How thrifty are you?

[piecemaker]

We found a great way to get free wood for building stuff. Son works at a place that makes flat bed trailers you like 16 foot ones. Any way they come partly assemble and are stacked on a bigger trailer with 2x8's and 2x10's between the parts ( most of them are 8-10 foot long). Son said one of his jobs was to haul the wood trailer out and burn the wood ask if we could have it and they glad to have us get it , they didn't have to pay son to stand around all day watching wood burn. Most places will give it to you just for asking. We easily fill up our pick up and 16 foot low boy when we go get the wood

 

[funkychicken]

hey Wolf-Kim...great idea for the maggot bucket...do you think something else besides a stinky corps would generate maggots??My coop will be pretty close to house...also how do you raise mealworms...

 

[gadzooke]

What a great thread!! I'm guess I'm going to have to try that laundry soap recipe. I thought I was thrifty but I guess I'm a slacker!

 

[chcknrs]

I'm gonna try both the laundry soap and the fabric softener! These are some great ideas! DH is gonna build cold frames for me for winter time fresh greens, etc. I have two goats coming in July, little ones, but they'll grow.

 

[Mattake2]

This thread is awesome!

I buy & sell on eBay a lot!

Everybody has junk to get rid of & it's really easy. When you buy something though, beware of shipping costs. Most sellers have a tendancy to profit from their shipping rates.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
LOL. Funkychicken will you do me a favor and just copy and paste the PM I sent you about the buckets and mealworms onto here just in case there are other people interested?

I'm not trying to be lazy really! LOL. My hands hurt just a tad and don't feel like retyping the message.

I would really appreciate it!

-Kim

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Quote:
Your not a slacker, you just didn't know about it, right.

When you make the detergent, it will set up and look like pink chicken fat

, but don't fret it

all you have to do is get a big spoon and stir it for a couple of days and after that it should stay loose.

 

[funkychicken]

here ya go...thanks for the reply...sorry for the sore hands!!haha


Well, I'm sure anything rotting would attract flies. I have never wondered about another bait and food source than the carcasses. Really anything that flies would lay eggs on would work. It wouldn't be hard for you to experiment with different baits to find one less....smelly.. Just remember that your chooks are eating whatever falls, so try to make sure nothing hazardous will fall where the chickens can get it. The buckets need to be hung, or sat on a hardwire cloth table, so the larvae fall down where the chickens can get them. If it turns out to be too smelly for your situation or non-satisfactory all you need to do is bury or throw away the bait/food and use bleach water on the bucket.

Mealworms are great, not free like the maggots, but still a cheap way for really good protein. If I remember correctly mealworms are 37% protein. I raise my mealworms in a large plastic storage tote. It sits out in the shed where is stays warm 80-100 degrees is when the worms do best. Put a few(3-5) inches of chick starter in the bottom of the tote. Pour on the worms. Then you put in stuff like apples, banana peels, lettuce, potatoes, in the bucket and the left over fruit and veggies act as a water source. Then when you get a sufficient number of worms, I just hand pick them and put them in a container to throw to the chickens. Chickens LOVE these things.. so if you have a shy or timid bird this is the way to win them over.. it's how I've tamed all my really flighty birds..

If you Google "raising mealworms" there are a ton of ways to raise them, this is just how I raise mine. The websites are great because they can give you the whole list of fruits and veggies that the worms can have as well as a whole list of types of bedding/food other than chickstarter you can use. Just make sure when you buy your mealworms not to get the Giant or Large size because those are often treated with a hormone that keeps them from mature, thus ruining your Mealworm "Farm".

-Kim

 

[funkychicken]

****this was the beginning of this subject for those who are interested****
Quote:

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Thanks Funkychicken. I do appreciate it.

-Kim