01x02 - Trust or Die

[bunniefuu]

The National Weather Service
in Wakefield

has issued a tornado warning
for southeastern Virginia.

A tornado has been confirmed

by emergency management
officials.

Take cover now, and protect
yourself from flying debris.

All of these places
are abandoned.

Like, these people
didn't make it.

There has to be a reason.

Hold -- hold on.
Whoa. Whoa.

Oh, my god.

What is that from?

Tornado.
What?

I've been chased
by grizzly bears.

But gettin' caught in a tornado,
that's terrifying.

I would rather have
earthquakes in Alaska

than some funnel

that rips your house
off the foundation.

I've never seen a tornado

like this with houses
totally gone.

Dad, I'm kinda scared

because what if this happens
when we're here?

It doesn't matter
where you go off grid.

You're fighting to survive.

I wonder if the homestead
that we're going to

is even there.

Marty raney been
building homesteads

for 40 years.

He's spent his life passing
on his homesteading skills.

I was raised off grid.

I've built a life and a family

in the toughest place on earth:

Alaska.

And I've taught my kids
everything I know.

Daughter misty has
raised and slaughtered animals

and grown her own food
since she was a child.

A homestead needs to be
nurtured every day.

You get out
what you put in.

Son Matt spent 12 years

as a guide and hunter in Alaska.

I have the utmost
respect for wildlife.

Hunting is a privilege
and a necessity.

In the last decade,

2 million Americans
have moved off grid.

There's no road.
There's no grid.

There's no nothing.

But the wilderness
is a tough place to survive.

Look out!
Oh, my god!

This year, tens of thousands
of homesteads will fail.

We're not gonna make
it another month.

We'll start burnin'
the furniture

to keep warm
if we have to.

We're strugglin'
to stay alive.

We really need the raneys
to come and help us.

For those brave enough
to embark on this lifestyle,

we're here to help them
overcome the challenges

and fulfill that dream.

My resume?

I'll show it to you right now.

The raneys have
arrived in coastal Virginia,

responding to an e-mail
from a desperate couple

in need of help.

We're almost there.

This entire building
is covered with birds.

The hawks have
basically moved in

and taken over this homestead.

I've never seen
that in my life.

Marty, misty and Matt
have left their base in Alaska

and traveled 4,000 miles
to the old dominion state.

They're here to help a homestead
on the edge of failure,

surrounded by predators,

dangerous trees
and dying livestock.

Where's the house?

I definitely don't see
anybody around.

The raneys have only 7 days

to turn this
homestead's fortunes

around before moving on
to their next project.

It smells a little bit
like livestock.

This thing's destroyed.

Now I know what did that.

This homestead is a disaster.

It looks like it's been
completely destroyed.

Hello!
We're glad you guys are here.

Marty raney.

Oh. My son, Matt.
My daughter, misty.

Hi!
Josh zabec.

Welcome to our homestead
in progress.

This place is chaos.

It's 20 acres of pig-demonium.

12 months ago,
Kimberly and Josh zabec

abandoned their corporate jobs
in home insurance

and sales to pursue
their homesteading dream.

Our goal and our hope
was to be able

to live off the land.

We started off with 40 pigs

and 50 chickens
and our ideal place.

When Josh's family
business folded,

they spent most
of their $65,000 life savings

on 21 acres of land
bought from craigslist.

So this is our cabin.
It's 12-by-12.

It has no running water.

It has no plumbing.
It has no bathroom.

The houses that we came from,

that's, like, what
was important to us,

and making money.

We run a free-range operation
with 40 pigs.

Because they are free-range,
they have access to everything.

The couple want to
make money raising pigs

and are convinced they should
be free-range farmed.

Right now, the animals

are completely
running the show here.

They're just tearing
everything apart.

All of them are
inside of our shed.

It's destroyed.

I -- I honestly don't know
if we can fix it.

This homestead is
hemorrhaging money

and livestock.

In the last month,
they've lost six piglets

and 12 chickens.

We have zombie chickens.

Eagles and hawks, they rip off
half of the chicken's head.

Their brain's gone,
their eyes missing.

It's one of the nastiest things
I've ever seen.

So the pig just had
stillborn babies.

We actually lost two pigs
during the tornado.

She's dead.

I don't even know
what to say right now.

At this point, we're not gonna
make it another month.

With no money left,

the zabecs are now
in crisis mode.

To solve their problems,

the raneys must source materials

from the homestead or find fixes

that will pay for themselves.

And this is the main structure,
your cabin, right?

Yup. It's a 12-by-12,
two-story, no plumbing.

Where's your outhouse?

Pick one. Wherever you want.
Pick a tree.

Pick a tree?
Pick a tree.

Josh is telling me that

if I want to do
number two right now,

that I'm just going
to squat down right here

in front of you
anywhere on this property.

And I'm gonna do number two.
That's what I'm gonna do.

That's what I'm gonna do
because that's what they do.

That's ridiculous.

And I'm not doin' it.

And they're not
doin' it anymore.

Two weeks ago,

a tornado k*lled four people
in the area

and flattened a huge part
of the zabec's forest.

Wow. So, Josh, where do you
think the most dangerous spot

that you can stand
is on this property?

By the pigs, pigs...

By the pigs?
The -- the mean boar.

The most dangerous place

is right there where
you're standing.

Why do you say that?

You built your house

perfectly in line
with this massive oak tree,

leaning perfectly
to fall dead center

through the middle
of this house.

The next person to die here

is you and your wife

when that tree gets blown
down in a hurricane,

a bad storm or the next tornado.

Just when I thought
I've seen everything in my

4 decades plus in Alaska,

this guy's house
and that tree take the cake.

It's totally insane.

Every year,
a typical homestead

needs to grow 20,000
square feet of crops

to feed just one person.

So misty inspects
the food situation.

We used to have a pretty
amazing garden here.

And we actually had some carrots
that we were growin',

and the pigs came in and rooted

all of this up
and destroyed everything.

This is actually
really alarming.

So where's the pigpen?

Well, free ranging
is the way to go.

So we just let them
have the 20 acres.

There's order to free-range.

You have a system set up.

This is not a system.

This is just chaos
with animals running around.

I see one baby.

Pigs don't have one at a time,
they have a bunch.

Yes.
So where -- where are the rest?

I really don't know.

There's free-range,

and then there's
just free-for-all.

The pigs aren't breeding.
And when they do, they're dying.

The situation
couldn't be much worse.

Virginia's home to
many different predators,

including eagles,
black bears and coyotes.

Matt's checking out
how much danger the zabecs

and their livestock are in.

These kids, they moved
their livestock

right into a predatory
hunting ground.

Look at this.
It's a dead chicken.

Ugh, it's just covered in flies.

It's just a really concise,
you know, bite to the neck.

I mean, this is
telltale sign of coyote

if I've ever seen one.

These city kids, they're serving
up their entire livestock

on a platter for any predator

that can come in.

Whaddya got for distance?

Yeah, I got
a perfect amount.

Marty and misty are
setting up

their base of operations
for the next 7 days.

Hey, family.

I found one of their chickens
with the throat ripped out.

They had, like,
50 chickens.

They have 15 now.

Oh, my god. Look at
the predators, straight up!

There's more eagles

and hawks circling
this homestead

than there are
chickens left here.

Usually, pig have a lot
of babies, around nine.

The last piglets
that were born,

guess how many survived?

One?
One.

I'll tell you right now,

that these pigs are actually
cleaner than the homesteaders.

There's no outhouse or toilet,
a 5-gallon bucket.

There's nothing.
It's just random number two.

Watch your step, by the way.

Their lack of skills
have actually reached

to their personal safety.

The biggest tree
they own is leaning

right over the house.

If it falls,
they're dead.

Personally, I'm not
driving one nail here

until that tree's down.

And that's a fact.

What happened
a couple days ago?

A massive tornado.

It's a miracle
this couple wasn't k*lled.

Pigs everywhere!

