Coop is getting expensive

[mdbokc]

Sweet house for the girls. 12 x 16 = 192 sq ft / 4 sq ft per bird = room for 48 girls.

 

[TheCapps']

not sure if it is the same in every state, but I don't see why it wouldn't be. We recently moved and had to get change of address packets from the post office, inside the packet we got 10% off complete purchases from lowes, we had to do 4 individual address changes, so we got 4 10% off coupons. Just an Idea.

 

[georgiagail]

We have 10 rental properties that we manage ourselves. Some of the Lowes staff wave at us when we go in.

I buy 10% off coupons for Lowes off ebay. They tend to run an average of $1 each. Lots of folks selling these on ebay.

Gail

 

[chkn]

Awesome job you guys. You know, at least with these building materials it still is an investment. You can always use the shed for something or else reuse the materials. It's not like one use only.

 

[Warrprincess688]

Looks great!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

We have a very large pasture for the hens out on our farm. ~15,000 square feet. We do not cover the area, nor do we have anything to keep critters from digging under the fence. There are coyotes, foxes, and coons galore, but they generally do not come in close and I've never had anything burrow under the fence. We have lost a bird here and there to Great Horned Owls, generally very late in the evening, but it's quite infrequent. We don't have any neighbor dogs that bother us. The only one that comes around is a big brown lab and he's been trained to leave chickens alone.

We had welded wire fence around the entire pasture and still have a few section of it, but it generally doesn't last more than a few years. The bottom wires rust out from ground contact and more generally, the welds start coming apart. With lawnmowers, weedeaters, and kids banging into it just starts to come apart. With 2x4 openings it only takes a few loose vertical strand before the hens can run through or a dog can get in. There were sections that came apart so bad that a dog could run right through (our biggest problem was just hens running everywhere, if there is a hole big enough to get through they will find it). The bad sections that we still have have been layered over with various pieces of fencing and chicken wire. The rest was replaced with 2x4 knotted, heavy gauge, six foot tall horse fence. With new 8' t-posts every 10 feet it was rather expensive, more than $3 a running foot, but I expect it to last for decades. This is what I used: http://www.redbrand.com/Products/HorseFence/Non-Climb.aspx

Here is a photo I posted in another thread this evening, you can just make out the new fence:

 

[CO-OP_COOP]

That is a beautiful pasture....
Happy chickens..

 

[m_shuman]

I bought my HWC from a local feed store they had to order it for me. We went with 1/4" and it was $120 for 100'. They were cheaper than Lowes or the local TSC. I would say shop prices and don't rule out local places.

 

[raftnfish]

Thanks for the advice and compliments.

We ended up getting the hardware cloth from Amazon. Not too bad on price and shipping was free. Ended up getting 2 - 36" X 100' 1/2" for ~$230.00 to door second day. Will bury it 1' and have 2' above ground. Picked up 32 - 4" PT round posts last night. A busy weekend ahead.

Chickens are in and seem pretty happy

 

[latebloomer]

i've heard that csn is the least expensive place to buy hardware cloth

sometimes you can get free shipping on it from there too, so search around.

i'm working on my coop too, and trying to keep it under $400 dollars, we'll see. here's a picture: