Getting a budget idea

[aart]

I think the budget is very subjective, it really depends on what you are building, your skills, if you will be hiring help or doing it yourself. I have seen threads on the coop pages where people have scrounged for pallets and free wood and made some nice coops on the cheap.

Absolutely!!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I looked at my tracking app.... I actually pay $17/bale. Good thing I love my local nursery, eh? 

You could probably get it at a feed store for cheaper if you have one around

 

[ShrekDawg]

I just did a Craigslist search for "square hay bale" and it turned up about 20 or 30 hits, all within 30 minutes of home. $3 a bale for grass and $5 for alfalfa or lespedeza. BTW, the last two are fine for feeding, but you don't want them for bedding. They attract and hold moisture and will turn into a smelly mess in no time. So hear is the deal with hay for mulch vs. straw.......the latter probably will be derived from wheat, oats, barley or some other cereal grain. The stems on "straw" are large and thin and tend to collapse, so the straw also tends to draw and hold moisture, will mat and rot down pretty fast. For that reason, it works well in compost systems. It holds moisture. Straw bedding exposed to weather will rot down and get nasty pretty fast. Grass hay has much smaller, much harder round stems that tend to shed moisture. About the only thing that holds moisture are the flat leaves that go with it. Around these parts, guys who do a lot of hay baling don't seem to have a clue as to when it should be cut. Most of it is cut at least 2 to 3 weeks later than it should be and the result of that is the grass goes past the highly digestible stage to indigestible lignin. That takes forever to rot down, which also makes it good to use for deep litter in runs. It stays dry and lasts a long time. Droppings tend to flush out to the bottom where they combine with whatever leaf is present to start the rot. Here is an example of what my birds run around on and what is looks like when you dig down beneath it.

I had idea there was such a difference!

 

[lilwildrabbit]

Someone like me on a budget and have to recycle things I have found that the tidy cat buckets for cat litter make great brood boxes they are more square than normal 5 gallon buckets and the lids make great openings to remove eggs and so easy to clean and stay dry just cut part of the bottom off of the bucket (hen entrance ) mount that side on wall of coop with opening cut out for hens use some silicone calling to seal it to the coop along with screws brace the other side to hold it secure then when removing eggs you have a nice little door to open and an easy way to clean and replace the hay or bedding. My attempt at having brood boxes outside the coop caused the plywood door to get wet and warp causing the nest to also get wet now they are nice and dry when it rains

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ahh that could explain it then.

But ohhh hmm, that's not too fast then! Mine go through feed so fast

I've never actually measured but probably less than a month.

I have 8 though and they don't free range. And one of the bowls isn't covered so gets wet and ruined and I dump it out. So probably more my fault haha but crumbles they waste even more of! Flock Raiser only comes in crumbles

and the little brats like to fling it out of the bowls. They literally empty it in like a day or two. In matter of minutes it's half full (or empty i guess)

The Flock Raiser comes in pellets to, though your store may not be carrying them. I bought a bag yesterday.

Try fermenting.... there's a link in my signature line. But hit me up if you have more questions.

Straw is $9.50 for a square bale here unless you buy tons of it. But I don't have the storage space.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I looked at my tracking app.... I actually pay $17/bale. Good thing I love my local nursery, eh?

Ya, but in San Diego.... everything is priced high! So I'm not surprised.

That is a lot for straw. I pay $22 for the grass hay.

Things are also high priced for us up here in Nor Cal. But I love it here and don't spend $650/ month for 5 months of the year on AC like I did when we lived in so cal! And $200 for winter months with the occasional $100 bill in spring or fall!

 

[mclanea]

Ya, but in San Diego.... everything is priced high! So I'm not surprised.

That is a lot for straw. I pay $22 for the grass hay.

Things are also high priced for us up here in Nor Cal. But I love it here and don't spend $650/ month for 5 months of the year on AC like I did when we lived in so cal! And $200 for winter months with the occasional $100 bill in spring or fall!

If our local nursery gouges us a little on a bail of straw or feed I really don't care... happy to support them.

And wow, you spent a lot more on AC than we ever have! We're pretty frugal, our SDGE bill fluctuates from $75-$200/mo depending on how much we run the AC/heat. We live in the city and it's pretty mild year-round.

And I LOVE the area you live in. When we talk about retirement we think about moving south to Baja or north from the Central Coast on up to Oregon.

 

[1300dollaregg]

I Use pine chips from TS. They run about $5 a bale. I use two a month. Feed ,scratch and crushed oyster shell for four full grown chickens costs me about $20 every six weeks. When you design your coop. It might be a good idea to add a space so you can separate your chickens if needed. I had to put an addition on my run last year so I could introduce two new replacement chicks to the flock. If the old hens could have gotten to the new chicks they would have killed them. Now they are all best buddies.
As for your budget. Add up the cost of your building materials and then double it. Some might even say triple it. I went a little over on my build. But it was worth every penny or should I say dollar. Good luck.

 

[snow5164]

I use sand and haven't changed it in two years!! Sure there is the initial cost but I love how it drys out the poop, I scoop the poop boards and rake the floors.
Straw gets slippery and pine shavings are a waste of money , you throw out a scoop
With each poop.
I've added some sand , but it's always dry , no smell and they dust bath in it !!
I feed them on the sand and it gives them grit.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

If our local nursery gouges us a little on a bail of straw or feed I really don't care... happy to support them.

And wow, you spent a lot more on AC than we ever have! We're pretty frugal, our SDGE bill fluctuates from $75-$200/mo depending on how much we run the AC/heat. We live in the city and it's pretty mild year-round.

And I LOVE the area you live in. When we talk about retirement we think about moving south to Baja or north from the Central Coast on up to Oregon.

I thought we would move farther south for retirement.... but I am SOOOOO glad we wen't north instead, and I highly recommend it! We get plenty of rain but that's why it's green.

Oh... and don't forget I paid $120k for my 1800 square foot house with a barn on 1.1 fenced acres!!!!

My level pay plan on power now is $98, very affordable. That includes pumping my water as we are on septic and well now, so no water and sewer bill. Those outrageous power bill was when we lived in Bakersfield. Aside from the heat, when the days were nice enough.... many were on par with the air in China and said to be better to smoke a pack of cigarettes instead of walking 1 mile in that air.

Last time we were in Daygo, there was no place to park and the beach was so crowded I just knew it wasn't for me. (how could all those people want to enjoy the beach to!) Now if there are 2 other groups on the beach we are like "oh, it's kinda crowded."

I to support local business!

Even if it cost me a tad more.