea. But now I need to go grab the tong so I can move that.

[00:10:51]Anyways, I'll be right back.

[00:10:59]Oh.

[00:11:13]>> Yeah.

[00:11:34]Yeah.

[00:11:43]>> A penny for your thoughts. Will you look at my eye? It's been pissing me off for about 20 minutes.

[00:11:50]>> You're just having a bad eyelash day.

[00:11:52]It's the curse of having perfect eyelashes. He has such long eyelashes, but they tick him off to no end. He's constantly angry at his eyelashes.

[00:12:02]>> Girls are always like, "I wish I had your eyelashes." Take them. I hate them.

[00:12:05]Take them. They're always bothering me.

[00:12:07]They get tangled. They fall off and get in my eye.

[00:12:32]going to be using the blade on the back of our tractor to kind of level this ground out. So, I have the tractor sitting on how the ground is now. I don't know, kind of hard to explain, but I have the tractor, the back wheels of the tractor sitting on the ground that we're trying to level. So now I'm going to offset the blade. So that way as I drag it, the tractor is still going to be tilted, but the ground that I'll leave behind me will be level. I hope that makes sense. Complicated to explain.

[00:13:33]We moved that piece of wood.

[00:14:02]This sticks out pasta may be sunken. a little bit. So, let's just go with 115.

[00:14:12]Oh, yeah. We're going to have to clear more.

[00:14:26]Essentially, that's quite a big difference. It doesn't look that big on camera, but that's a pretty big difference. We were really hoping that we could have all of the prep work done. frame built rock in so that way we could go pick up concrete tonight and pour in the morning. But it's almost 3:00 and we have Bible study in a few hours and we're not going to miss that. So, I don't know if we're going to have this ready tonight. It's a lot more dirt work than we had originally anticipated. Again, I feel like we say this anytime we do any sort of dirt work out here, but our property is at like kind of a gradual downs slope and it's kind of hard to see on camera, but when you're doing things like this and you have to be really precise with leveling because, you know, a foundation is going to be built and you want that to be level, it makes things like this a little bit more difficult. So, a lot more dirt work than anticipated and we don't want to bring dirt in. So, we're just trying to see what we can do.

[00:16:01]I mean, all of this over here looks good. It's just that one corner >> pretty much. Is there dirt from anywhere else that you can?

[00:16:09]>> Yeah, I'm about to scrape that up. The problem is I don't want to go like to bring that side down. I would have to dig this down and I don't want that to be too low under the like it needs to sit above the the ground line or the finished grade.

[00:16:21]>> Are you telling me we're probably not going to be doing concrete tomorrow?

[00:16:24]>> Definitely not just by how squishy this is. Look at that. See the spring back?

[00:16:28]It's way too wet. So, we've just gotten a lot of rain lately. So, this clay clay loves to absorb water. So, it's really squishy. It's got a lot of spring to it right now. It's got the perfect amount of moisture to be able to compact it right now, but it's just a little too squishy. So, we'll finish leveling everything out, compact it, and then probably let it dry out for a day, compact it again, and then >> build the frame.

[00:16:50]>> Yeah.

[00:16:50]>> Yeah, it is pretty wet, I will say.

[00:16:52]>> Yeah, it's just got a lot of spring.

[00:16:53]>> I mean, like even right here where I was like digging my heel in, >> you can see the moisture start coming up.

[00:16:59]>> And I could tell with the tractor, it would like compact and then come right back up.

[00:17:02]>> That's really unfortunate. I was hoping I was hoping we were at least going to get the frame done today.

[00:17:07]>> Yeah, I I still got leveling to do.

[00:17:09]>> Yeah, I know. Okay, thank you.

[00:17:42]Well, we got a decent amount of stuff done today, but unfortunately, I think we're about done for the day because this is kind of like walking on a water bed.

[00:17:52]>> Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

[00:17:53]>> So, like I'll drive here and it just pushes it this way. Okay. Then I drive here and it just pushes it back. So it's it just won't compact enough. It's too wet.