Everything running what
they call "free-range."

But the predators
like that because

they're pickin' 'em
off one by one.

Basically, at this rate,

I don't see these guys
being here another month.

In fact, 2 weeks
might be optimistic.

I clearly see
a lack of experience.

I mean,
where did you look for advice?

We used a lot
of YouTube, Internet.

Let's cut to the chase.

You need the right advice,

and you need the skill set.

And that's only going
to be learned hands-on.

I mean, do you even
own a chain saw?

I do.
First day we were here,

cut his knee right open.

Nobody showed me
how to work a chain saw

other than YouTube.
YouTube.

I don't want to hear
the term "YouTube"

mentioned while I'm here.

The best advice
you're going to get is

from this raney family.

The first thing you need to do

is have a pen for the pigs.

They're completely
out of control.

You need to put all
these animals on lockdown.

You basically served them up
for every predator

that's here on your homestead.

How you could live here
for a year

without an outhouse
is beyond me.

But listen, that tree
that I'm lookin' at

will destroy that house.

If you're in it,
you're gonna die.

Coming up,
it's Kim versus predator...

And the homestead versus
100 feet of lethal oak.

Pull!
I'm pulling!

Misty, I'm seriously scared

this is going to crush
the whole house.

It's going! Going!

Oh, my god!

In coastal Virginia,
the raney family

have just 7 days
to help inexperienced

homesteaders
Josh and Kimberly zabec

ward off the threat
of predators,

tornados
and out-of-control pigs.

We put every dime
into keeping it going.

So if this gets lost,

that's everything that
we worked for, gone.

But the deadliest
threat to this homestead

is 100 feet of towering oak
leaning right over their cabin.

It's so close to the house.

Marty's been felling
trees for 40 years

but learned these skills
from an Alaskan logging

and gold mining legend.

In Haines, Alaska,
I worked for John schnabel.

Taught me the tricks
of logging big,

big trees without
getting k*lled.

He's cutting the wedge.

Then he's going to cut
all the way through it

and, hopefully, fall it
in a perfect direction.

To fell this
20,000 pounds of oak, first,

Marty cuts a wedge
in the direction

he wants the tree to fall.

Misty's rigged a pulley system,

allowing her to
pull the tree forward

standing 100 feet to the side.

But the crucial moment
will be Marty's back cut.

As the tree falls,

Marty will angle his cut
to one side and attempt

to steer the tree
away from the cabin.

Misty, I'm seriously scared this
is gonna crush the hole house.

Am I through?
Yeah, keep comin'.

If Marty cuts
the wedge too deep,

the tree could call at any time

and in any direction.

If it looks like
it's coming this way,

drop the rope and run.

Got it.

You've gotta block
in there, Matt.

It's out. Okay.

So this is total, like,
red alert right now.

I'm sorry, Kim and Josh,
I'm sure this is traumatic.

Only if you hit the cabin.

I'm not gonna hit the cabin.
The tree might hit the cabin.

Misty, ratchet up the rope!

Pull. Pull.

Get out of there quick!

Go! Run!

Misty, pull!
I'm pulling!

Heads up!

It's going!

Oh, heads up! Heads up!

Oh, my god.

Heads up!

Oh, my god!

Yeah!

Woo! Good job!

I'm just so emotional
right now.

That was really,
really close to our house.

Really close.

You had to take care of it.
And this isn't the end.

This is actually the beginning.

This tree is going to give back

to you for many,
many, many years.

Either to trade this
because it's green

for some other equal value...

Marty's plan is to try
and trade this green oak

for ready-to-use,
seasoned lumber

so building
work can begin immediately.

Day two...
One, two, three!

The oak tree has been chopped
into three 8-foot logs.

Marty's 5 miles down the road

at a saw mill owned
by Josh's neighbor, Robert.

Thirty years ago,
he bought a small homestead

and now owns 3,000 acres.

What do you think
this thing weighs?

Lotta board feet.
I would say roughly 3 tons.

That's just one piece
of the three.

Yeah. What kind of lumber
do you have to trade?

