Ummm how many chickens?

Rae Scott said:

We were hoping to spend no more then 400-500 on coop and run building materials (thats buying new but hoping to find stuff cheaper) around 75 for food and waterers, feeder,grit etc. If we can we REALLY REALLY want to keep total cost of everything combined under 700.00 realisticly.

I have been told its NOT realistic for that budget and that i shouldnt even consider it if i cant invest a MINIMUM of 2500.00 for startup. We really want chickens and free range isnt an option and the birds we are looking at arent overly expensive either but if it come to it we are willing to make compromises such as starting with maybe 4 layers instead of 6 or 9. Maybe taking chickens off craigslist that are free instead of buying,maybe putting the meat chickens and layers in one coop instead of a divided one which would save a small amount on materials, maybe DIY feeders and waterers and such.

I know its not going to be easy to do but we are willing to do it.

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I think that is a workable budget ... There are some prefab sheds on line that can be retro fitted to make fine coops and electric poultry netting that are relatively inexpensive to use as runs

2 layers if they are a production breed will lay 2 eggs a day from about the time they are 4-5 months old till about 18 months. If you are going with non-production breeds do not expect to get an egg from every hen every day, and there will be less eggs in the winter months depending on how much light you supplement. Our 9 hens gave us 2-3 eggs a week over the winter, without supplementing light, but now we are getting 7 or 8 eggs a day, and will continue to get them until the fall, unless they go broody.

I would start small- many hatcheries have smaller ship limits on birds after March- and have decent prices. Meyer Hatchery is close to you. Or look on craigslist for local sales. You can always get breeder stock at a later point in time. I would hold off on meaties until you can afford to house them. The most recent batch of 25 layer chicks was about $100 including vaccination and shipping in cold weather.

Our first coop was 6x12 and was built for about $600- using new materials except metal roof panels and cinder blocks for the base which were donated. Plus another couple hundred for the 12x15 run for when we couldn't range. We raised 12 meaties, and 15 layers in it. It worked out so-so because the meaties were gone by the time the layers were big enough to take up a lot of space, and we free ranged everyone, so there was lots of space during the day. I would not however do it that way again. The meaties made an extreme mess of the bedding and we were constantly cleaning it up- they never roosted due to their size! (Plus I have issues with raising birds with a butcher by date due to my own busy schedule and health issues.) It was overwhelming as new chicken owners to do be doing it all at once with so many.

Rae Scott said:

We were hoping to spend no more then 400-500 on coop and run building materials (thats buying new but hoping to find stuff cheaper) around 75 for food and waterers, feeder,grit etc. If we can we REALLY REALLY want to keep total cost of everything combined under 700.00 realisticly.

I have been told its NOT realistic for that budget and that i shouldnt even consider it if i cant invest a MINIMUM of 2500.00 for startup. We really want chickens and free range isnt an option and the birds we are looking at arent overly expensive either but if it come to it we are willing to make compromises such as starting with maybe 4 layers instead of 6 or 9. Maybe taking chickens off craigslist that are free instead of buying,maybe putting the meat chickens and layers in one coop instead of a divided one which would save a small amount on materials, maybe DIY feeders and waterers and such.

I know its not going to be easy to do but we are willing to do it.

Click to expand...

I think that $700ish is a fairly doable budget! You may even be able to find used sheds that could be easily converted! Check Craigslist for building materials- old windows, fencing etc... for our run we used 6' tall 2"x4" garden fencing (burring it 1') and ran hardware cloth along the bottom 2' of the run, saving some money on hardware cloth.

Although I would advise against Free birds off craigslist- those are often birds that are no longer laying or have health issues. You don't need fancy food or water dishes. I found that for winter water that are the best are plain old heated dog bowls placed up on a paving stone, once chickens are older than a couple months- yeah they have to be cleaned out a bit more from the chickens scratching bedding into it, but they are cheaper, and don't swing getting the bedding all wet.