[00:18:01]>> Needs to dry.

[00:18:02]>> Yeah.

[00:18:03]>> I'm trying to figure out exactly what to call this little minisseries. It's like a series of unfortunate events in my brain. One thing has to be done to do the next thing to do the next thing to do the next thing to do the final thing.

[00:18:15]So >> it's like Chinese nesting dolls.

[00:18:17]>> Yeah, literally. Um I thought they were Russian nesting dolls.

[00:18:20]>> You might be right. I think you're right.

[00:18:22]>> They're Russian nesting dolls.

[00:18:23]>> I think so, >> to be honest. I don't know. Let us know in the comments. up. We didn't get as much done today as I really wanted to. I was really hoping to have the frame up, but >> but the good thing is since we got all the leaves cleared out and everything.

[00:18:35]Now it's exposed to the sun and the wind, so it'll it should dry pretty quick. I'm definitely going to have to bring a couple more buckets of dirt over, but I don't I don't want to do that until it dries a little more because then it's not going to compact as well if I put more soil on it, you Do you think that it'll be dry enough to keep working tomorrow or?

[00:18:55]>> Yeah, tomorrow it should be fine.

[00:18:56]>> Okay. Cuz the sun is actually where the sun is right now in the sky as it comes further down. It should directly hit right here. So hopefully that means we can make some more progress tomorrow.

[00:19:06]But >> well, it's not very humid too. So >> definitely not though.

[00:19:10]>> Should dry out.

[00:19:10]>> We will see you guys I guess tomorrow.

[00:19:15]>> What's up guys? We're out here day two and it's not looking a whole lot better.

[00:19:20]were still a little gushy. So, it did not dry out as much as I had hoped for. So, I think the plan for today is we're kind of going to just rip it all back up. I'm going to go get some different soil from a different part of the property that's a little bit more dry. We're going to mix it in a little bit and kind of let it dry out a little bit and then we'll recompact it all. It's kind of hard to see on camera, but let me Yeah, here here's a pretty good spot.

[00:19:49]You just see it kind of bounces back.

[00:19:54]The reason we can't put concrete on top of that is obviously we'd end up with a lot of settling and cracking later on over time. So, we want to make sure it's solid like concrete. And while it doesn't look like much with me just stepping on it, we're talking about 5,000 lb roughly in concrete. So, that much weight will definitely just kind of squeeze everything out of the side. So, don't want that.

[00:20:17]Heat. Heat.

[00:22:00]All right. So, I got everything scraped off.

[00:22:16]I'm going to go ahead and let this bottom layer dry. And then I'm going to pretty much just try and put like 2in lifts on there. Compact and 2in lifts.

[00:22:24]But yeah, we're definitely going to have to let it dry first. So, I'll try again in a couple hours, but it might be tomorrow. Just don't know yet. We'll have to wait and see. Grateful for the rain, but definitely messing with this project a little bit.

[00:22:41]It's been about 7 days since I last checked Daisy's eggs. And so, we're going to go give them another look and see what's going on. The reason I'm doing this every few days is because if for some reason one of them dies, an embryo dies or becomes unviable or doesn't progress any further, it will rot eventually and then it'll explode and it'll ruin the rest of the clutch.

[00:23:03]So, you want to check them. You don't want to check them every single day, but you do want to check them every few days, see what's going on. because she's still pretty early on in the hatching process. I did wait a little bit longer, but as they're progressing more, I will start checking them probably every four to 5 days. Also, you don't have to use a glove. I prefer to use a glove because I just I have bug spray and other things on me. I don't know what's on my hands and so I would rather use a glove just to be on the safe side. You never know.

[00:23:32]I have them and it doesn't hurt. I just filled up their water so that way they have some nice clean water where she can dunk her nose. So, we don't want her in the pond right now because that will cool her body temperature and she needs that high body temperature to be able to sit and help the eggs progress. So, I filled up a little bowl of water in there so she can dunk her beak if she so chooses. There's food. Everything's good to go. I'm going to go ahead and pull her out of the ce, close the door, check on the eggs, put everything back, and then open the door so she can go in whenever she's ready. Hi, Mama.

[00:24:05]You're doing such a good job. Okay, I'm going to check on your babies now. She's hissing at me, so she really does not want messing with them, but it's for the best, girl. It is for the best. I'm sorry.

[00:24:18]Hi, mama. I'm so sorry, but you're going to have to get off those eggs. I just got to check them real quick. I know.

[00:24:26]I'm sorry. Hi, mama.

[00:24:30]Another good thing about checking eggs is it gives her a break. Essentially, it's a forced break. She does not want to get off her eggs, but she needs to hydrate. She needs to clear her beak.

[00:24:41]She needs to eat and she's less likely to do those things whenever she's sitting on eggs. But it's really, really important for her health. So, I hate doing it because it disrupts her. It does. She doesn't like it. She gets angry at me, but it's for the good. I can check on the eggs. She can hydrate and just have a break from being a mama for a moment. Everybody needs breaks.

[00:25:00]So, to get her out, because she does not want to get out, I'm going to use our egg scooper here, which is essentially just a glorified pooper scooper, but it works just the same. It's clean. So, I'm just going to kind of put it in the back of the coupe. I'm not going to necessarily touch her, but her just seeing it and it being in her space should kind of force her to get up. And then I'll start bringing it closer to the door without touching her again, hopefully. Um, which will then she'll should push out of the coupe. If you have a better way to do this, please let me know. This is still very new to us.

[00:25:34]We're always learning. This is just kind of what has worked. Hi, mama.

[00:25:39]Thank you. Perfect. Didn't have to touch her at all.

[00:25:48]I close the door.

[00:25:50]She is She's not very happy. Just for a minute. See? Yeah. There you go.

[00:25:56]Hydrate, my girl.

[00:25:59]There you go. That's what I'm talking about.

[00:26:10]This one I'm just not 100% sure on. I want to do a little bit of research and I want to mark it just in case something happens so I know that this is the egg that I had questions about. So, I'm not going to let her back in yet cuz I don't want to have to pull her off. But I am going to go ahead and close this so that way no snakes. Hold on.

[00:26:31]And I'm going to quickly try to go look at some information on this egg. Figure out should I put it back? What's going to happen? And then then I'll let her back in. But she's playing in that water. So I think she's content. I am going to try to be fast though. I'm going to see if I can show you guys on camera what I'm talking about. But it may be a little difficult. What if I put the towel The egg is progressing, but then right at the top right here, we have these little cracks and then there is just one huge prominent line which can sometimes indicate ring of fire, but this is just a line. So, it very well could be a vein. It does not look as dark on camera as it does person, but it is very prominent. So, that is what I'm concerned about. That's what I'm about to look into. And then also the cracks.

[00:27:26]All right. I've talked with a few people and they all seem to think that it is ringing of fire. As you look on the other side, it kind of there's more of it starting to form. So, I think this one's bad. I went ahead and marked it bad because I'm going to have Cody look at it in a little bit and I didn't want it to get mixed up. But, we will not be putting this one back in the coupe. Go ahead and make sure everything looks good. Open up her door and let her go back.

[00:28:00]There you go, mama. Back with your babies.

[00:28:29]I reworked all the dirt. Got it all moved back over and somewhat level. Not completely level, but unfortunately it's still just a little too springy in some spots. It's definitely drying up a lot and getting better. Like you can see all this dry spot starting to peek through and everything, but it's still just a little too wet to be able to put a slab on top of it. So, I want it to dry out for a couple more days, but unfortunately, we're supposed to get like a lot of rain next week. It's like a chance of scattered storms every day or something like that. So, um we're probably going to have to cover it.

[00:29:02]Hopefully, it'll be able to dry out a little bit. Hopefully, we don't get a ton of rain and we can pour concrete.

[00:29:07]But, fortunately, it's not looking too good right now. I know a lot of y'all do not like unfinished projects, but unfortunately this is one of those projects where we're just kind of at the mercy of the weather. So, it is what it is.

[00:29:18]>> This is the main project that we have planned. So, it's kind of unfortunate when things get disrupted and there's not much that you can do about it. So, we're trying to scrge around and see what else needs to be done cuz we just really didn't plan to have time on our hands. And you can hear the pump on the pond. But, one main thing that needs to happen is this tree bush. What is it? Do you even know what the plant is?

[00:29:40]>> It's a tree.

[00:29:41]>> We want it gone. It blocks a big view of our pond. But unfortunately with that, >> as y'all saw earlier, the chainsaw is leaking gas. I thought I had an extra bulb, but I looked through the shop and I have plenty of bulbs for other things, but not this specific one for the chainsaw. So, I ordered one. It's supposed to be here in like 2 days. So, we're waiting on that. And yeah, I've cut this tree down like probably three times, and it just keeps growing back. I think I've only cut it down in the winter, and so it's probably dormant and it comes back. I need to cut it down while it's growing good so it'll actually die. It's a monstrosity.

[00:30:12]>> It just comes back every year and blocks like a huge view of the pond that we'd like to be able to see. So, got to go.

[00:30:19]>> And then there's one last thing that we need to do on our chicken coupe. So, a few videos back y'all saw that we added all of this hardware cloth and got it all attached. It's a safer coupe for the girls. And Cody started working on the front portion, but he actually busted his thumb and had this big welp on it and it was just not good. So, we had to pause for a bit for that to heal. And now that it's better and he can start with the wire work again, he's going to go ahead and trim this down, trim this side, and we're going to get it attached and finish up this part of the chicken coop. And then hopefully I need to go and double check everything. But it should be completely done after that.

[00:31:00]>> I mean, it's peeled a little bit.

[00:31:01]There's not a whole lot to see, but >> prior it was like a huge like blood bubble on top of it.

[00:31:07]>> Giant blister.

[00:31:36]The chicken coupe is completely done and fully secure.

[00:31:43]So, the garden is looking great. I feel like the tomatoes have really just jumped up overnight. This one is really mighty. She's looking good. Um, we're not allowing any of them to flower yet.

[00:31:55]So, if there are any flowers, we just pick them off. Once they start producing flowers, well, then they put all of their energy into developing, you know, tomatoes, jalapenos, whatever it is. So, because of that, we're picking all of their flowers off. That way, they can put all their energy into getting big and growing roots. In our last video, we put up this fence. The only thing we did not finish is the door. So, that's what we're going to tackle today. She is looking a little dry. But even though we're not excited about the rain for concrete purposes, we are excited because that means all of our beautiful plants will get really nice and watered.

[00:32:45]So to kind of latch it and make it somewhat of a door, well number one, we put a zip tie at the bottom. So that way we just have to take off the top and then we can step over the bottom. But then I kind of just reverse zip tied it so that way it's not actually latching.

[00:32:59]The zip tie isn't wasted. It's not actually latching. You can just kind of undo it. It does put a little bit of pressure on it so it's not going to be like the most secure thing in the world, but it does just keep it closed, which is essentially all we really need. All right. And then now this part of the garden is done.

[00:33:13]>> All right, guys. Guys, well, I guess that's about it for this video. We're just going to have to wait and see what mother nature has in store for us.

[00:33:19]>> Yeah, according to the weather, it's looking like we're going to get a lot of rain. So, very interested to see and we'll definitely be documenting it. We have a rain gauge, so we'll kind of give you the total at the end of the week on how much rain we actually get, but we're just going to kind of play it by year and go from there. So, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe, >> and we'll see you in the next one.

[00:33:37]>> Bye, guys.

[00:33:37]>> Bye.