I've got pine.
I've got oak.

How much money
we talkin' about for this?

We're talkin' about
roughly, maybe, $1,000.

See, I may have
built the homestead

in the wrong place
next to the big tree.

But I do have
the right neighbor.

Yeah, fortunately.
Okay.

Let's get this thing cut open.

All right, boys. Fire it up.

Along with two other
identical $1,000 logs,

this green oak,
once cut,

will be traded
for all the lumber

they need to fix the homestead.

So the deal is
that quality lumber

is going to be traded out

in an exact dollar amount
for some pine boards

that we can actually
haul out of here

when we head back.
Yeah.

This is so good, Josh.
I'd get this guy's number.

Thank you, Robert.
Thank you.

All right. Thank y'all.
Thanks, Robert.

To think we've been
on the homestead

for 12 months,
looking for money.

Meanwhile, the answer's
right next to us.

Josh is at the epicenter
of knowledge.

If he taps in to people
like Robert,

he'll be one
of these guys, a success.

It's now the raney's
second day on the homestead.

Using the traded lumber,
work on a pigpen has begun.

But misty and Josh
are debating

how much free range
the pigs should have.

In my mind,
there's no proper pigpen.

I'm not talking about confining
in these little cement cells,

I'm talking about
a proper pigpen

to have some kind
of organization

to be successful.
Gotta be honest.

I don't really know
that I'll use it

'cause it really goes against
our values, like, confinement.

At some point,
he needs to realize

there needs to be
some kind of structure

to have this higher
success rate of survival

with these pigs.

Misty's plan
is to build two pens

for the pregnant sows.

Each hut will be equipped
with feeding shoots,

a rainwater catchment system
and a roll bar

to protect the piglets
from their mom rolling on them.

There's just one piglet
here right now.

And there should be
nine others, you know?

That's a loss
I'm willing to take.

We're not really losing lives
from them being not confined.

I disagree, man.
I live here.

So I gotta say, I know
what actually happens here.

I came all the way from Alaska
because Josh asked for my help.

And at the moment,
he's not taking my advice.

And that's really frustrating.

I'm never gonna give up
on the free-range concept.

I'm not gonna confine them
to small areas.

It's just not gonna happen.

I'd quit raising pigs
before I did that.

Josh and Kim have
spent the last 12 months

battling predators,
tornados and unruly pigs.

But they haven't dealt
with their sanitation problem.

I -- I just gotta
be honest with you.

Right now, I think that
the mud has crap in it.

Yeah, that's true.

Marty's using the traded lumber

on a 3-day project
to build an outhouse.

In the trip
from the city to here,

when did they forget
that a toilet is necessary?

There's not even
a 5-gallon bucket.

I mean, I didn't even
ask about toilet paper.

Later that afternoon,
misty's now working alone.

Wow, that's a lot of work.

Where's Josh?
He's not really sold on this,

and he's not really sold
on my bigger plan

of keeping these sows
and these piglets protected.

I'm not convinced
that free-range,

by his definition,
is a bad thing.

I see where Josh has been
the last year.

And at this rate, no success.

These mamas, these sows,

could literally have
these babies this afternoon.

This project is starting
to bum me out.

I don't feel like
anybody's supporting me.

So, I'm caught
in the middle right now

because Josh could be right,

which means misty is wrong.

I got a scope on here that
allows us to see in the dark.

All you gotta do.

Lock, safety off,
pull the trigger.

Armed with thermal
imaging technology

and an ar-15 r*fle,

Matt and Kim are hunting
a prime predator suspect.

The zabecs have lost
80 percent of their chickens

to predators.

For the homestead to survive,

Kim must learn
to protect it.

Three.

Coyotes can travel up
to 40 miles an hour

and detect a human
from over a mile away.

Ready.

In coastal Virginia,

city kids Josh
and Kimberly zabec

have been trying
to homestead for 1 year

but are now on the brink
of losing it all.

Living out here is like
living on a knife's edge.

It's almost like
a constant state of anxiety.

