Freecycle comes through, AGAIN!

[tammyd57]

I've been planning and designing a new coop and run for a couple months now. I made up a sheet with a list of all the materials I'll be needing, and have been posting 'wanted' ads on 4 Freecycle groups in my area trying to see how much stuff I can get for free for this project. I've estimated it should take almost a year to get everything and then put it all together. Just in time for next Spring's baby chick season.
About a month ago I received a roll of chain link fencing and the posts to go with it from a nice lady freecycler. Plenty of fencing for what I need.
Late last night, I scored eight 10 foot long tin roofing panels from another freecycler!

That will save me about $150. Add that to the $100 or so I saved on the fencing and this is working out really really well!
Now I need some plywood and 2" x 4"s and I'll be mostly set and ready for the building phase.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

On your way!!!

 

[Whitewater]

Congrats on your Freecycle finds! In my neck of the woods, Craigslist is the vastly more popular option, and that's where I found virtually all of my free/low-cost materials. They actually have a 'materials' section that's nothing but various building materials and that's where I found all my 2x4's.

You may want to check out Craigslist as well. Caveat Emptor applies, of course, just like it does with Freecycle or a garage sale or anything else like that.


Good luck

Whitewater

 

[tammyd57]

Thanks!

I do look through Craigslist often, but it seems in this area that the 'materials' section has mostly wholesale floor covering ads or offers to haul away your junk appliances.

Freecycle has always been really good though!

 

[Ineggsperienced]

Free is good!

I just got home with 140 free Craigslist fence boards. A nice guy was putting up a 4 foot fence made with 6 foot fence boards, the 2 extra feet are just what I needed for the chicks picket fence

*happy*

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Just love Freecycle and Craigslist!! I've gotten 2-10x10 chainlink kennels for FREE!! Plus 2 extra panels. I'm going to add these to the back to create an quail growout pen.

My "Playhouse" coop is made of the boards from a deck someone took down. I still have more of this wood.

Shutters! I've got 4big ones that I've painted a pale yellow and added a board to the top to create an "entertainment center" for this big old 55in tv. Looks a whole lot better than that big lump of a tv sitting there plus now I have a place to put the VCR, DVD and Wii plus my pictures.

I've got tons more shutters that I use in making coops. I use them to fill in the pace of plastic playhouse windown. Line them with wire and tack them up to the windows=protection plus ventilation!

 

[clothdiaperingmom]

We only have 1 freecycle or garage sale site relatively close. And I never get anything as good as chain link dog kennels for free. Been asking for them though. Although I did get approx 50 feet of chicken wire for free! And 2 trampoline frames to turn into runs....

OP-awesome freecycle scores.

 

[lostsoulhelpmejebus]

We built our first coop entirely out of materials we picked up between freecycle and local yahoo groups that pretty much do the same function. The only thing we ended up paying for were the nails and screws...everything else was free with the exception of our time and labor.

 

[tammyd57]

A few months ago my hubby received a very nice laptop from a lady through Freecycle also. We had to drive an hour each way for the laptop and the roofing tin, but both were SO worth it! $6 in gas for my car = free laptop, $20 in gas for my truck = enough roofing for 2 coops. Can't beat that with a stick!