How to keep chickens cheap?

[sean_wonder]

Three standard large fowl birds produce about a dozen eggs per week. Only buy what you can eat. You will have to ask tractor supply what they are selling. Check if they are advertising pullets. Ask what the return policy is if turns out not a Pullet. You should be able to get your money back. If no gaurantee enter at own risk. Pics would be good.

I will take pictures later today, I have a bunch of homework to do. However, before i sign off I will say I am hoping to try and sell a bit of my produce at a locals farmer market, so I can get ties with other local farmers and homesteaders and learn about the economics first hand. I plan to be a farmer one day and I think a farmer's market would be a decent segway. Plus, my family of seven eats 2-3 eggs per person, then we bake stuff from scratch as well. We can use up a whole carton in a week if we really wanted to.

 

[aart]

so we have an old, unused play/swing-set in our backyard... yesterday i spent a lot of time sitting in it and thinking.

Aframes are attractive for their apparent ease of ready made framing, but not really practical unless they are like 10' wide at bottom and 10' high. Space gets tight as you go up and they can be abysmal for keeping the weather out.

Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!

 

[Melky]

Space is enough if you figure 4 sq ft per bird in coop and 10 sq ft per bird in run.

 

[aart]

Space is enough if you figure 4 sq ft per bird in coop and 10 sq ft per bird in run.

Bare minimum..... depending on climate.

 

[Mrs. K]

I will humbly disagree with AArt - chickens are not kept flat in a two dimensional space. So I think it depends on the shape of the coop. A coop that you can walk into, one that has vertical space, has better ventilation opportunities, and can hold more birds than the 4 square feet rule. I know, I have more birds in my set up and they are doing just fine.

There is a limit to the number of birds you have, but if you think of volume, there is considerable difference in a 4 x 6 x 4 = 96 cubic feet and a 4 x6 x 6 = 144 cubic feet.

I am a strong proponent of a shed type coop verses a box coop.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

I will humbly disagree with AArt - chickens are not kept flat in a two dimensional space. So I think it depends on the shape of the coop. A coop that you can walk into, one that has vertical space, has better ventilation opportunities, and can hold more birds than the 4 square feet rule. I know, I have more birds in my set up and they are doing just fine.
Mrs K

There's no doubt that 'volume' and height are beneficial...for ventilation up high as well as 'places to be' other than the floor/ground.
But just like you can't 'get away' with a smaller coop and a huge run,
volume and height needs to be balanced with good size floor space,
or birds can't fly down to floor without crashing.

There is a limit to the number of birds you have, but if you think of volume, there is considerable difference in a 4 x 6 x 4 = 96 cubic feet and a 4 x6 x 6 = 144 cubic feet.

This will give better air space for healthy ventilation, but not room for more birds.

 

[123RedBeard]

Cheapest way to insulate the coop ... is, dont! Just feed the chickens, and they will grow their own insulation ... feathers!

What area of the country do you live in ... guessing the USA, as you mentioned Tractor Supply ...

 

[sean_wonder]

I live in Pennsylvania! I will be posting the pictures of the swing set some time today...

also! since this got featured, if anyone has questions on any of the methods i mentioned, i can summarize/post the articles explaining them or just ask any questions in general and i'm sure someone can help haha

 

[jolenesdad]

I agree with the school idea... Perhaps you could talk to the Shop teacher? (I don't know if it's still called that. We called the wood working classes "shop".

I would put an ad ON craigslist stating what you're looking for, and what a max budget would be. You could be super surprised what you find. I'd also talk to your local feed store and see if they know anyone to network with, or have a space for you to put up a sign for a used coop of some sort.

Also, you may want to revisit space... those smaller space requirements are for when birds SLEEP only inside the coop. From what I understand, you're wanting to keep your birds inside the COOP from nighttime until the next day after school? You're going to run into problems if they don't also have a run for while you are at school...

 

[Aceoky]

Our TSC has baby chicks quite often, several times they're "labeled pullets" of various (even good breeds) however there is no promise on breed Or gender . We bought egg layers and ended up with two Cornish X (of all things) so now they'll need to be butchered this week (not a bad problem to have, luckily we got more than enough to make it fine- others needing only a few birds two mistakes may be a huge deal)

I have no clue about "everywhere" but at least here they seem to want to help, I think they're not the best trained for what they're getting for you. With 50+ chicks a few "oddballs" isn't terrible for us, for others with small flocks it may well be. Our birds are healthy, growing very well no complaints on that at all. Just be aware you MAY get something other than you intended and move forward from there is my advice