It's not an if, but a when
something's gonna happen.

Having lost 80 percent
of their chickens

to predator attacks,

Matt's teaching Kim
how to protect the homestead.

This could be her
first-ever k*ll.

Oh,.

Oh.

Kim's having a really strong
emotional reaction

to the fact that she
just shot this coyote.

But honestly,
to be a homesteader,

you have to go through
that rite of passage.

And whether she likes it or not,

she just took her first step

to being able to protect
this homestead.

If it's between, you know,
my livestock or them,

as much as I don't want to,
I know I have to.

It's not like i'm, you know,

just hunting to, you know,
stick heads on my wall.

Every tree is dangerous.
Are you man enough?

Yeah, course.

See, if you asked me
those questions,

even if I'm not,
I'm still gonna say yes, so.

It's how I cut my leg open.
But let's go!

In the wake of the tornado,

the zabec's homestead
is riddled with dangerous trees.

So one of Marty's
biggest priorities

is to teach Josh how to make
his own land safe.

Cut a tree down for a man,
he's got wood for a day.

Teach that man
to run a chain saw,

he's got wood for life.

When you have a leaning tree
like this,

never stand behind it

because it can split
right up there, kick back.

Trust me, it happens.

I've ran for my life many times.

For the last year
on this homestead,

I was really going off
the philosophy,

"fake it 'til you make."

But it's only going
to put you in hazard's way.

And that's really what happened
when I cut myself.

Hey, which way you
fallin' that thing?

Right here.
'Kay. Make it straight, please.

Get in the habit.

Hey, throw me that wedge.

I had a bigger piece of cheese

than this last night
with a glass of wine.

I figure I could
always take off more.

This isn't big enough.
More?

If the wedge is too small,

the tree won't fall.

Too big, it will fall
in any direction

before Josh can steer it
safely with a back cut.

But there's no time
for a back cut today.

Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!

What went wrong?

I took out too much
of a wedge.

First time too little,
second time too big.

Today's grade is an f.

If I hadn't a been here,
he'd be laying right over there

with a tree that big around
smashed down onto his head.

Now 3 days in,
using $100 of wire mesh

and the traded lumber,

Matt's teaching Kim
how to build a chicken Coop

to protect her
15 remaining chickens

from federally
protected birds of prey.

You guys are dealing
with so many predators.

If you do not secure
this chicken Coop,

here's the shotgun.

And you might as well load it
and sh**t this chicken now.

Matt, I'm not gonna
sh**t my chicken.

That's not happening.

They cannot go on
and free-range

like they're doing

because every single one
of these birds will die.

And that death
is on your hands.

I think it's kind
of starting to hit home

on how bad the situation is.

We can't hunt a bird of prey.

So we need to figure out a way

to keep the chickens safe
without compromising,

you know, what we're
trying to do here.

Kim might have agreed
to a compromise.

But Marty's still caught
between Josh's desire

to free-range the pigs

and misty's
insistence

of penning them
in for their own protection.

Okay, dad.
Where are we off to?

Well, I found
this local guy

that has been raising pigs
for 20 years.

The more I talk to him,

I realize that this is the guy
I have to meet for --

to convince myself of if
we're really doing a --

a service to Josh
or an injustice.

Don edmonds has been
making a good living

as a pig farmer
for nearly 20 years.

How's it going?
Hey. Marty raney.

Marty, it's nice to meet you.
Don edmonds.

So you have some questions
about hogs?

I have a question --
what is your definition

of what free-ranging is?

Well, when I started,
it would be that,

you know, they just roamed
the entire property.

But as the years have gone by,

we do confine,
you know,

the sows when they're --
when they're having piglets.

Mainly because of the boars
attacking the other sows

and pretty much
make them miscarriage

so that they go back
in heat sooner.

In my experience,
uh, free-range, uh,

you have to have
some control over it.

I think misty's on
the right track.

This guy tells me
that the boars

will actually antagonize
and pester a pregnant sow

and make that sow
abort those piglets.

The boars are only part of it.
The other half is predators.

Yeah?
The vultures.

They seem to be able
to tell whenever our hogs,

our sows are --
are having piglets.

We had 20, at one time,

circling their very property.

I've had over 100 here.

A sow had had about 14 piglets.

And 12 of them were stripped
like piranhas had eaten them.

They get ripped
from one end to the other.

That's horrible.

How do you deal
with a problem like this?

I think it's important to have
some sort of structure, uh,

for the well-being of
the piglets.

Yeah.

To stop
the pregnant sows

from losing countless piglets,

farrowing huts are now
the raneys' number-one priority.

Now, Josh is going
to be dealing

not only with misty on this,
but with me.

How we're going to do that?
I don't know.

But it could get ugly.
Coming up...

You guys are both
kinda pushin' me right now.

Marty plays
hardball with Josh.

Right now, I see a pregnant
sow as an immediate need.

Don't you?

For the last 4 days,

the raney family
have been battling a couple

who need to compromise
on their free-range ideals,

or their homestead will fail.

And their animals will die.

I just got back
from speaking with this,

um, amazing,
experienced farmer.

I definitely think
separating the piglets

from the boars
is the way to go.

Not gonna happen.

In terms of confining,
not in a million years.

Okay. So hear me out.

Boars get so aggressive
with the mama sows

that they will abuse them

with the intention

of having them
abort the babies

so that they'll
go back in heat.

Josh's homestead
has two boars

competing for sows.

With too few sows in heat,

the boars are k*lling
the unborn piglets.

If I could prevent
that, I would.

I just can't
honestly tell you

that just because
you talked to one person,

that I'm just gonna roll over
against our principles

and say,
"let's just do it that way."

Listen, you can spend
as much time

as you like on YouTube
or the Internet.

But that one farmer
has 20 years of experience.

And for Josh not to listen
to that makes no sense to me.

We don't have this type
of bird situation in Alaska.

It's intense.
They actually are circling

knowing these sows are ready

to drop these piglets
at any moment.

They attack the back end
and create trauma.

And then the pig dies,
40 to 50-pounders.

And then they pick it clean.

And right now, for me,

I see a pregnant sow
as an immediate need.

Don't you?

I mean, you're kind...
You guys are both kinda

pushin' me right now --
I don't want to push you

make a -- I mean, that's kinda
how I feel right now

I'm just thinkin' --
I don't want to push you.

I'm thinking logically.

All right. I'm gonna
talk to my wife.

We're gonna seriously evaluate.

I can't just flip of a coin just
'cause you talked to somebody.

Understood.
Don't take this is as pushy.

Take this is as passionate.

And take this is as I'm fully
convinced that this is the way.

So Josh is going
to go speak to Kim.

And once he talks
to his wife,

hopefully,
she makes sense of it.

It happens in my house
all the time.

Kimberly?
Yeah?

Come here.
I just talked to Marty.

I wanted to go over
some things with you.

7:00 A.M.

The raneys now have 2 days
left to save this homestead.

All the projects
remain unfinished,

including a home
for the pregnant sows.

Good morning.
Good morning.

Nice day!

Marty and misty
go to see if the zabecs

have backed down
on their free-range ideals

to save their piglets
and their homestead.

What are you thinkin'?

The free-range concept
is something

that we both still
are standing firm on.

Yeah.
But we're both willing

to give the farrowing
booth a try.

That's really good news.

We do at some point need to talk
about the number of boars, um,

but I think we should
just get it up as fast

as we can and wrangle her in,
keep her safe.

I think I had to think
a little bit about

the well-being of the piglets.

And as bad as
confinement sounds,

it's still not
a confinement situation.

It's like a maternity
hotel almost.

After the piglets, you know,

reach a certain size
where they're gonna be,

you know, too big
for these birds of prey,

then they can rejoin everybody
and do the legit free-range.

So I think it worked out.

While misty continues
work on the farrowing hut,

the homestead's still surrounded
by dangerous trees.

And with no idea when
the next tornado will hit,

Marty wants to see
if Josh can now pass

his chain saw 101.

It's another big leaner.

Another hazard.
In your front yard.

Yup.
Leaning for your house

and now your new outhouse.

I keep thinkin'
about Josh tellin' me

he cut his leg
with a chain saw.

I'm takin' a vested interest

in his chain saw skills,
quite frankly.

This man could literally
be k*lled my a tree,

make no mistake about it.

Tell me if you're
confident enough first.

Oh, I'm confident.
Don't get c*ck.

It's all you.
All right. Here we go.

If Josh doesn't cut
this 80-foot pine correctly,

he risks crushing
not only his cabin,

but also Marty's
composting outhouse.

Look out!

Woo!

Good job.

Thank you.
Feel pretty confident

that you're the master
of your own domain

when it comes
to tree fallin'.

I'm not gonna take a bow,

but I do feel good that, uh,

this man recognizes how serious
running a chain saw is.

And I think he knows that
his future on this homestead,

much of it's gonna be
with a chain saw in his hands.

The raneys have only
48 hours left on the homestead,

so are full steam ahead
to complete the farrowing hut

to protect the heavily
pregnant sow

from the zabec's
two aggressive boars

and birds of prey.

Once you're done, you want
to finish this hole, Kim?

Yup, got it.

Using materials
found on the homestead

and the traded lumber
from the oak tree,

the total spend
on this 3-day project

is just $50 on nails and screws.

The last screw
has been screwed in!

Wow. I mean, I see a very,
very, very good start here.

One 8-foot tree

from your property
got you two of these.

Okay?
Gosh, really amazing.

Awesome.
I think this is

the perfect spot for piglets.

So check this out.

We have this amazing
watering system.

So this hose actually runs

to your watering shed...
Nice.

And then you have
rain catchment also.

So you have two ways
to water this structure

and all of these pigs
without lifting a finger.

That -- that's gonna
make my job a lot easier.

And then you have
those feeder shoots

with the little feeding trough,

and then the little
piglet roll bar

so they can get out of the way
of the mama rollin'.

We have the double row
of electric fencing

to keep those boars out

because they're so aggressive
towards the sows.

Twelve volts.
Yeah!

Very nice.
It's solar powered.

So we're going to go wrangle
the sow that's gonna give birth,

and we're gonna keep her here
until she has her piglets.

All right.
Even as I stand here now,

there's packs of vultures
circling around.

So the farrowing pens
will definitely help our future

just because the piglets

that we have are now
gonna be our piglets

to keep and not food
for predators.

Come on, baby.

Good girl. Come on.
Come on.

This one sow can now
give birth to nine piglets

and brings thousands of dollars

of income to this
failing homestead.

To be able to see that pig

in that farrowing pen,
ready to give birth,

I think we've definitely got her
in the Nick of time.

Still to come...

The piglets
are safe from predators,

but not from competing boars.

You guys have too many
boars here on this homestead.

And the zabecs face
their biggest challenge yet.

You guys are going to have
to be able to

k*ll these animals.
You butcher 'em.

Now on the homestead
for 6 days,

the composting
toilet is complete.

It works like this.

What human waste goes in here...

Okay.
A person wants to cover that up

with an equal amount of sawdust.

Okay.

The sawdust helps stop
odor and A*DS composting

as an organic way
of dealing with waste.

The most important building

on a homestead
is an outhouse.

In a matter of two days,
we built one.

Seven days ago,

the raneys found
a homestead in crisis.

We have zombie chickens.

Eagles and hawks, they rip off
half of the chicken's head.

Inexperienced pig
farmers Josh and Kimberly zabec

wouldn't compromise
on their free-range ideals,

were at the mercy of tornados

and had no protection
from predators.

This thing is massive.

Yeah.
But it's also secure.

Now, it's the raney's
last day on the homestead.

And Matt's chicken
Coop is finished.

I'm not going to be
thinking at night

which chicken's
gonna go missing.

You know, I'm gonna know
that throughout the night,

they're locked in here
and nothing's getting in there.

This 2 day build with
traded lumber from the oak tree

cost just $100 in chicken wire.

I think the chicken
Coop is a hit.

I mean, look at 'em.

You come from
a city lifestyle

where you've never
taken care of chickens

and learning it from,
you know, YouTube.

And the raneys,
having them come in

and show us how to do it

the correct way,
it's invaluable.

Hey, get out of here!
Get! Move!

Before the raneys leave them,

the zabecs must face
their biggest hurdle yet

if they're to become self
sufficient homesteaders.

You guys have too many
boars here on this homestead.

This boar is basically
destroying your property.

It's attacking pregnant sows.

And so this boar
should be used as food.

Right now, Josh and Kim
are playing homestead.

But they're going to have
to learn a lot of skills

while they're here if they're
actually gonna survive.

You guys are gonna
have to be able

to k*ll these animals
and butcher 'em.

I haven't butchered
any animals from the homestead.

I mean, I've gotta be honest.

It's a pretty, uh,
pretty daunting task.

I didn't really come
with the expectation

that I was going to do
this right now.

I find it hard for myself,

and I basically just
eat stuff that we k*ll.

These are animals that we've
spent the past year with,

so you kinda start to get
to know their personalities.

This is a major,
major rite of passage

that both of you
have to go through.

When I hand you this r*fle,

you go from being
someone who came out

and tried to homestead,

to being an actual homesteader.

I do understand that
it's gonna have to be done.

Whole point is to be offgrid.

So, definitely gotta learn how.

Here you go.

Basically, I want you
to draw an imaginary line

between the ears and the eyes.

It's the most humane way
you can k*ll that pig.

Wait for that pig
to put his head up.

This boar's life
is not going to waste.

It will provide Josh and Kim

a supply of meat
for at least 60 days.

That pig's dyin'.

Just let it be.

It's all right.

I don't mean to put
the pressure on,

but you basically lit a fuse.

We need to get this animal field
dressed as soon as possible.

So let's get it moved.

On a homestead, you have
to be able to feed yourself

and to do it
with no one else around.

And I think it's
toughened me up a little bit

to what you have
to do to survive.

When you start to see
the meat...

I'm trying to...
There's --

there's nothing
better than that.

Yeah, and it is.

It's for all your hard work.

You know, in the city, you don't
ever see people k*ll animals

or k*ll for their own food.

So it was a little scary
at first,

but I think after it was done,

I got a little bit
more comfortable with it.

Didn't make me feel
like a bad person.

Well, Josh, well, Kim,

all good things
must come to an end.

When I first came here, I didn't
give Josh and Kim 30 more days.

I'm actually really proud
of you guys and excited for you.

Mm-hmm.
Thank you.

I mean, I think
one of the biggest lessons

to be learned
is infrastructure is key,

whether it be for the animals,
or whether it be for us.

And to actually
have those now, it's huge.

The skills that the raneys
taught us, they're invaluable.

But without them, I don't know
how long we will survive.

You guys have a safe trip back.

Now, after watching them listen
and learn some hard lessons,

I give Josh and Kim 30 years.

But it takes work,

and these kids
are at the beginning.

This is our greenhouse
that we're startin',

since we had
a bunch of sliding glass doors

layin' around the property.
We decided to fabricate this.

Josh and Kim have even
given their pigs

less free-range.

This is the new area that
we had cleared for our pigs.

It's about 3 acres.

And we have it fenced off.

And the pigs are gonna be
in here from now on.

And the farrowing pen
is beginning to work.

We had six piglets that
made it.

But they've had two deaths.

Two pigs is a lot different

than losing every pig
on the property.

And the predator
threat remains.

We're constantly on, like,
a state of high alert

for any type of bird of prey.

After shark week,
"homestead rescue" returns.

I cannot believe it!

...and the raneys face their
toughest challenge yet.

I don't wanna put a ladder on
here, I'm not doing it.

I did everything
like I was supposed to.

They think
I have all the answers.

And I don't.

We don't trust anybody.

Sometimes
you get the bear,

and sometimes
the bear gets you.